Lullaby

For their second album, NYC’s Book of Love took on the 1973 Mike Oldfield classic “Tubular Bells (Theme from The Exorcist)” and reinvigorated it with a dance groove, some extra synths, and a 1980’s sheen that brought it to dancefloors where it sacrificed its original ominous tone for a hypnotic, minimalist weave. “Pretty Boys, Pretty Girls” extends that groove for one of the first songs to address the growing AIDS epidemic. Led primarily by former art students Susan Ottaviano and Ted Ottaviano (no relation), Book of Love built on the light, airy touches of their 1986 self-titled debut with textures that angled for a darker slice of the dancefloor and a slightly denser instrumental approach. Technology plays a heavy hand but not the ultimate one; the human touch is still very much in evidence. The melodies ooze past the cascading keyboard walls and the sweet sway of “Sea of Tranquility” and the robotic bounce of “Melt My Heart” rank with the best of their U.K. counterparts, Depeche Mode, OMD, Pet Shop Boys and others.