Mr. and Mr. Fears, you have done it again. 

After a dry release spell of almost twenty years following their split, un-split and definitive reconciliation spanning 1990-2004, Tears for Fears released their seventh album, “The Tipping Point,” in 2022. Despite being a casual Tears for Fears fan, I for some inexplicable reason avoided the album, finally caving and ordering its CD to hit my $35 free shipping minimum when buying my Halloween costume two weeks ago. 

Fellas. I should not have waited so long. 

“The Tipping Point” is, in short, really good. It hooked me from the first beat of the album opener, single “No Small Thing” built off of a riff one-half of the band’s duology, Curt Smith, came up with in a composition session with band partner Roland Orzabal. Never did I feel I was listening to a rehashing of Tears for Fears’ old hits, nor was I listening to something completely unrooted and contemporary. “The Tipping Point” is the perfect blend of that Tears-for-Fears sound in conversation with their natural evolution. The result is a culmination that left me forgetting I was supposed to be evaluating the songs, too busy just getting lost in the journey. At times, the album directly lifts you up; at others, the currents of the narratives (following, in part, Orzabal’s emotion in the wake of losing his wife) tumble you underwater before pushing you up for air, reminding you that despite it all, you do, in fact, have to keep kicking. 

To go track by track: 

Track 1: “No Small Thing” – Whoever’s idea it was to put this as the album opener was locked in. “No Small Thing” encapsulates the genius of Tears for Fears. It showcases their sound and their command of rhythm while reminding the audience that this isn’t the same duo that broke out in 1983; they’ve changed, their music has changed and what they want has changed, but by god can they still craft a (pre)chorus that gets stuck in your brain forever.  

Track 2: “The Tipping Point” – If I thought track 1 was well-composed, “The Tipping Point” is next-level. The masterful beat of the song is the ideal accompaniment for the lyrics, which revolve around the decline and death of Orzabal’s wife, Caroline, whose illness involved dementia-related character and memory loss. Listening to “The Tipping Point,” I can feel the stress, shame and sadness of what must have been a horrible journey, as such a bright and clever figure in Orzabal’s life diminished over such a lengthy and arduous period that he couldn’t even identify when, exactly, they hit the tipping point and she truly became lost to him. 

Track 3: “Long, Long, Long Time” – Smith described this song as being about “getting tired of treading water,” in an emotional sense, and it is perhaps for that reason that listening to this song while driving incurs the real possibility of crying on the highway. He was inspired to compose the song based on his and Orzabal’s relationship, as well as the political atmosphere at the time; in many ways, the final production value elevates the lyricism, adding eerie, drowsy or sentimental undercurrents to musings on progress and truth. Personally, I think this song tops the rankings among this album, though (not to spoil the review) I do really enjoy all of them. 

Track 4: “Break the Man” – Simultaneously both upbeat and brooding, track 4 takes advantage of its production to position its lyrics as memorable and boppy. “Break the Man” is about patriarchal society and the ways in which women go about breaking those patterns and restrictions. Smith believes that strength and rebuttal in the face of male dominance in politics and international spheres could rebalance a lot of the problems he sees, and reflects that belief in this song. Honestly, I think this song hits crazy style, is very smoothly composed, and will one day be super fun to sing along to once I finally stop confusing the first and second halves of the chorus (which is completely my bad).

Track 5: “My Demons” – This song is another rankings-topper for me. For three minutes and eight seconds, I am literally the demolition man. Production value is off the charts— it’s catchy, it’s boppy, it’s interesting, it’s relevant, it’s fire as hell. Tears for Fears wanted to remind us of the omnipresent dangers of modern surveillance, amongst other such clever commentary, and they succeeded, because I will be thinking about this track for the rest of my life. I’ve been trying to think of a more sophisticated way to describe it, but all I’ve landed on is this: the words go together so well. It’s unbelievable. There’s a rhythm to the syllable lengths (especially as a through-line from the chorus into the bridge) that simply hits. It’s as though the lyrics are themselves the drum beat, propelling the song further. Really awesome stellar stuff. 

Track 6: “Rivers of Mercy” – Meandering, but beautiful. “Rivers of Mercy” reminds me of the worship songs they used to make us sing in high school, with the important distinction that this song is actually good. The imagery in the lyricism here is lovely, very oceanic and bright… an expression of redemption against the weighty subject matter of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and ongoing social upheaval. I feel both saddened and uplifted by this track, as the subject matter almost wars with the more topical serenity evoked, before settling into a coexistence with it. Smith and Orzabal’s explanations of the song help to contextualize it.

Track 7: “Please Be Happy” – When I first saw the name of this song, I thought to myself, ‘oh, Christ, this is going to be about Orzabal’s wife dying, and I am going to be very sad, aren’t I?’ And boy howdy! I was right. Orzabal spends the duration of the song pleading with his wife to lift out of her depression and leave behind the oppressive melancholy that has pervaded their lives; he begs her not to worry, pulling out examples of her alcoholism and the loss of her creativity and spark to juxtapose how bad things have gotten against how drastically she’s learnt to see the world. The chorus is heartbreaking (“if you lay among the graves, you will see other ghosts” as commentary on self-fulfilling depressive mindsets and cementing your own mental death well before your body actually gives up… AUGH!!!). Smith sings the song itself, but Orzabal’s influence on the sentiment is deeply evident. This is another top song off the album for me for lyricism alone. 

Track 8: “Master Plan” – SUPERMAN REFERENCE!!! This is another song that really exemplifies that Tears for Fears feeling. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but the chorus especially is one of their classic, timeless deliveries that is as impactful in production as it is in lyric. Orzabal described it as a butting back against someone else’s “master plan” for you and your life, taking back control in the name of what you know your own “master plan” and success can be. Smith said, along those same lines, that the song was about the process of realizing that they had to lead themselves as a band once they figured out what they actually wanted to do, and trusting themselves to know who they were as artists. Really nice sound on this track. 

Track 9: “End of Night” – By virtue of listening to this album on repeat in order, I have not heard these last few tracks as often, but I am always struck by how hopeful “End of Night” is. It sports that same musical composition that complements the bare meaning of its lyrics, demonstrating aurally what is communicated vocally: the night is ending, dawn is soon, and we will see the beauty above the hurt if we can just “turn the world around.” “End of Night” is almost reassuring, in its way. It’s a very peaceful penultimate track, especially in the context of its emotionally harrowing predecessors. 

Track 10: “Stay” – Right from the first verse, “Stay” circumvents expectations and cherry-picks convention. Tears for Fears takes commonly known phrases and tweaks them just enough to catch your attention; they immediately follow those twists with a one-two punch of contrasting lyrics, forcing you to slow down and really think through what you’re hearing. Lyrically, it’s a fairly simple closing track, but it works with the bones of what it’s got to craft a meticulous and surprisingly complex narrative surrounding Smith’s contemplation of leaving the band. Layers of hesitation and self-questioning build up into an almost beautiful conflict. The perfect closer. 

I have no choice but to give “The Tipping Point” ten million stars. If I had rated each individual track, I fear it would have been pointless, as they all would have earned (you guessed it) one million stars each. As a comeback and as a capping off of a strenuous composition process, “The Tipping Point” is an album that surpasses every standard and expectation. The Messrs. Fears are in good shape, indeed.