Into the Gap

Recorded in the Bahamas at the storied Compass Point Studios, Into the Gap blends worldly flavor into synth-pop’s frosty tones. By embracing Latin (“Who Can Stop the Rain”), calypso (“Sisters of Mercy”), and Middle Eastern music (“The Gap”), the Thompson Twins made the rest of New Wave seem blandly cold. Led by juicy, popping basslines, “Day After Day” and “Doctor! Doctor!” boast gorgeously glittering hooks, but the band’s pop intelligence clicks on “Hold Me Now,” a windswept soul ballad outfitted in layers of ecstatic synths.