ERASURE play both Bristol and Cardiff this month on the duo's first tour since singer Andy Bell revealed he is HIV positive.

The band is pushing its new album Nightbird, which is widely believed to be their most mature work to date.

Find them in the Colston Hall on Monday, March 14 and St David's Hall on Sunday, March 20.

Andy says he is not letting his condition get in the way of life or Erasure. "I found out I was HIV positive in June 1998 when I had a bout of pneumonia in Majorca," the 40-year-old singer said in a statement on the Erasure website. "Being HIV does not mean that you have Aids. My life expectancy should be the same as anyone else's so there is no need to panic.

"I am feeling fine - in fact I have never felt better. "There is still so much hysteria and ignorance surrounding HIV and Aids - let's just get on with life - making music, doing a live tour and generally having a good time."

When Mono spoke to Andy around the time of Erasure's last tour to come to Wales Andy told us that he kept a house in Majorca which he shared with his boyfriend.

"My boyfriend's from California and we happened on Majorica one time coming back from Ibiza and thought it was really beautiful - like the Carmel coastline where he comes from," he said. "There was a place for sale so we just bought it.

"Nobody knows us in Spain. We're not played on the radio because we're not macho enough - not like Depeche Mode."