Cowboy was the eighth studio album by Erasure, released in 1997 by Mute Records in the UK. In the U.S., it was released by Madonna's former label Maverick Records. Cowboy was produced by Gareth Jones and Neil McLellan and marked the band's return to more simplistic three-minute synthpop music. Erasure embarked on another major tour of the UK and U.S. to promote this album, in their trademark style it contained elaborate stage settings and costumes (including Clarke dressed as a guitar-playing cactus).