* * * * <i> Great Balls of Fire</i> * * * <i> Good Vibrations</i> * * <i> Maybe Baby</i> * <i> Running on Empty : </i> : ECHOES OF U2, NEW ORDER

* * * “ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN.” Echo & the Bunnymen. Sire.

I heard what the good Lord said. . . . The word was resurrection. . . . God’s one miracle moves in circles.

More Christian spirituality in the wake of U2? Yes . . . and no. This Liverpool quartet’s first all-new album since 1984 shares much with the work of its Irish counterpart, with spiritually questing lyrics set against lush, melodic musical backdrops.

On several songs, singer/lyricist Ian McCulloch’s vocals come quite close to those of Bono Hewson, and the album closes with a very U2-ish hymm, “All My Life.” But just as McCulloch has often played out his Jim Morrison fixation in the past without sounding like an idolater (he does it again here on “Bedbugs and Ballyhoos,” which features ex-Door Ray Manzarek’s unmistakable organ), the group manages to inhabit U2’s territory while still holding on firmly to its own identity.

The generally upbeat, danceable music lacks the modal adventurism of some earlier Bunnymen material, but still shows advancement and refinement of what started as part of the early-’80s Liverpool “new psychedelic” movement.

Ranging for the most part from bouncy to forceful--and more often resembling New Order than U2--the sound is characterized by Pete De Freitas’ quick-step drumming and Will Sergeant’s tuneful guitar (alternating between simple, crisp lines and Robert Fripp-like drones).

But as interesting and enticing as the music is, it is the lyrics that hold most of the keys to the band’s progress. When taken as a whole, the album reflects a soul simultaneously bathed in light yet drawn by the dark, and lost in darkness searching for illumination. Like the woman portrayed in “Lips Like Sugar,” the message of the lyrics at times can seem elusive (“Just when you think you’ve caught her / She glides across the water”), but as with the best spiritually oriented art, the search for meaning is quite rewarding.