This is the second and final part of a quick recap of Xenomania's upcoming releases, projects and collaborations. On part 2: four female singer/songwriters (Gabriella Cilmi, Brooke Rose, Annie and Alesha) and two new as yet unnamed bands (a girl band and a band with boys). Part 1 is here.
-- GABRIELLA CILMI --
Gabriella Cilmi, whose first single "Sweet About Me" is still in the top 10 UK singles chart, will release her second single "Save The Lies (Good To Me)" on 18th August (available for pre-order here). Brian Higgins recently said that she's signed a five-album deal with Island Records and that he expects every one to be a "smash hit".
-- BROOKE X --
Brooke X (a.k.a. Brooke Gengras) is an American singer. She's been a member of bands such as the soul-influenced Rider and Lez Zeppelin (yes, an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band -- she has even been named "Roberta Plant"). Brooke has recently been in England working with Xenomania on her debut solo album. Here's a few things that have been written about her:
x «(...) one thing that makes Rider different (...) is Gengras’ voice, which shows a mixture of influences from 70’s soul to modern alt-rock groups such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.»
x «She was a channeler of Robert Plant. She had the moves, the bravado, and the low-riding pants. All of us, the sloppy drunk forty-somethings with their lighters, the queer boys with their lipstick, and me would have gone home with her in a second.»
x «(...) hands-down choice as the answer to "What if Janis Joplin and Robert Plant had a baby?".»
Annie's next single will be the Xenomania-produced "My Love Is Better", which will be released on September 22nd. The album Don't Stop should be out on October 6th.
-- ALESHA --
Alesha Dixon has been in the studio with Brian Higgins/Xenomania working on her new album. It should be released this November, along with the lead single "The Boy Does Nothing". Alesha says that it will be a "very colourful, mainstream pop record".
-- UNNAMED BAND #1 --
Jess, Janee Bennett and Jessica Martin are part of a new British unnamed girlband (previously called The Differents). Back in March Jessica revealed that they were recording an album with Xenomania: "it's going really well, (...) currently we are recording an album and working with a fantastic team". Their first single should be out soon.
Here's a picture of the band in Kent, sitting on Winston Churchill's statue:
Meanwhile, Janee has contributed with vocals for Roll Deep's new single "Do Me Wrong".
Jason Resch and Kieran Jones are two Australian musicians who have been at Xenomania writing for different artists and working on their own material.
They used to play in a band together when they caught the eye of Brian Higgins. Kieran, 18, and Jason, 19, have since traveled to England to work with Xenomania. They have been writing for some of Xenomania's upcoming releases/projects (Brooke Rose, Alex Vargas, Girls Aloud, among others). Jason and Kieran have also played guitar and bass (respectively) on Gabriella Cilmi's "Einstein" and the single "Sweet About Me".
This is a quick rundown of what's coming up in the world of Xenomania, with upcoming projects, collaborations and releases.
On part one: three bands (Girls Aloud, Saint Etienne, Pet Shop Boys), a female singer/songwriter (Jessie Malakouti) and two male singer/songwriters (Ultra, Alex Vargas). Part two will feature three well-known (around these parts, anyway) female singers plus a new female singer/songwriter, a new girl band and a new band with boys.
-- GIRLS ALOUD --
A new Girls Aloud album is on the works, with Xenomania on board once again. The girls began recording a few weeks ago.
-- JESSIE MALAKOUTI -- Jessie Malakouti is a 20-year-old American singer/songwriter, professional dancer and actress. She's part of the Xenomania team.
In 2005 Jessie formed the band Shut Up Stella. Last year they went to Xenomania's home in Kent to work on their album. However, they were dropped by their label and the album was never released. Jessie quit the band and all the members moved on to their separate projects.
Earlier this year, Jessie began documenting the process of recording her solo album on her MySpace blog and YouTube channel. In March she met up with Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper in New York and later she traveled to Xenomania's headquarters.
Her debut album Pretty And Gritty is likely to feature some Xenomania-produced songs. Her work as a writer/lyricist is also likely to appear on a few of Xenomania's upcoming projects.
-- ALEX VARGAS -- Alex Vargas Jr. is a singer/songwriter. Two years ago he released a 4-track EP and he has recently been working with Xenomania on his debut album. Here's what has been said about him:
x. «Extraordinarily versatile, Alex is as confident and comfortable singing acoustic love songs as he is rocking out with shimmering rock n roll anthems. Currently working on his debut album, Alex's excitement is practically tangible.»
x. «(...) a new singer who sounds like the next big thing (...). Considering there is always a market for rock-y music. He's got it all - looks, talent and extremely strong songs. "Diamonds In The Dirt" just sounds like a surefire worldwide hit. Which is what it deserves at least.»
Saint Etienne's new single will be a Xenomania-produced re-make of "Burnt Out Car". It will precede the release of London Conversations: The Best Of Saint Etienne, which is already available for pre-order (UK only, though). Both the album and "Burnt Out Car 2008" are set for a September release.
-- ULTRA -- Ultra (real name Justin) is a British MC/singer. Four years ago, Xenomania began working with him as a "development act". Last year, Ultra revealed on his MySpace that he had teamed up with Brian Higgins for the debut album Ultrasound, which should be released later this year/earlier next year.
-- PET SHOP BOYS -- Back in May the Pet Shop Boys announced that they were working with Xenomania. "One, two or more" songs from the collaboration should feature on their upcoming album, which is planned to be released in early 2009.
According to the Daily Star, Alesha Dixon's new album and single "The Boys Does Nothing" will be released in November. Alesha says that the album will be finished by September: "I just got back from Paris where I was writing, and I’m going to America at the end of the month to work with a producer. MCing will be on the album and it’s going to be a very colourful, mainstream pop record."
Asylum UK, a division of Atlantic Records UK, has recently announced the signing of Alesha to a worldwide deal (excluding Asia). Managing Director of Asylum UK Ben Cook says that Alesha's "planned collaborations with cutting edge producers such as Xenomania promise some world-class, credible, contemporary pop.” Her manager Malcolm Blair adds that Ben Cook, Max Lousada (president of Atlantic Records UK) and Brian Higgins "share a vision and understand that Alesha is a very special artist". "They are all totally committed to delivering the worldwide success that we know Alesha can achieve.”
--- Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos speaks to BBC 6 Music about Brian Higgins: “Brian’s a really great guy and the stuff that they do down at Xenomania is unique and there’s nobody else really doing stuff like that, but they have a completely different way of working from us. (...) While it was fun to hang out together, it didn’t really work. I still get the odd email from Brian and they’re doing interesting things, but not with us.”
--- Xenomania casting: Xenomania Records are looking for a 16-21-year-old blond female singer to join a new girl band.
Saint Etienne have revealed on the band's newsletter that their new single will in fact be a Xenomania-produced re-make of "Burnt Out Car". The single will precede the release of London Conversations: The Best Of Saint Etienne.
"Burnt Out Car" first appeared in 1996 as a remix version produced by Balearico (a.k.a. Brian Higgins and Matt Gray). Earlier this year, Sarah Cracknell told Popjustice that the song should have been reworked and put out as a single: "(...) there is a track that could benefit from a certain something but mainly because it never came out properly. It's a track called 'Burnt Out Car' which we recorded with Brian Higgins of Xenomania fame. It's just really good and should have been a single and given more of a chance in life."
"Burnt Out Car 2008" is now set for an early September release on CD-S and 7'' vinyl. The single package will include a remix by Mark Brown ("Balearic mix", available on CD2) and three new b-sides: "River" on the 7", "Destroy The Building" and "Night Vision" on CD1.
September will also see the release of Saint Etienne's new compilation entitled London Conversations. It will come in three different editions: -- a condensed, standard 18-track greatest hits; -- a 2-disc set which will include "Lover Plays The Bass" and "This Is Tomorrow" (a new song co-written with Annie and produced by Richard X); -- a 3-disc set in a book cover with a DVD of Saint Etienne's videos.
Click here to pre-order London Conversations: The Best Of Saint Etienne and see the complete track list.
Music Week reports that Xenomania Records has recruited Matt Dixon, former senior product manager at EMI. Some of his recent campaigns at EMI included Corinne Bailey Rae and Hot Chip.
Matt Dixon is now working as Xenomania's label manager alongside head of A&R Sheila Burgel (of Cha Cha Charming fame) in running the company’s roster.
Alesha has once again teamed up with Xenomania. Her new single "The Boy Does Nothing", along with a new album, are due out in the autumn. Alesha says that Brian Higins calls her new single "bottled happiness".
On an interview for the Daily Mail Alesha reveals that she and Brian Higgins started working together prior to her participation in the TV show Strictly Come Dancing.
"He called me at a time when I really needed to hear from him", tells Alesha. "I had been doubting myself, unsure of what I was going to do next. And winning Strictly gave us more energy and ammunition to make the record fantastic. It also made me realise my demographic had changed slightly. I am trying to appeal to a wider audience, so that’s slightly changed the direction of the album."
"But the main thread is my character", she adds. "I want to make people dance. Brian calls my first single “bottled happiness” because it has such a feel-good factor."
This will be Alesha's second solo album. On her debut Fired Up she worked with Xenomania for the single "Knockdown".
Gabriella Cilmi is on the cover of today's The Independent Magazine. "Sweet About Me", which is still sitting in the UK top 10, is dubbed as "the sound of the summer". Brian Higgins says that she has signed a five-album deal with Island Records and that he expects every one to be a "smash hit".
Higgins is interviewed about meeting Gabriella and the process of transforming her into the artist she is now: "I came to meet her in Australia to see if we could get on creatively. At that stage, she had a very wild, untamed voice, and I loved it. But I wanted to see whether there was some songwriting talent to back it up. Fortunately, there was."
Over three years they would meet four times a year on songwriting and recording sessions in Los Angeles, New York and London. Gabriella's determination at first was to become a rock chic, while Higgins was trying to bring out her pop sensibility.
"Let's face it," he says, "a 14-year-old girl trying to sound like Led Zeppelin is always going to look ridiculous. That said, you should hear her version of 'Whole Lotta Love', which she plays live and which is amazing, but for me Gabby works best as a pop singer, and a very good one at that. Her voice is like nobody else's."
Higgins says that Gabriella is "remarkably self-analytical": "'Sweet About Me' took a long time until it became the hit single it deserves to be, and in that time I just watched her become increasingly self-analytical, determined to raise her game, to become a better live performer, to really dig in and give her very best. I've not seen that in many artists, especially such young ones, but Gabby has a champion mentality. And it's this that is going to turn her into a major star. We've signed her to a five-album deal at Island. I confidently expect every one to be a smash hit."
Gabriella Cilmi will be releasing two different singles in Europe and Australia within the next weeks.
The first will be "Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now", in her native Australia. Next Saturday, July 19th, the single will be out with a cover version of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" as a b-side (which Gabriella has been performing on her live shows -- watch a video here). This is the tracklist:
1. Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now 2. Sweet About Me 3. Cry Me A River
"Save The Lies (Good To Me)" will be released in the UK on Monday 18th August. The CD-single will feature a live version of "Sweet About Me" plus "Cry Me A River" and "Fly Me To The Moon" (which, judging by the title, is likely to be another cover). A bundle of remixes of the single will also be available to buy digitally. These are the formats and tracklists:
CD-S 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Sweet About Me – Live Version 3. Cry Me A River 4. Fly Me To the Moon
Digital downloads - EP1 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Kinky Roland mix 3. Mason vocal mix 4. Mason Dub mix 5. Out Of Office club mix 6. Out Of Office dub mix
Digital downloads - EP2 1. Save The Lies (Good To Me) – radio edit 2. Sweet About Me – Live Version 3. Cry Me A River 4. Fly Me To the Moon
Annie's new single is out today. "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" is available on CD-S, 7'' vinyl and as a download. On the 7'' vinyl you'll find on the flipside a brand new Xenomania production named "Danny, Danny" (which you may also buy digitally on iTunes or 7digital).
Now, for a quick round-up of Xenomania-related things that Annie has been talking about in interviews:
- On Brian Higgins/Girls Aloud:
Metro: You worked with Girls Aloud’s producer Brian Higgins on your album. Did you fight over songs? Annie: No, we didn’t do that. Brian’s a brilliant producer. I wrote maybe 300 songs with him. Girls Aloud were recording Can’t Speak French and I was in the other studio doing My Love Is Better. They ended up doing backing vocals for me. We had fun.
Metro: Who’s your favourite member of Girls Aloud? Annie: Sarah and Nicola are both really nice. I heard Sarah likes going out a lot but I didn’t have time for that.
- On Brian Higgins/Alex Kapranos:
“I was working with Brian Higgins [Girls Aloud producer] when he started to work with Franz Ferdinand,” she says. “I wrote two songs, My Love Is Better and Loco, and Alex thought they were great. So he came in and played guitar.”
- On Brian Higgins:
PinkPaper: Now, you’ve worked with Brian Higgins from Xenomania/Girls Aloud fame on this album. We’ve heard he’s quite hot. Discuss. Annie: I think he’s a good-looking man, definitely.
PinkPaper: But straight. Annie: He is, and he also has a very beautiful girlfriend.
"I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me", the lead single from Don't Stop, will be released next Monday, July 14th. The single is available as a Digi-CD with 6 remixes and the video and as a white 7'' wrapped in foldout poster with the b-side "Danny, Danny".
"Danny, Danny" was co-written and produced by Xenomania. Listen to a clip of the song here.
You can pre-order the 7'' in the following stores: HMV, Juno, Rough Trade."Danny Danny" will be available as a digital download next Sunday on 7digital.
The UK grime collective Ruff Sqwad have sampled the intro of Girls Aloud's "Sexy! No No No..." for their new tune "Walking U Home". The sample is played throughout the entire track. Ruff Sqwad have revealed through their MySpace that they are fans of Girls Aloud.
Ruff Sqwad's member Dirty Dangerous produced "Walking U Home" and chose the sample: "He chose that particular song because the sample is bang on the subject that we wanted to get across through our own verses."
Sarah Harding told London Lite that Girls Aloud have already started working on their new album: "I'm really excited about the new album. We're going to start recording it next week. We're writing songs at the moment."
Speaking to the Guardian, Annie voices that she wants people to either hate her music or like her music, as long as they've listened to it. "I want to reach out to people, I definitely want to be heard. If I sold a million records, of course I would like that, but I need - I want people to listen. I spend a lot of time and energy on trying to make really good music, and it's a very personal thing - and you like people to like what you do."
She admits to having deliberately shifted her own compositional strategy to more pop-oriented structures: "I was definitely much more focused on the actual songwriting. On Anniemal, I was very much thinking about the production all the time - I would take three days just to get the bass sounding right - but this time I wanted to make songs which you could put into any context, but the melody would still be amazing."
Guardian writer Alex Macpherson says that in that respect Annie has succeeded and that Annie's new album is "a punchy, hook-laden affair with its fair share of brilliant pop moments". However, he points out that "the replacement of Anniemal's gorgeous, tactile, emotional production with Xenomania's electro-rock thud is a disappointment". "The album's best tracks are the ones in which they are not involved", he adds.
In other Annie news... -- "My Love Is Better" will be released on September 22nd. -- Annie's new web site has been launched today.
On a brief article about Higgins, it is stated that Xenomania has scored more Top 10s than Madonna, Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera and more than Coldplay and U2 combined:
«Not only are they UK pop's most successful songwriting and production team, they're also its most cutting edge. Xenomania has crafted hits with Sugababes, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Kylie, but it's their relationship with Girls Aloud that's proved most enduring, authoring an unbroken run of 17 Top 10 singles and making them the most successful girl group in British history. More remarkably, they've achieved this with music that seems enthralled by pop's potential, sonically pioneering songs that have combined dance, rock and rave and resulted in the group being championed by NME as often as MTV.
Xenomania's five-strong team of writers, musicians and a lyricist is led by Brian Higgins, 40, a former magazine sales director and self-confessed 'work obsessive-compulsive'. Their Midas touch is partly down to his singular working practices: turning their backs on London, the team are based at Higgins's house in the Kent countryside.
Since he believes the best pop songs are 'sincere', the artists are always involved in the exacting writing process, so locals have grown accustomed to spotting Sugababes in the village cake shop, or fitness nut Higgins leading Cheryl Cole on a 7am jog. 'Brian is incredibly driven,' says Cole. 'But music is his life. Everything revolves around it and always has done.'»
This is the complete list of the 20 most powerful celebrity makers:
1. Simon Fuller (Artist Manager) 2. Scott Rudin (Film Producer) 3. Rich Ross (President of the Disney Channel worldwide) 4. Thierry Fremaux (Artistic director of Cannes Film Festival) 5. Stever Stoute (Advertising Guru) 6. Sarah Doukas (Founder of Storm Models) 7. Lindy King (Co-chair of United Agents) 8. Bernd Beetz (CEO, Coty) 9. Margareta Van Den Bosch (Creative Adviser, H&M) 10. Barbara Charone (Music PR) 11. Jon Holmes (Sports talent agent) 12. Steve Coogan and Henry Normal (TV producers) 13. Brian Higgins (Music producer) 14. Alison Howe and Mark Cooper (TV producers) 15. Tracy Anderson (Personal trainer) 16. Claire Powell (Manager of Katie Price and Peter Andre) 17. Julie Mannion (Head of show production at KCD worldwide) 18. Jason Fraser (The A-list's Paparazzo) 19. Rebecca Farnworth (Ghostwriter) 20. Raymond Tooth (Lawyer)
According to Pitchfork, this is Don't Stop's tracklist:
1. My Love Is Better 2. I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me 3. Sweet 4. Loco 5. Bad Times 6. I Can't Let Go 7. Marie Cherie 8. When the Night 9. Heaven and Hell 10. What Do You Want (The Breakfast Song) 11. Take You Home 12. Songs Remind Me of You
Half of Annie's new album has already been leaked onto the Internet. The response to the recently leaked tracks has been generally favorable. Here's what has been written on a few blogs:
SONGS REMIND ME OF YOU
A wonderful, storming throb of electro-electricity, hauntingly thin vocal work, and plenty of minor glitches and bleeps. Put them all together in a glittery blender and hit "pulse." It follows the winning formula that J. Timberlake outlined when "SexyBack" first came out: Create a chorus that could stand on its own. Then, make it your bridge and create an even better chorus. The result is instantly infectious, and a sure-fire win. I'll be unable to forget this one for a long time. I'm thinking ringtone? MuuMuse
this songs reminds me about everything that i love about richard x. i’m weak for synths. and this one is pretty heavy on them from start to end. the chorus is pretty hypnotic. i can imagine ‘and does it hurt to hear your songs on the radio?‘ consuming my head like earworms for weeks to come. so far, stellar. dbc
“Songs Remind Me of You” is a really lovely song that feels (to me at least) like a trance song but has more of a pop song structure, with full verses and a chorus instead of a few words here and there like a trance song would have. It even has a climactic drum buildup followed by an awesome breakdown, which you find all the time in trance music. So this song could act as yet another gateway, this time to bring in more people from the dance music crowd. Annie News Corner
This easily ranks as one of my favourite pop songs ever. The pulsing, ostinato bass line is what makes it so great. Sure, it’s one of pop’s oldest tricks, but God, it works so well. Amazing. 11/10 Glitter Lust
MY LOVE IS BETTER
Fantastic, driving beat that acts as another Aloud track that never was, especially considering this was the axed collaboration effort. It's actually a grower for me. Even though it was solid to begin with, the chorus is getting more playful by the minute each time I listen. It's a lot of sass, "You know you'll never/ Have my hips / I'm so much better / So eat this." Now, now Annie...A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips. Or is that her plan all along for her unnamed arch enemy? Dirty! MuuMuse
“My Love is Better” moves a little bit away from “indie” and moves more toward the mainstream pop sound. It has a powerful sound and the cheeky sort of lyrics that quite a few Annie songs seem to have. It could act as another “gateway song” to win some listeners who are more into mainstream pop music. And it’s not a bad song at all! It isn’t flat or full of empty clichés the way a lot of mainstream pop songs are. Annie News Corner
WHEN THE NIGHT
Here's the ballad. Sounds as if Annie is singing through a single stream of dripping water in the last hour of prom night. An interesting effect that brings Dannii's "Disrememberance" to mind briefly, as well as a droplet of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time." A very pensive, beating track that slips away quickly. I approve. MuuMuse
(...) its early 90s pop balladry sound allows me to recapture some of that times magic. dbc
Annie said she was a huge lover of power ballads, and this is her attempt at one. It makes for a nice little slow song in the midst of what seems to be endless upbeat ones. She sounds very heartfelt here, so it doesn’t veer into cheesy territory. 8/10 Glitter Lust
MARIE CHERIE
A seductive bossa nova-tinged track about a shy little girl that slips away from society. Quite spooky. It works well for Annie's barely-there-vocals, and brings Emma Bunton's cover of "Life In Mono" to mind instantly. Sort of haunting, sort of creepy...yet warm, at the same time. A welcome change from the often overbearing pop ditty-ness of her previous work. A bit...mature, even. MuuMuse
‘marie cherie’ is as cute as perfectly cliched 60s french pop, quite atmospheric and annie’s vocals fit like a glove. but why not sing about the marvelous marie curie instead?! dbc
Another slow burning song about a friend of Annie’s. This, again, makes for a nice breather. Annie’s writing is probably her best here as she tells the story of her friend Marie. Her longing for Marie sounds very sincere, and kind of reminds me of “Jackie Jackie (Spend This Winter With Me)” by Sally Shapiro. 8/10 Glitter Lust
LOCO
Easily one of Annie’s best songs. “Loco” screams summer pleasure. Another thing to note is the noticeable improvement in Annie’s singing since her debut. Her once thin voice has gained some boost over the years, and here it works beautifully. 10/10 Glitter Lust
It's the Girls Aloud track that was never recorded by the girls. "Long Hot Summer" is the most obvious similarity here, but it plays like a true What Will The Neighbours Say? album track. I think this one would be more fun if it were sung by the group, but that's not fair to say really. It's a 8/10'er for me. MuuMuse
‘loco’ and ‘my love is better’ borrow girls aloud’s trademark sound. is that a bad? you loco! quite the contrary. brian higgins is genius. anytime. everytime. not much to be said about his xenomania productions! dbc
Annie employs a jangly guitar (gasp!) riff over a hopping dance beat and soaring synths. Of course, it 1000% works. Not that there were any doubts, mind you. It's funny, but one does not usually associate guitars with Annie, thus evidence that her music isn't just rehashed bubble-gum pop from 2005. Nope, homegirl is putting out some nice tracks. Olga Loves Yuri
I’ve listened to this song approximately 25 times in a row. I don’t know what it is: the driving synth beat, the post-punk mopey guitars or Annie’s sweet voice. But if I could transform this song into a pop-bliss serum and enter it intravenously, I would. gideon bullock
"Loco" is a bit glossier than Annie's other Richard X-produced efforts, tempering the mid-'80s electropop feel for a smoother sound with slippery vocals that bring to mind Girls Aloud and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Is that a complaint? Not at all; I can see this being an even more formidable summer-jam candidate than "I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me," even. (Plus any song that has a stuttery guitar-solo outro is 100% fine by me.) Idolator
Xenomania is a songwriting and production house based in Kent, England. It was founded by songwriter and producer Brian Higgins.
Since 1996, Xenomania have written, produced and remixed tracks for a string of successful artists including Girls Aloud, Pet Shop Boys, Sugababes, Dannii and Kylie Minogue, Saint Etienne, Cher, Gabriella Cilmi and many others.
Brooke X (a.k.a. Brooke Gengras) is an American singer. She's been a member of bands such as the soul-influenced Rider and Lez Zeppelin (yes, an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band -- she has even been named "Roberta Plant"). Brooke has recently been in England working with Xenomania on her debut solo album.
