Pet Shop Boys' new single premieres on February 9th
Posted at
8:56 PM,
28 January 2009
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 The new Pet Shop Boys single, "Love etc.", will get its first exclusive play on radio on BBC Radio 2's Ken Bruce Show between 9.30 am and 12 noon on February 9th.
"Love etc." will be the first taste of Pet Shop Boys' new album Yes. The album will be released on March 23rd, following the new single, which is coming out on March 16 and is described by the band as «a post-lifestyle anthem which sounds like nothing we’ve done before».
This week's issue of Music Week magazine previews "Love etc." in its playlist: «A combination that sounds as good on the ear as it does on paper. Pet Shop Boys and Xenomania get the new album campaign off to a very strong start». PopJustice has also written extensively about the single («it's the first Pet Shop Boys single in ages that takes a few listens before it clicks but, in classic Xenomania fashion, when you do get your ahead around it the whole thing sounds totally sensible») and the album («a big, happy, sad, modern-sounding proper pop album»).
Yes was produced by Brian Higgins/Xenomania. Xenomania co-wrote three tracks ("Love Etc", "More Than a Dream", "The Way It Used to Be") with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.
The album also features collaborations with former Smith’s guitarist Johnny Marr (who was in the supergroup Electronic with Tennant), as well as string arrangements by Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett (on "Beautiful People" and "Legacy").
Yes is the follow-up to 2006's Fundamental. The Pet Shop Boys will be honored with the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the Brit Awards.
This is the album's track list:
01 Love Etc.
02 All Over the World
03 Beautiful People
04 Did You See Me Coming?
05 Vulnerable
06 More Than a Dream
07 Building a Wall
08 King of Rome
09 Pandemonium
10 The Way It Used to Be
11 LegacyLabels: Johnny Marr, Pet Shop Boys
Gabriella Cilmi is moving closer to r&b
Posted at
6:26 PM,
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 Speaking to The Daily Star, Gabriella Cilmi revealed that her new material is «sounding more R&B». She is writing a new album with Xenomania, Invisible Men and Eg White.
«I toyed with rap on one of my current songs "Save The Lies". It didn’t really work out, but it hasn’t put me off. I’m going to give it another go for sure», she said.
«I've been listening to a lot of Blondie too, especially their song "Rapture". It's a direction I’m keen to continue with, but I’ve only written a couple of tracks with Brian Higgins so far, so it’s too early to really say».
Gabriella told the Herald Sun that new songs may also be a bit darker: «I'm finding it hard to write about light-hearted things now. I wrote a lot of fun tunes on my last record, but the new songs are a little dark and twisted».
Meanwhile, Gabriella is currently being launched in the United States, after receiving a Brit Award nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist (she's up against Beyoncé, Pink, Santogold and Kate Perry). Lessons To Be Learned is scheduled for an American release March 17, 2009.Labels: Gabriella Cilmi
Miranda Cooper interview @ Tatler magazine
Posted at
12:01 PM,
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 Miranda Cooper was interviewed for last August's edition of Tatler magazine. You can read the full interview here.
A few things you may learn from the interview:
-- she is the daughter of a former director of royal jewellers Asprey;
-- she is married;
-- her sister Rebecca is an opera singer;
-- back when she was a dancer she was spotted by Dannii Minogue at a dance studio. Then she was in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest as a backing dancer for Gina G;
-- after she stopped dancing, she went into TV presenting and then met Brian Higgins;
-- when Radio 1 saw her photos (as Moonbaby), in a jacuzzi with a bottle of champagne, they said: "Oh, she's some dolly bird, she hasn't written the stuff";
-- "Call The Shots" was written in Hôtel Costes in Paris and the Mondrian in LA;
-- Miranda says that Girls Aloud are Xenomania's muses: "We've covered practically every genre. I think they've had a musical education through us";
-- the "Xenomania ducks" are mallards. A few months ago there were only two: Edmund and Josephine. They have since multiplied.Labels: Girls Aloud, interviews, Miranda Cooper, pictures, press, Xenomania ducks
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The new Pet Shop Boys single, "Love etc.", will get its first exclusive play on radio on BBC Radio 2's Ken Bruce Show between 9.30 am and 12 noon on February 9th.
