Well, it's been a long time coming, but the fruits of the collaboration between Britain's biggest ever selling female artist Dame Shirley Bassey and the Manic Street Preachers are with us - and it's pretty great.

 

Sounding just like a latter-day Manics single but featuring probably our finest living voice, Dame Shirl, 'The Girl From Tiger Bay' is about Bassey's humble beginnings in Cardiff's rough Tiger Bay - now bulldozed over to make way for the yuppie-heaven Cardiff Bay, home of Cardiff's Millennium Centre.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH-AvvZ296U

 

Also helping out on writing duties on her first new album in over 20 years are Pet Shop Boys, Rufus Wainwright, KT Tunstall, Gary Barlow and David Arnold, who produces it - so expect some fabulous Bond-like numbers. 'The Performance' is out November 9th, and if it's anything like as great as her single from a few years ago, 'The Living Tree', then we're in for a treat.

 

Here's some of the people involved in the making of the record speaking about it...

http://www.youtube.com/user/dameshirleybassey#p/a

 

Heard the song on Radio 2 saturday afternoon, very VERY good track.

She was phenomenal on the Electric Proms last night, too, loving the track written for her by Richard Hawley - and the one by Pet Shop Boys, too.

I finally heard "The Girl From Tiger Bay" in full last night, and it has a perfect autumnal feel to it (reminding me of Kylie Minogue's "Some Kind Of Bliss" -- for obvious reasons!). Every time I listen to it, the song makes me smile, yet the reminiscing tone almost brings a tear to my eye.

 

One of the classiest songs in recent memory.

Edited October 26, 200915 yr by diditagain

Check YouTube for the full Electric Proms gig - just...incredible, really.