The Will Young album is almost indescribably brilliant

Story filed Monday, 11 July 2011

 

 

We've become completely obsessed with the new Will Young album - or six songs from it, at least - since it arrived in the post last week.

 

Listening to it on repeat has been the easy bit, although while the songs are all very elegant and confident and electronic (but also warm) and very instantly among Will's best ever, it's proved surprisingly hard to put into words just how amazing it all is, and why that amazingness has proved so irresistible. But amazing this album certainly is. These are our iTunes star ratings, for a start, and you know us well enough by now to know that we do NOT mess around when it comes to the purity of the iTunes star rating.

 

 

 

Our favourite song off the sampler is 'Silent Valentine' (which sounds like a very sad Christmas) while the Bronski Beat-esque 'Losing Myself' seems to be the song that best joins the dots between this album and the Groove Armada collaboration that set the wheels for this whole new sound in motion.

 

Some bits off the press release:

 

» Album release: August 22.

» Single release: August 21.

» It's coming out on the 10th anniversary of Will's first Pop Idol audition.

» Richard X has produced the whole thing.

» Will's been writing with Jim Eliot (amazing), Andy Groove Armada (amazing) and Pascal Gabriel (amazing).

» According to the press release, "the sweeping strings and key changes of his hit ballads have made way for synthesised melody, towards something sparer and more controlled. ‘I had to learn to undo my musical muscle memory,' he explains. ‘To allow space into the music.'" (It's basically the perfect comedown album.)

 

Here's the single, which got its radio debut this morning.

 

 

 

Please note that while we usually worship at the altar of the radio edit, the album version of the single is in fact a little bit better, partly simply because it goes on a little bit longer but also because the intro unfolds with more power.

 

Basically, the remaining seven songs could be the sound of Will Young swinging a toaster around his head and this would still be one of the albums of the year.

 

Here's the full tracklisting.

 

1. Jealousy

2. Come On

3. Lie Next To Me

4. I Just Want A Lover

5. Runaway

6. Outsider

7. Silent Valentine

8. Losing Myself

9. Personal Thunder

10. Hearts On Fire

11. Happy Now

12. Good Things

13. Safe From Harm

 

Hurrah

 

I thought this deserved it's own thread :cheer:

 

 

http://www.popjustice.com/

 

 

It certainly does.

 

Think Mr PJ is even more excited than we are. :yahoo:

 

5* review from what sounds like a 5* album. :w00t: :w00t: :yahoo:

Edited July 11, 201114 yr by truly talented

This definitely deserves it's own thread - what a stonking review that is - can't wait for this to come out eeeekk :yahoo:

 

Basically, the remaining seven songs could be the sound of Will Young swinging a toaster around his head and this would still be one of the albums of the year

Oh my :wub:

 

Please note that while we usually worship at the altar of the radio edit, the album version of the single is in fact a little bit better, partly simply because it goes on a little bit longer but also because the intro unfolds with more power.

 

Guessed it might be.

 

Thanks Sunday.

Edited July 11, 201114 yr by munchkin

Just read these comments from Nic over the road.

 

It's incredible I follow Popjustice regularly for album reviews and such and like they say and let me tell you if they think that 6 out of those 7 songs are bona fide FIVE STAR songs then they must be bloody AMAZING because they are HARD to please

 

Even their favourite album of the year Gaga, didn't have so many bona fide FIVE STAR ratings

http://www.popjustice.com/index.php?opt ... 6&Itemid=9

 

Ahem getting carried away, but SO excited now! Ladies this might be the album of the year, if PopJustice can rate it so highly

 

Could never have dared dreamed of such a response. :wub: :wub: Where's the happy/cry emotion?

Edited July 11, 201114 yr by truly talented

I think the guys at Popjustice are mighty pleased with Echoes don't you think? :cheer: and believe me, they don't throw their 5* awards around unless they mean it. I'm desperate to hear all these tracks. :dancing:

Thought this needed bumping up as it was in danger of falling off the first page & we can't have that. :P