No news is good news I guess, at least when it comes to word on UK singer/songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. It seems like I’d been waiting an eternity for solid, reliable word on exactly WHEN Ellis-Bextor would be releasing her 4th studio album. Sure, there were snippets of news and random interviews, but nothing official from her label – that is, until last week when we were hit with a SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR bomb! New single AND new album, all in a little over a month! AMAZING!
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Starlight by PurplePR
Ellis-Bextor will release her new single, the Richard X-produced “Starlight,” on June 6th, followed by her new album – Make A Scene on the same day! Give me a moment. I NEED A MOMENT! You see, I’ve been following Sophie Ellis-Bextor since my first trip to London. My first stop once I landed, was a Borders. In that borders, I picked up three albums: Dannii Minogue‘s Neon Nights, Celine Dion‘s All The Way…A Decade of Song and Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s Read My Lips. Sophie wasn’t entirely new to me, as I had been obsessing over Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder On The Dancefloor” video throughout college as well as the videos for “Take Me Home,” “Get Over You,” and “Music Gets The Best of Me.” Almost instantly I fell in love with her super model looks, that sexy posh accent, not to mention the disco-pop vibe of her music.
Ellis-Bextor’s sophomore album, Shoot From The Hip came out just after I graduated college and I remember stopping in the Virgin Megastore on Michigan Avenue to pick it up. That Virgin ALWAYS had a great selection of import singles and albums, so I knew it was the place to go. 2007 saw the release of Ellis-Bextor’s third album, Trip The Light Fantastic. By this point I was living in Boston and ordered the album online from CD WOW. While I love each of her albums, when it comes down to it, they have all paled in comparison to the original. Read My Lips was consistently good with virtually NO filler. While Read My Lips will always be my favorite Ellis-Bextor album, from what I’ve heard of Make A Scene, I think I might have a 2nd favorite.
“Starlight” deserves to be a hit. Co-penned by Sophie along with Hannah Robinson and Richard X, “Starlight” takes her trademark electro-pop sound and puts it on ice. It’s chilled and light – the perfect Springtime dance anthem! Co-writing many of the album’s tracks, Sophie teamed up with a team of talented writers and producers, including Freemasons, Greg Kurstin, Calvin Harris, Cathy Dennis, Metronomy, Richard X and Armin Van Buuren.
So far, three singles have been released off the album and two of them were produced by UK electronica outfit, Freemasons. “Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)” was released in June of 2009 where it peaked at #13 on the UK Singles chart. The follow up to “Heartbreak” was also a Freemasons-produced number called “Bittersweet,” released nearly a year later. That single only managed to peak at #25 on the UK charts. Sophie’s third single, “Not Giving Up On Love,” was technically Dutch trance producer/DJ Armin van Buuren‘s single but the song appears on both Make A Scene and van Buuren’s Mirage album. The single peaked at #165 on the UK Singles chart. While none of the singles have really sparkled on the UK charts, they are doing amazingly well in Eastern Europe. “Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)” went all the way to #2 on the Russian Singles charts, while “Bittersweet” hit #3 over in Poland. Third single, “Not Giving Up On Love” peaked at #3 in Russia and #1 in Poland. Here’s hoping “Starlight” makes more of an impression on the UK charts.
Sophie will be touring the UK this summer, joining Erasure and Bryan Ferry so if you’re lucky enough to live over there across the pond, please go! I, meanwhile, must go pre-order my import version of Make A Scene and live vicariously through all of you lucky Brits. *SIGH* Listen to “Starlight” up above and catch the video for “Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)” below. (via MuuMuse)