Spectrum (Westlife album)

Spectrum
Studio album by Westlife
Released	15 November 2019 (2019-11-15)
Length	36:15
Label	Virgin EMI
Producer	Steve Mac, Ed Sheeran, James Bay, Ryan Tedder, Jamie Scott
Westlife chronology
The Farewell Tour: Live at Croke Park (2012) Spectrum (2019)
Westlife studio album chronology
Gravity (2010) Spectrum (2019)
Singles from Spectrum
"Hello My Love" Released: 10 January 2019 "Better Man" Released: 29 March 2019 "Dynamite" Released: 5 July 2019 "My Blood" Released: 25 October 2019 "Without You" Released: 14 November 2019

Spectrum is the upcoming eleventh studio album and thirteenth major album release by Irish boy band Westlife, scheduled to be released on 15 November 2019 through Virgin EMI Records. It will include the singles "Hello My Love", "Better Man", "Dynamite", and "My Blood" and feature collaborations with Ed Sheeran, Steve Mac, Ryan Tedder, Camille Purcell, and James Bay. It will be their first major album to be released in eight years, first studio album in nine years, and their first album under Universal Music Group and Virgin EMI.

Background, concept, development, and release

After releasing their second Greatest Hits album and tour dates and announcing their breakup in 2011 and their last appearance together in 2012, several rumours about Westlife reuniting and making new music surfaced. On 23 September 2018, several Irish news outlets reported that the group has been signed to Universal Music Group and Virgin EMI Records for a new record deal. On 3 October 2018, the group formally announced on their official social media accounts that there would be new music coming soon. According to reports they had been preparing for the comeback for the previous twelve months. Group member Mark Feehily also said in 2017 that he hoped to get them all together for a proper catch-up. Band members Nicky Byrne and Shane Filan stated about their reunion, "We still have a lot that we want to achieve as a band and we want to bring our new music to fans all over the world" and "While we were away, we realised what Westlife really meant to the fans — and to us." The album remained unnamed and the number of tracks in the album, which is eleven, were not revealed until the 12th of April 2019, the twentieth anniversary of their first record release "Swear It Again". This is their first eleven-track major album release since The Love Album in 2006.

The album was recorded in Dublin, London, and Los Angeles with the band saying it "has everything that we love in music, heartfelt emotional songs and also great uptempos that are designed for our stadium performances". They also explained that they "couldn't be happier with how the last few months in the studio have gone". The title, Spectrum, was chosen because the band said that it is a metaphor for "the various shades and colours of our personalities, vocals and general perspectives" that they feel "somehow join to work perfectly", "it came from us talking about how we feel younger, happier and more energetic than we ever have in our career." On 24 May 2019, they revealed their new Spectrum, "is a mix of old and new sound".

Band manager Louis Walsh also said in separate interviews that the most important things now are the songs, and that it will function as an introduction to their new sound, adding: "I was just waiting for them to decide when. There were record deals on the table, but the icing on the cake was Ed Sheeran writing these amazing songs for them, as well as having Steve Mac, who produced their early songs, on track too." [...] "Sheeran's input adds a contemporary edge", "I've heard the first two songs and they are just incredible." The band added, "The first two songs we’ve done are just incredible songs, with incredible lyrics and melodies. Steve Mac is one of our longest and most influential producers we’ve had throughout our entire career. He’s done most of our biggest hits and has worked previously with Ed on "Shape of You". One day Ed went in the studio and said ‘I just want to write Westlife songs’. It’s been a truly organic coupling. He also played the guitar to Westlife's Greatest hits album and the band's single "Flying Without Wings" when he was ten.” Mac and Sheeran also wrote with four tracks for the band, with one being an uptempo anthem. Some had been in the works since 2016. Mac stated that the band's "signature sound" would return, "There’s a few songs at the moment. We’re not sure how many will end up on the album. It just was fantastic getting back with [Westlife] and having that first meeting … I wanted to get back in there and all the feelings came back and the key changes come out and the gospel choirs … it’s gonna be great."

Feehily and Filan adding: "We're not trying to change Westlife's sound, we're trying to evolve [...] We need to be a Westlife 2.0, a better version of ourselves. We wanted to come back and recreate Westlife's sound, but better, and be a better band, and the most important thing about any band is music." "We’re trying to make the best album we’ve ever made", "We’re all driven by trying to create the best album of our careers. Our fans deserve the very best version of Westlife possible and with this album we feel that we’ve achieved that.", "We’d love to have an album ready for [2019] but in saying that, we’re entering into ‘Westlife 2.0’ and it’s about doing it right, and if it’s ready it’ll be ready." and "We’ve already begun recording a new album and we’re really excited about the few songs we’ve already done, so we just can’t wait to get back out and finish it as soon as possible." Filan said they have been recording new songs since July 2018. Walsh stated that the band would be back in recording studios in January 2019 but in December 2018, social media posts surfaced that showed the group was working with Daniel Davidsen and Peter Wallevik. Wallevik also posted names of people the band were working with, including JC Stewart, Jordan Thomas, and Ed Drewett. The band also worked with Carl Falk and James Bay.

As of January 2019, Filan said: "We’ve only got three songs recorded, so we have to get another probably ten [recorded]." On 13 April 2019, Walsh said that he believes there is at least half a dozen hits on the new album to the Irish Independent. The group added, "Hello My Love" has been so popular, it’s even affecting our potential single choice for the third single, the fourth single…" and "Our new music is definitely at the level which we wanted to come back with so it’s up to the fans." In April 2019, they said nine songs had been recorded. One song entitled, "Anywhere", a 3-minute long "feel-good love song" written by Sheeran and produced by Mac is slated to be included in the track listing but was later confirmed not to be included in the actual track listing. In May 2019, Egan told in an interview that eight to nine songs they recorded where Sheeran all co-wrote. On their 7 June 2019 interview on This Morning, Filan said they recorded six songs co-written by Sheeran. In 29 July 2019 interview by the Official Charts Company of Feehily, he added: "One of them is just a very cool tip of the hat to Celtic music. It's very contemporary but it's got a Celtic fusion side to it. I had a song on my album Fire called 'Sanctuary' which sampled Clannad but it had more a pop/hip-hop beat to it. It's kind of in the same world as that. It's cool, edgy and contemporary." The first two singles released have gained 200 million streams globally so far as of July 2019. The tracks have also been the band’s most successful radio records. Hello My Love has had over 30,000 plays at UK radio to an audience of 275 million, and is one of the most played songs of 2019 on BBC Radio 2. Over 300 million global streams on first 3 singles of this album across all platforms.

Band member Kian Egan said the album is already "done" and "in the bag" in 24 September 2019. They added in an exclusive interview by Smooth Radio in 10 October 2019, "We spent 14 months making this album, which is the longest we’ve ever spent making an album. And there’s 11 songs on the album. And yeah, you know, there were songs that were really, really great songs that we felt just didn’t make the cut, because we wanted every song on this album to be a potential single – not that we’ll release 11 songs, but we plan to release more singles, obviously, off this album, even after Christmas next year, running up into Wembley Stadium. So there’s probably going to be more singles released off this album than we’ve ever released off an album, hence the quality that we feel is the strongest. We do feel this is one of our best albums, if not our best album, quality-wise. We’re in a great position."

The said collaborations above didn't made the cut in the album tracklist except for Bay ("Repair", "Without You"), McCutcheon ("Better Man", "Dynamite", "Hello My Love", "L.O.V.E", "My Blood", "One Last Time", "Repair", "Take Me There", "Without You"), and Sheeran ("Better Man", "Dynamite", "Hello My Love", "My Blood", "One Last Time"). There are songwriting appearances from Alex Charles ("Another Life"), Luka Kloser ("Dance"), Camille Purcell ("L.O.V E", "Take Me There"), Zach Skelton, Casey Smith, Ryan Tedder ("Dance"), and Tom Williams ("Another Life"). This is their first Westlife album appearances except for McCutcheon, who appeared on nine out of eleven studio albums by the band as a songwriter or producer and for Tedder since the band's Where We Are album in 2009 with the tracks "Shadows" and "Where We Are" which he co-wrote and produced. Two songs from the album ("L.O.V E", "Take Me There") were co-written by Feehily and Filan. This is the band member's songwriting appearances since "Beautiful World" and "Last Mile of the Way" from their second Greatest Hits album in 2011 and their first appearances together since their 2010 studio album Gravity tracks "Closer" and "Too Hard to Say Goodbye".

The full-length album will be released on 15 November 2019, after being moved from its initial planned release date of 6 September and 8 November. In the initial official postings of the release dates of the album, 25 December 2020 and 1 January 2020 were published from unknown reasons. It will be released on CD, and vinyl, as well as a digital download, and for streaming. The album, in CD and/or vinyl formats, are also bundled with their official t-shirt and/or their official tote bag.

It is their first studio album to be released in vinyl format. On 2 October 2019, it is announced that they will release a limited box set edition of the album. There are two versions of the album, standard and deluxe and two bonus tracks in the Japanese version of the album. It is available for pre-order since the day of the announcement. On 24 October 2019, the length of the tracks number five to eleven were revealed. On 30 October 2019, a social post by Byrne was seen signing five-thousand copies of the album, as a limited version, that they released in their official site in October 2018, but was taken down a minute later. On 2 November 2019, the titles of tracks number five to eleven were officially published. The album is the "Album of the Week" of BBC Radio 2 for a specific November 2019 week. The station will play every new songs from the album everyday on that said week. On 12 November 2019, they confirmed in a video they posted on their social accounts that the album contains three ballads and the song "Take Me There" is uptempo. Their first recorded song for the album was "Better Man" and the last one was recorded just a week in Dublin before the video interview was done. One day before the album release, they published "Without You".

Release and promotion

The album pre-order became available on 12 April. Their first confirmed guest appearances after the album release are on BBC Children in Need on 15 November 2019, Strictly Come Dancing on 17 November 2019 and on Idol on 6 December 2019. This is their first live promotion appearance in Sweden since 2009. This is their first live television performances in the said UK television shows since 2011, eight years ago.

Singles

The album's lead single, "Hello My Love", was released on 10 January 2019 with its music video on 11 January 2019. It reached number two in Ireland and Scotland, and is their highest charting on their official singles charts since "What About Now" in 2009, ten years ago. The single stayed at number one for two weeks on the UK Physical Chart, the group's highest charting since their 2006 single, "The Rose".

The second single, "Better Man", was released on 29 March 2019 alongside its music video. It became the band's second number-one on the UK Physical Singles Chart and reached number two on the UK Singles Sales Chart and Scottish Singles Chart.

The third single, "Dynamite", was released on 5 July 2019. The music video was shot in Arena Birmingham in the United Kingdom and in Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland where they performed the song live for the first time.

The fourth single, "My Blood", was announced on 14 September 2019 and released on 25 October 2019. It is was written by Mac and Sheeran, who co-wrote the most streamed song on Spotify, "Shape of You", as well as "Woman Like Me" by Little Mix, and "Thursday" by Jess Glynne. Mac previously wrote the band's number-one hits "Swear It Again" and "World of Our Own", while it is the fourth song released by the band written by Sheeran. In an interview with Daily Star on 13 September 2019, Byrne explained: "It's about growing up, it's a love song. You can see Ed is talking about being a parent and watching your child grow up and giving them the best tools to deal with life like bullying." A teaser from the music video, its track length and number in the album, and parts of the lyrics were announced on 21 October 2019. Another music video teaser with caption "Dedicated to our children and yours" and instrumental from the song were released on 22 October 2019. On 23 October 2019, two separate teasers that primarily involves Egan and Filan and their children were released. On the same day, BBC Radio 2 have released its playlist for the week and the single premiered as B-List and as the Record of the Week. Its release date is on 25 October 2019, moved from its first announced date of 18 October 2019, sourced from Daily Mirror. On the same day, the teasers with the parts of Byrne and Feehily were released in their social accounts and a preview of the video were released in Lorraine. Filming for the music video began on 14 September 2019 in Bray, Ireland and it features the band members' children. The full music video was published on the band's YouTube page on the day of the song's release. Video peaked at #2 in trending lists in the UK and Ireland. "My Blood" ended up peaking at number ninety-six on the UK Singles Chart, and number twelve in the UK Singles Sales Chart. It is their 30th top 100 hit. It also peaked at number six on the Scottish Singles Chart and number forty-six on the Irish Singles Chart. It also peaked at number four in the Irish Digital Songs Sales Chart and number twenty in the Euro Digital Sales Chart. It was featured in 151 Spotify playlists.

Touring

Main articles: The Twenty Tour and Stadiums in the Summer Tour

Westlife embarked on their thirteenth concert tour titled The Twenty Tour, which began in May and will conclude in September 2019. The first leg started in Belfast on 22 May 2019 at the SSE Arena before moving throughout mainland Europe and concluding in Dublin at Croke Park on 6 July 2019. The second leg began on 24 July at the IMPACT Arena in Bangkok, Thailand and continues throughout the Asia with multiple dates at each venue. A new concert tour was released and was called, "Stadiums in the Summer", their fourteenth one. The tour will conclude on 29 August 2020 in Cork, Ireland.

Track listing

Adapted from Apple Music.

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hello My Love" (lead vocals: Filan, Feehily, Byrne, Egan)	Edward Sheeran Steve McCutcheon	3:36
2.	"Better Man" (lead vocals: Filan, Egan, Feehily, Byrne)	Sheeran Wayne Hector McCutcheon Frederik Gibson	3:17
3.	"My Blood" (lead vocals: Filan, Feehily)	Sheeran Hector McCutcheon	3:18
4.	"Dynamite" (lead vocals: Filan, Feehily, Egan, Byrne)	Sheeran McCutcheon	3:32
5.	"Dance"	Luka Kloser Ryan Tedder Casey Smith Zach Skelton	2:45
6.	"One Last Time"	Sheeran McCutcheon	2:55
7.	"Take Me There"	Mark Feehily Shane Filan Camille Purcell McCutcheon	3:25
8.	"Repair"	James Bay McCutcheon	3:07
9.	"Without You" (lead vocals: Filan, Egan, Feehily, Byrne)	James Arthur Hector McCutcheon	3:39
10.	"L.O.V.E"	Feehily Filan Purcell McCutcheon	2:53
11.	"Another Life"	Alexander Charles Thonas Williams	3:49
Total length:			36:15

Japanese bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Dynamite" (Midnight Mix)	4:48
13.	"Hello My Love" (John Gibbons Remix)	3:31
Total length:		44:23

Deluxe edition bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hello My Love" (music video)	3:45
2.	"Better Man" (music video)	3:18
3.	"Dynamite" (music video)	3:38
Total length:		10:43

Release history

Region	Release date	Format	Label
Various	15 November 2019	CD digital download streaming vinyl	Universal Music Group, Virgin EMI