The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
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| Posted: 18 Nov 2011 06:18 AM PST Operatic pop group Il Divo moves ahead with a cinematic sound on its new album Wicked Game. IT played out like a Bella Swan fantasy when I found myself in a swanky hotel room at Hong Kong's Four Seasons with some of the most handsome men I've ever met. And no, I haven't been selected to appear on The Bachelorette. And far from vying for my affections, the members of the operatic pop group Il Divo were chatting rather merrily among themselves. One can dream, though. In fact, a journalist before me had emerged from the room gushing about how distractingly handsome they were. Well, the group isn't called Il Divo ("divine male performer" in Italian) for nothing, you know. Formed in London, they are a multinational vocal group created by millionaire music mogul and reality TV star Simon Cowell. In 2001, detecting a worldwide trend of a growing appreciation for classical music, Cowell embarked on a project to assemble a quartet of young, attractive male singers who would perform classical and other lyrical music. Cowell conducted a two-year, worldwide search ultimately finding David Miller (United States), Carlos Marín (Spain), Urs Bühler (Switzerland) and Sébastien Izambard (France). Since emerging in 2004, Il Divo has sold over 13 million albums, and received over 100 gold and platinum awards around the world. Not much has been heard about the quartet since the release of its last album The Promise in 2008. But fret not, the guys are back and better than ever with their spanking new album Wicked Game. They seem pretty happy about it too, spilling sporadic verses of song as they divulge details of their latest record. "It took us two years to put it together and we're very proud of it. It took us a long time simply because we don't want to repeat ourselves and become boring and predictable. For us, if we don't get excited about our record, then it's difficult to share that with an audience," said Izambard, 38. He added that the 10-track album features a variety of songs. The title track, Wicked Game, is originally a Chris Isaak single that became a hit after it was featured in David Lynch's 1990 film, Wild At Heart. "We weren't allowed to record Wicked Game initially," revealed Izambard. "But Chris's mother, who is Italian and also a fan of Il Divo, thought we should give it a go. We ended up doing an Italian version of it and everybody really liked it and that was how it ended up on our album." The record also comprises tracks from some of the biggest movies of all time. "One of my favourite songs has got to be Come What May from Moulin Rouge, the movie. I also like Don't Cry For Me Argentina from the movie Evita. I like how dramatic the songs are and how everything is arranged." True to the group's multi-national origins, Il Divo sings in English, Italian, Spanish, French and Latin. In Malaysia, Il Divo's self-titled debut in 2004 sold more than 30,000 copies, while the next three albums have sold a combined 85,000 units. Combining their unique sounds and talents, Izambard says the group's members have taken a more cinematic approach with Wicked Game. "I think it also shows a new dimension of the group. For me, it marks the start of a new direction for us. It also allows us more room to assert our individual styles in the album. Whereas in the past, it was more about making sure that each one of us sings as much as the other ..." "You all think that's true?" Miller, 38, interjected as a chorus of sardonic laughter filled the room. I was pretty sure the American was on his way to getting a latte too, as his loquacious band-mate Izambard blithered on about his favourite tracks on the record. Alas, Miller asserted that the album's concept grew as an organic process. "We recorded a selection of songs in Italy but when we heard them back, only a couple of those songs had any value to what we were doing and the rest just didn't fit. So we basically had to scrap the whole thing and start over. There was just a general feeling of really wanting to find new ground for Il Divo," explained Miller. "We were looking for new ways to present our sounds and as time went on, we started to see how all these songs were coming together and how the album was going to feel, and how this new direction was really starting to take shape." He added that the cinematic approach also fits their voices better. "The first album was more of an experiment. We were like: Maybe if we put on some drums it'll sound more like a pop song, or hey, we'll do this song kind of cinematically and we'll do another song like a musical theatre number. It was kind of all over the place," he admitted. Wicked Game possesses a cohesiveness the group's previous albums lacked, Miller revealed. It is also backed by a full orchestra. "So when we give 110% at the end of a track that has a big ending for example, we have horns and cellos to support it and that really matches our vocals better than just turning up the drums." Despite the group's signature vocal prowess and orchestral themes, Miller said they are no custodians of classical music. "Technically, what we're singing is pop music, but we treat pop as if it were classical music and we take it to a different place. We're not really making classical music relevant, we're just adding elements of classical music to pop and giving it an extra dimension. "I think classical music is what it is because the beauty of its compositions are timeless. Take Mozart for example – there's a reason why people are still recording it and listening to it. It's because his music was a genius piece of art and people still connect with it on an emotional level." Judging from this interview, Il Divo sure sounds like a bunch of pretty easy going guys. So why do most of their records sound so ... sad? "So sad?!" they responded simultaneously, sounding almost exasperated. Bühler, whose sonorous voice and killer stare nearly had me in a state of star-struck stupor begged to differ. "I'll have to disagree!" he exclaimed. "Take songs like Come What May and Time To Say Goodbye, for instance. They have got a bit of a sad message to them but I think they're rather uplifting tunes in general. Wicked Game is really a very positive album. "Well, it's definitely happier than the last. I think anything compared to our previous album (The Promise) is a happier album," Bühler said with a laugh. He added Wicked Game is their best effort yet. "We make continuous efforts to bring out the best. Like all our previous albums, we've been looking for great music and trying it to give it our own face, our own interpretation, and sing it as beautifully and as passionately as we can." Bühler, 40, assured that the band has undergone none of that manufactured engineering that has taken over the music industry. "It's not like somebody's masterminding or planning what we should sound like on our records. We've all been musicians for years and we each have a different musical identity. We bring that to the studio and just let that flow into a piece of music and what comes out is what you'll hear on the album. It's really a combined effort by all four of us, our hearts, our souls and our love for music – that's what makes us Il Divo." Marín, 43, who has remained quiet for most of the interview added: "The good thing about the group is all four of us are different, we are from different countries, have different styles, and obviously, we all think in different ways. There's a different flavour to each of our voices and that's what makes our music unique." What is his own style? "Me? Oh, you mean my curls?" he asked, looking slightly confounded before bursting into a loud laugh. To the group, Marín said he simply brings in his voice. "And maybe some romance for the single girls out there as I'm the only single one in the group." ■ Il Divo's Wicked Game is released by Sony Music Malaysia. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2011 03:31 AM PST AMERICAN indie pop outfit Foster the People is set to kick off next year's international concert diary here with a bang. The Los Angeles-based act plays the KL Convention Centre on Jan 13. Formed in 2009, the Foster The People trio - Mark Foster (vocals, synthesisers, guitar), Mark Pontius (drums/percussion) and Cubbie Fink (bass/vocals) - has emerged as one of the top indie acts of the year with its crossover hits "Pumped Up Kicks", "Houdini" and "Helena Beat". The group's debut album "Torches", released by Sony Music, is a feast of harmonised vocals, 1980s synth-pop beats, psychedelic pop and dance rock. Foster The People's music career, already growing steadily with MTV support and European music festival appearances, went into mainstream overdrive with the crossover success of "Pumped Up Kicks" in May this year. The band's upcoming Kuala Lumpur concert is its second Asian date in January (after Jakarta) before it heads off to play Singapore, Japan and shows in New Zealand and Australia for the Big Day Out festival. Foster The People's concert in KL is organised by PR Worldwide. Tickets, which range RM95, RM135 and RM185, are available at (www.ticketpro.com.my) and Rock Corner and Victoria Music outlets in the Klang Valley. Hotline: 03-7880-7999. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Gym Class Heroes grow up, get serious on new album Posted: 17 Nov 2011 05:10 PM PST LOS ANGELES, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Gym Class Heroes has graduated from party life to adulthood on their latest album, "The Papercut Chronicles II," a follow-up to their first CD after three records of anthems to youth, rebellion and just plain having fun. Lead singer Travie McCoy said the new album represents a sort of coming-of-age for the band with songs about moving ahead after lost loves and thinking more deeply about topics such as how a rock star life is not always glamorous. "It's about...thinking about the bigger picture rather than the smaller things," McCoy told Reuters. "I'm 30. We've all grown up now, some of us have kids." Along with McCoy, the New York band features drummer Matt McGinley, guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts. They released their first official studio album, "The Papercut Chronicles" in 2005, and from it came one of the band's best-selling singles, "Cupid's Chokehold." A second album in 2006, "As Cruel As School Children," delivered more hit singles including "Clothes Off!" and was followed "The Quilt" in 2008, with its single "Cookie Jar." Recent years have found the band writing personal songs and some with themes around heartbreak and the isolation of pop stardom. McCoy said that to draw inspiration, the band returned to "Papercut Chronicles" and looked at how far they had come. "Papercut Chronicles II" is the product of their musical soul searching and includes a fusion of sounds including hip-hop, rock and pop on tracks like "Solo Discotheque (Whiskey Bitness)," "Lazarus, Ze Gitan" and the upbeat "Stereo Hearts." "We had a sense of urgency in the past records. We were young kids searching for a sound," said McCoy. "We wanted to recreate not the album, but that sense of hunger." McCoy said the album became a personal diary, to some extent, as he sings of past romances and fighting his demons. "'Live Goes On' defines me best, because people don't see that this life is not all glitz and glamour. There's a darker side," said McCoy. ADAM LEVINE, RYAN TEDDER The new album also features several collaborations such as on the lighthearted love song, "Stereo Hearts," featuring Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. It currently sites in the top 5 on the Billboard singles chart. One Republic's Ryan Tedder, who received Grammy nominations for writing and producing songs like Beyonce's "Halo" and Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love," created the inspirational tune "The Fighter" in which Tedder sings and McCoy raps. While Levine and Tedder are high-profile collaborators, McCoy also works with lesser known artists such as Danish singer Oh Land, who supplies vocals on "Life Goes On." "It's great to find people who might not be getting a lot of recognition but just have a ton of talent," said McCoy, "There's a cool resurgence of 'out there' music like The Speakers. There are lots of artists I'm digging right now, like The Weekend and James Blake." Despite the band's popularity and charting single "Stereo Hearts," the album has not been received so warmly by critics. Rolling Stone's Judy Rosen cited "dull, rock-rap tunes with hooks that would've sounded dated a decade ago." Entertainment Weekly's Kyle Anderson also criticized the album's "revved-up aggro crunch and laughable lyrical raging against the machine," but praised some tracks where the band "jettison their limp rap-rock instincts and plunge into crossover pop like the haunting 'Life Goes On'." But McCoy is focused on his fans, and he believes they will accept the album as "another Gym Class Heroes record," with the band's trademark fusion of different music styles. "What we listen to is so diverse so when it comes to our albums, they tend to reflect our tastes, and our fans like that," said the rapper. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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