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| == Critical reception == | == Critical reception == | ||
| ''The Daily Telegraph'' music critic Neil McCormick wrote that INSOLO “is an intricate, mature and soulful piece of work, which blends (Kemp’s) melodic songcraft with luscious arrangements reminiscent of 70s prog rock stylists like Steely Dan and Pink Floyd.” <ref>{{Cite news|last=McCormick|first=Neil|date=2021-07-18|title=Gary Kemp: ‘Spandau Ballet are never getting back together’|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/gary-kemp-spandau-ballet-never-getting-back-together/|access-date=2021-11-27|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>] ] awarded the album a 4-star rating describing it as “nostalgic, wistful and filled with a gloriously romantic sense of despair and futility.” In contrast the same paper's Lisa Verrico described it as "a perplexing blend of prog guitars, jazzy sax, cinematic strings, French horn and vocals that veer from dramatically breathy to blandly bluesy."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davies|first=Dan Cairns {{!}} Lisa Verrico {{!}} Mark Edwards {{!}} Clive|title=The best albums of the week: Prince, David Crosby and more|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-best-albums-of-the-week-prince-david-crosby-and-more-n2cvg6qcr|access-date=2021-11-27|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> David Chiu of ] described it as “eloquent and poignant.”<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-22|title=Gary Kemp on making 'INSOLO,' his first new solo LP in 25 years|url=https://www.newsweek.com/gary-kemp-making-insolo-his-first-new-solo-album-25-years-1594386|access-date=2021-11-27|website=Newsweek|language=en |
''The Daily Telegraph'' music critic Neil McCormick wrote that INSOLO “is an intricate, mature and soulful piece of work, which blends (Kemp’s) melodic songcraft with luscious arrangements reminiscent of 70s prog rock stylists like Steely Dan and Pink Floyd.” <ref>{{Cite news|last=McCormick|first=Neil|date=2021-07-18|title=Gary Kemp: ‘Spandau Ballet are never getting back together’|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/gary-kemp-spandau-ballet-never-getting-back-together/|access-date=2021-11-27|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>] ] awarded the album a 4-star rating describing it as “nostalgic, wistful and filled with a gloriously romantic sense of despair and futility.” In contrast the same paper's Lisa Verrico described it as "a perplexing blend of prog guitars, jazzy sax, cinematic strings, French horn and vocals that veer from dramatically breathy to blandly bluesy."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davies|first=Dan Cairns {{!}} Lisa Verrico {{!}} Mark Edwards {{!}} Clive|title=The best albums of the week: Prince, David Crosby and more|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-best-albums-of-the-week-prince-david-crosby-and-more-n2cvg6qcr|access-date=2021-11-27|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> David Chiu of ] described it as “eloquent and poignant.”<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-22|title=Gary Kemp on making 'INSOLO,' his first new solo LP in 25 years|url=https://www.newsweek.com/gary-kemp-making-insolo-his-first-new-solo-album-25-years-1594386|access-date=2021-11-27|website=Newsweek|language=en}}</ref> | ||
| == Track listing == | == Track listing == | ||
Revision as of 00:41, 30 November 2021
INSOLO is the second solo studio album of Gary Kemp, an English singer, musician and principal songwriter and co-founding band member of Spandau Ballet and guitarist and co-lead vocalist for Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets. The album was released July 16th 2021, on Columbia Records, produced and mixed by Gary Kemp and Toby Chapman.
Style
The music, in contrast to the Irish folk instrumentation of his first album, reflects Kemp’s time spent with Saucerful Of Secrets and his teenage pre-Spandau Ballet influences. “There are 70s references on the whole album, and I’m pushing the guitar and psychedelia to the fore,” Kemp told Jo Kendall at Prog magazine.
The album reflects on Kemp’s growing obsession with life seen through a rear view mirror after passing his 60th birthday and “confronting the past.” Charlotte Cripps of The Independent noted, “Kemp’s attachment to Spandau Ballet and the band’s long goodbye may have meant it’s taken 25 years for him to release more new work on his own. But perhaps INSOLO will help him to put the 1980s to rest, once and for all.”
For his part, Kemp confirmed during press promotion for INSOLO that this album signalled the end of any further collaboration with Spandau Ballet. He told Neil McCormick at The Daily Telegraph, “We have no creative energy together, the lead protagonists have no communication, it’s just a lie. So it’s over. It’s over. We are never going to get back together.”
The two songs, In Solo and The Haunted, drew inspiration from Edward Hopper’s 1932 painting Room In New York.
Kemp recorded a BBC Radio 2 live session for Zoe Ball featuring “Too Much”, a cover of Jimmy Webb’s “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and “True.”
Singles
Ahead of the Game, the first UK single release, mixed by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, assisted by Matt Wolach, was released on April 2. The video was directed by Charles Lightening. An extended 8 minute 28 second remix was later released.
Too Much was the second single released June 2. The video was again directed by Charles Lightening and featured Royal Ballet soloist Meaghan Grace Hinkis.
The third UK single, Waiting for the Band, was inspired by David Bowie’s ‘The 1980 Floor Show’, which the 14 year-old Kemp attended at The Marquee, October, 1973. The recording features archive London Weekend Television interview clips of David Bowie fans outside his 1978 Earl’s Court concert. Brother Martin Kemp contributes bass guitar “for the narrative."
I Remember You was released in the UK on October 5.
Critical reception
The Daily Telegraph music critic Neil McCormick wrote that INSOLO “is an intricate, mature and soulful piece of work, which blends (Kemp’s) melodic songcraft with luscious arrangements reminiscent of 70s prog rock stylists like Steely Dan and Pink Floyd.” The Times Will Hodgkinson awarded the album a 4-star rating describing it as “nostalgic, wistful and filled with a gloriously romantic sense of despair and futility.” In contrast the same paper's Lisa Verrico described it as "a perplexing blend of prog guitars, jazzy sax, cinematic strings, French horn and vocals that veer from dramatically breathy to blandly bluesy." David Chiu of Newsweek described it as “eloquent and poignant.”
Track listing
All tracks are written by Gary Kemp
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In Solo" | 6.23 |
| 2. | "A Rumour of You" | 5.36 |
| 3. | "Waiting for the Band" | 5.28 |
| 4. | "Ahead of the Game" | 3.53 |
| 5. | "I Remember You" | 3.47 |
| 6. | "Too Much" | 4.15 |
| 7. | "The Fastest Man in the World" | 4.29 |
| 8. | "I am the Past" | 4.36 |
| 9. | "The Feet of Mercury" | 3.32 |
| 10. | "The Haunted" | 6.02 |
| 11. | "Our Light" | 4.06 |
Personnel
- Gary Kemp - vocals, all guitars (2, 6), programming (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), backing vocals, strings arrangement (1, 3, 6, 7)
- Toby Chapman - piano (1, 10), organ (1, 10), keyboards & programming, backing vocals, strings arrangement (1, 3, 6, 7)
- Guy Pratt - bass (1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- Ged Lynch - drums (1, 5) & percussion (1, 5, 10)
- Matt Clifford - French horn (1, 6, 8)
- Lee Harris - lap steel (2)
- Martin Kemp - bass (3)
- Theo Travis - saxophone (3)
- Richard Jones - bass (4, 6)
- Ash Soan - drums (4, 7, 8, 10, 11)
- Lily Carassik - trumpet (5)
- Roger Taylor - drums (6)
- Rob Taggart - strings arrangement (1, 3, 6, 7)
- Bryony James - cello
- Chris Worsey - cello
- Emma Owens - violas
- Polly Wiltshire - violas
- Emma Parker - violins (leader)
- Glesni Roberts - violins
- Jackie Hartley - violins
- Laura Melhuish - violins
- Richard George - violins
- Cat Parker - violins
- Andy Corns - guitar tech
- Phil Knights - copyist
- Kate Griffiths - archive research
- Malcolm Venville - cover photography
References
- "Gary Kemp". pocketmags.com. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- "Gary Kemp: 'My younger self is trapped in a bell jar'". The Independent. 2021-07-14. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- McCormick, Neil (2021-07-18). "Gary Kemp: 'Spandau Ballet are never getting back together'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- Nast, Condé (2021-05-28). "Gary Kemp reveals the story behind his upcoming solo record, 'Waiting For The Band'". British GQ. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- "Gary Kemp interview (exclusive)". Classic Pop Magazine. 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- McCormick, Neil (2021-07-18). "Gary Kemp: 'Spandau Ballet are never getting back together'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- Davies, Dan Cairns | Lisa Verrico | Mark Edwards | Clive. "The best albums of the week: Prince, David Crosby and more". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
- "Gary Kemp on making 'INSOLO,' his first new solo LP in 25 years". Newsweek. 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2021-11-27.