Spandau Ballet moves
IT seems Spandau Ballet are making up for lost time.
Having individually done their own thing for two decades, their return to the world's live stages coincides with their first new single in 20 years and a new album.
Out Monday, Once More reinvents their best known songs with a lush, contemporary sound, produced by Danton Supple, responsible for Coldplay's X&Y, among others.
"It's how we would have made these songs the first time around if we had the maturity and know-how to achieve it," says Gary Kemp.
"The playing is better, the production is better, Tony's voice is just incredible. It is the logical conclusion of Spandau's sound.
"Our emphasis was to record the album with no synthesizers and no electric guitars but to produce a big sound."
Says Tony: "We went to live in a studio. We were having breakfast, lunch and dinner together - it was the most productive the band has ever been.
"We were approached to revisit 11 classic songs and re-arrange them so we sat down as a band with acoustic guitars and looked at the songs.
"Some of the '80s versions are quite poppy, so we said 'How can we enhance the lyrics and create a different mood?'
"We spent a lot of time doing that and wrote two new songs and there you go, 13 tracks recorded in six weeks.
"We rediscovered friendship that was so important the first time round. We are older, different people now and the album reflects that.
"We're proud of who we are and the lives we lived before we got back together.
"You can hear a band reborn in these songs."
Debut single To Cut A Long Story Short is transformed from minimalist synth pop into an epic, brooding, Bond-esque soundtrack while the pop-funk of Only When You Leave is a stripped back ballad with orchestra.
Once More is the new single.
While many of the songs continued to have a life beyond record - when Gary and Martin Kemp were off acting Tony toured a version of Spandau as well as doing solo shows - even he is surprised at the enthusiasm for the original line-up tour.
"I don't really know the answer. Obviously people do get nostalgic. It's like they've known the history, about the fall-outs and everything - I think people are genuinely pleased to see we've resolved our differences and we're genuinely getting on again.
"We don't realise in many ways what these songs mean to a lot of people. When you've got a 10 year history as a band and 20 top 20 hits, there's something there that means quite a bit to a lot of people."
Whatever the reason, Tony isn't convinced the band would have made it had they started out in 2009.
"Television embraced pop music in those days. Trying to get on television now is a nightmare for young bands. Being around for 10 years and being on all these programmes we got recognised.
"Bands don't get the support now. It's a very different place. If you've not made it by the second album, the risk factor's too much and it's 'Sorry lads, you're off'. Our first album Journeys To Glory wasn't a big financial success. The second album was a disaster. In today's climate we would have been dropped and we would never have seen True and Through The Barricades."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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