Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Hana

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kaushik

kaushik

What we know so far.

Sound: "proggy pop"
Wikipedia - Progressive pop is pop music that attempts to break with the genre's standard formula, or an offshoot of the progressive rock* genre that was commonly heard on AM radio in the 1970s and 1980s. It was originally termed for the early progressive rock of the 1960s. Some stylistic features of progressive pop include hooks and earworms, unorthodox or colorful instrumentation, changes in key and rhythm, experiments with larger forms, and unexpected, disruptive, or ironic treatments of past conventions.
*Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music.
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Style: Japanese influenced

Who’s working on it:
Ed Harcourt (brass and piano as of Day 3, but I'm sure Ed will play many more instruments on the album)
Richard Jones (bass guitar)
Jackson Ellis Leach (percussion)
Pablo Tato (lead guitar)

Song titles:
  • A Thousand Orchids
  • Beyond The Universe
  • Breaking The Circle
  • He’s A Dreamer
  • Tokyo
  • Until The Wheels Come Off

Recording at: Decoy Studios (and probably The Wolf Cabin)

Sophie and Ed have co-written the album in bits since 2019. She barely got any writing done in 2020 and 2021. And even if she did, who knows what will happen to those songs. A week before they hit the studio, Sophie and Ed finished writing the album. They'll probably power through the recording sessions and be done with it in a week or ten days (just like they did with Familia and Wanderlust).

Ed has been using the words "all bangers, no mash" and "belter" to describe some of the songs they've done so far. Very early on, Sophie mentioned that the next album might have no strings on it - and looking at the lineup so far, no Dirty Pretty Strings (Amy, Gita and Rosie) in sight.
 
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kaushik

kaushik

A few days back, either Richard or Ed had a snippet of Ed playing brass on their instagram stories. And it sounded like an even more twisted version of Blondie's Desire Brings Me Back. I genuinely hope that messy brass makes the album - because it was bonkers!

And a recent story on Ed's Instagram page shows him experimenting with some electronic device, producing a wobby tinny sound that reminds me of old video games.
 
d2019

d2019

I'm ready for a follow up to Wanderlust and Familia. Thought both albums were a refreshing new path for Sophie.

Her legacy as a dance floor queen is secure (the success of Kitchen Disco shows that), but I think this string to her bow is important and has brought us two stunningly creative records.
 
New Flame

New Flame

I'm guessing, since there were only 6 songs on that board, they probably recorded the other half of the album in 2019 or so? The mentioning of 'proggy pop' and 'Japan influence' has been around for a while, including in her book. The Japan influence does make me cautiously optimistic.

I hope 'Tokyo' is to Sophie, what 'Tokyo' is to White Lies.

 
kaushik

kaushik

Tokyo by White Lies is brilliant! If it is anything like their song (or any of that album) it will be brilliant!

I’m really wishing for one super cheesy, super camp bop a-la Roisin Murphy’s Sunshine. Sophie will easily pull off that brazen and over-the-top camp. Her unreleased song “Miracle” and the still-vinyl-only “Here’s To You” are both proof of the case.
 
kaushik

kaushik

Sophie’s post is a bit confusing. She says “starting the new album” - so maybe they are yet to record the next set of 5 (or hopefully 6) songs?
 
C

China_Heart

TR

TR

I hope this one will be available on Spotify everywhere. Does anyone know why her last 3 albums aren't available for streaming in some markets like Eastern Europe?
 
kaushik

kaushik

Song titles:
  • A Thousand Orchids
  • Beyond The Universe
  • Breaking The Circle
  • He’s A Dreamer
  • Tokyo
  • Until The Wheels Come Off
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We know of a 7th song title now. It’s called “Hypnotised”. Apparently Sophie performed this brand new song on her kitchen disco tour. According to descriptions, this is more “pop” than the last two albums.

Given that she’s premiering the song on her tour, there’s a possibility that this could be the lead single. When I find a live recording of the song, I’ll post it here.
 
Deer Stop

Deer Stop

kaushik said:
We know of a 7th song title now. It’s called “Hypnotised”. Apparently Sophie performed this brand new song on her kitchen disco tour. According to descriptions, this is more “pop” than the last two albums.

Given that she’s premiering the song on her tour, there’s a possibility that this could be the lead single. When I find a live recording of the song, I’ll post it here.
Click to expand...

 
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