STEREOPHONICS
''''KEEP THE VILLAGE ALIVE.'' (BONUS TRACKS)''
SEPTEMBER 11 2015
67:39
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1 C'est la vie 03:40
2 White Lies 03:56
3 Sing Little Singer 03:26
4 I Wanna Get Lost with You 03:49
5 Song for the Summer 02:55
6 Fight or Flight 03:41
7 My Hero 03:47
8 Sunny 04:19
9 Into the World 04:03
10 Mr and Mrs Smith 06:49
11 Ancient Rome (Bonus Track) 04:44
12 Let Me In (Bonus Track) 04:07
13 Blame (You Never Give Me Your Money) (Bonus Track) 04:36
14 You Are My Energy (Bonus Track) 04:00
15 You're My Star (Acoustic 2015) (Bonus Track) 05:23
16 I Wanna Get Lost with You (Acoustic 2015) (Bonus Track) 04:17
All Tracks By Kelly Jones
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Kelly Jones - lead vocals, guitar, piano
Richard Jones - bass guitar
Adam Zindani - guitar, backing vocals
Jamie Morrison – drums
Additional:
Jim Lowe – hammond on 1, programming
Sam Yapp – drums on 1, 8
Neil Cowley – piano on 2
Mikey Rowe – wurly on 5
David Arnold with Kelly Jones – orchestral arrangements on 5-8
Nicholas Dodd – orchestration
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ABOUT THE ALBUM/WIKIPEDIA
‘Keep The Village Alive’ is the ninth studio album from Stereophonics following the critically acclaimed, platinum selling ‘Graffiti On The Train’ in 2013. Once again Kelly Jones has written all the songs and shared production duties with long time collaborator Jim Lowe. The album was recorded at ICP Studios in Brussels and at their own Stylus Studios in London.
Includes 'C’est La Vie’, 'I Wanna Get Lost With You' and the new single 'Song For The Summer'.
BACKGROUND
During the writing process for the band's previous album, Kelly Jones had written forty song ideas and thirty of these were recorded and completed. With the intention of releasing an album trilogy, the band decided against this idea after Green Day released their ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! series, instead planning to release another album with ten songs. Tracks from these sessions were included in Keep the Village Alive, though these track names are not stated. Stereophonics had finished their Graffiti on the Train Tour on 28 November 2013 and in late February 2014 they went into the studio to start working on the album.
Writing and recording
Speaking about "I Wanna Get Lost With You", Kelly Jones mentioned the track is about "wanting to lose yourself personally, and lose yourself with somebody, and then just literally get out there." Jones came up with the melody for "Song for the Summer" while sleeping in the studio after listening to another track for half a day. The next day he wrote the lyrics in a short time and it took 45 minutes to record. Jones approved the album for mass production on 22 June 2015.
PROMOTION AND RELEASE
After the band decided against the album trilogy, the following album was due to be released some point between the release of Graffiti on the Train and January 2014. Kelly Jones tweeted in late September 2014 that the album had been mixed and was to be released in autumn 2015 and have new songs released in May. True to their word, it was later announced in May 2015 that a new song ("C'est la Vie") would be released a day later and the album on 11 September 2015. This harkens back to when Stereophonics' studio albums were released every two years from Word Gets Around (1997) to Keep Calm and Carry On (2009). Between the final mix and lead single release, the band played the opening night of the Teenage Cancer Trust 2015 concert – during this they debuted three new songs from this album: "C'est la Vie", "Song for the Summer" and "I Wanna Get Lost With You".
On 17 July Gigwise announced the next single from the album would be "I Wanna Get Lost With You" and they would have an exclusive showing of the band's music video for it on 20 July; a trailer for the video was released on the day of announcement.
SINGLES
The lead-single from the album, "C'est la Vie", was first played on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show and was released the following day. A music video was released the same day on Stereophonics' Vevo channel, it was directed by Kelly Jones with cinematography by John Conroy and stars Antonia Thomas, Aneurin Barnard and Mathew Aubrey. The second single, "I Wanna Get Lost With You", was released on 21 July 2015 – the music video was released the day before, directed by Jones and staring Barnard and Sophie Kennedy Clark.
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REVIEW/AMG
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Keep the Village Alive comes crashing out of the gates with "C'est la Vie," a dead ringer for the Manic Street Preachers at their anthemic best, a new wrinkle to Stereophonics' parade of anthems. Elsewhere on this, their ninth studio album, they try on a few new styles for kicks -- notably, there's a bit of muted Cult to "Sing Little Sister," a hint of neo-disco on "Fight or Flight," a bit of baroque pop on "Sunny" -- but otherwise, the power trio still trades on the hybrids of Coldplay and U2 inspirational urgency and melodramatic introspection that fill out arenas across the U.K. and Europe. If there are no surprises, there are also no stumbles: Kelly Jones and his crew know how to craft big music, knowing that often the atmosphere matters more than melody.
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Alex Ogg
A bright new noise in U.K. alternative rock in the '90s and into the new millennium, Stereophonics were comprised of vocalist/guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist Richard Jones, guitarist Adam Zindani, and drummer Jamie Morrison. They were formed in Cwmaman, South Wales, originally as the teenage cover band Tragic Love Company and with the late Stuart Cable on drums. Early reviews cited the Manic Street Preachers as their most obvious influence, and their initial batch of singles struggled to disabuse cynics of this notion.
Yet in Jones, Stereophonics possessed an able writer as well as a singer of some distinction, a fact that was only truly acknowledged following the release of their debut LP. One of the first bands on Richard Branson's new V2 label, they were signed by chief executive Jeremy Pearce in August 1996 before the label was officially up and running. They made their debut in November with "Looks Like Chaplin" b/w "More Life in a Tramp's Vest," which later became a single in its own right. They entered the charts for the first time with "Local Boy in the Photograph" and didn't look back. Each of their subsequent singles sold progressively better, culminating in a U.K. Top Ten placing for their debut album, Word Gets Around, and Top 20 honors for "Traffic." The latter's resigned themes provided the perfect platform for Jones' plaintive vocals. A reissue of "Local Boy in the Photograph" also made the Top 20, in the same week as they received a Brit Award for Best New Group. As a singles band, they seem overburdened with riches -- "The Bartender and the Thief" duly became a British radio staple through the closing months of 1998, followed the next year by the full-length Performance and Cocktails.
The band's third studio effort, Just Enough Education to Perform was initially slated to go by the abbreviated J.E.E.P.; however, Daimler-Chrysler objected to the plan and claimed ownership of the actual word Jeep. In September 2003, Stereophonics returned with their most honest material to date on You Gotta Go There to Come Back. Not even a month after the long-player's domestic release, the band announced the departure of founding member Cable. Frontman Jones said Cable had had issues committing himself to the band ever since Just Enough Education to Perform. Stereophonics planned to carry on as a duo while ex-Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman sat in on drums for several tour dates. Language. Sex. Violence. Other? appeared in 2005. It also marked the debut of drummer Javier Weyler. The band's first live album, Live from Dakota, arrived in spring 2006. After an extensive tour, including performances in Moscow and Latvia, the group returned to the U.K. and released three formats of the single "It Means Nothing" two weeks before Pull the Pin hit store shelves in mid-October 2007. The compilation Decade in the Sun: The Best of Stereophonics arrived in 2008, followed by the all new Keep Calm and Carry On in 2009.
Following a supporting tour for Keep Calm and Carry On, the group once again changed drummers, swapping Weyler for Jamie Morrison. This new lineup was unveiled on 2013's Graffiti on the Train, an album that featured the hit single "Indian Summer." Graffiti on the Train was certified platinum -- the previous two albums only went gold -- thanks in part to "Indian Summer" and the title track. Two years later came Keep the Village Alive.
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