OFF THE RECORDS/VIDEOKILLER - New "Quiet the mind" video by IAMX is out

OFF THE RECORDS - Happy ChristmaXX

OFF THE RECORDS/LET'S TOUR - Hurts new album and tour!

‎Hurts, Exile 2013, il nuovo video! 
Unica data italiana per il duo di Manchester:
25 Marzo 2013 - MILANO – MAGAZZINI GENERALI
Biglietti in vendita su Ticketone http://goo.gl/UWVuN
Special guest: Saint Lou Lou
Per tutte le info consulta www.vivoconcerti.com/artisti/hurts
The new album 'Exile'. Pre-order now on iTunes and get 'The Road'. Album released March 2013

OFF THE RECORDS/VIDEOKILLER - Probably the best video&song of 2012 is this!

OFF THE RECORDS - The 3rd December is the IAMX day!

The first single of brand new IAMX album, featuring two new songs and remixes, will be released digitally worldwide on December 3rd 2012. It will contain the album's title track 'The Unified Field' as well as the ballad 'Quiet The Mind'. Both songs will be accompanied by official music videos.
Read the official press release, containing all information as well as words from Chris, here:  http://www.reybee.com/iamx/1012/2/

OFF THE RECORDS - New Depeche single is out!

Article by "The Quietus"

Depeche Mode have announced a new album and a new tour, both happening next year.
We've been given a preview of the as-yet-untitled album, with the band playing a new cut at a press conference in Paris today. Have a listen to the track, also untitled (though Slicing Up Eyeballs suggest it may be called 'Angel Of Love'), below:
The site also reports that the band's Martin Gore told the conference: “It’s got a bit of a feel of Violator on some of the songs and a feel of Songs of Faith and Devotion on other songs. It’s a bit of a hybrid of those two for me.”
He added: “I am very happy with the new album and I think there are at least three or four songs that are up there with the very best that we’ve done."
While the tour will be a massive, 34-date affair, they are only playing one date in the UK, at the O2 Arena in London on May 28. Head here for tickets.

NEWS WAVE/LET'S TOUR - Depeche again! Gahan&Co. in tour nel 2013 e nuovo album

(ANSA) - MILANO, 23 OTT - A piu' di un anno dagli ultimi concerti insieme e a quattro anni dall'ultima tournee che li porto' a esibirsi in Italia, i Depeche Mode intraprenderanno un tour mondiale: e' stato annunciato oggi durante una conferenza stampa a Parigi, trasmessa in streaming dal sito della band britannica. Il tour avra' inizio il 7 maggio a Tel Aviv e attraversera' l'Europa per arrivare a Milano (stadio San Siro) il 18 luglio e a Roma (stadio Olimpico) il 20. Intanto i Depeche Mode stanno lavorando al tredicesimo album in studio (ancora senza titolo), che sara' pubblicato nei primi mesi del 2013.

NEWS WAVE - The '80s Revival by JP Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier has gone back to 80's for his last Winter-Summer Collection 2013. Take a look (of love)!

NEWS WAVE - Let's get party in Brussels!

Episode 6 – Saturday 20/10/2012 – La Bodega, Brussels

2 rooms, 2 sounds, 5 dj’s !

Floor 1: Classix (new wave hits, synthpop, 80′s)DJ’s: Richard 23 (Front 242) | Chacha aka Public Relation (Theatro, Vizio, Fifty Five) | Warm up: Vinavil

Floor 2: Deviant (underground sounds, rarities)DJ’s: Tzii (Night on Earth) | Cosensation (La Forme Lente)

Chacha (aka Public Relation) is our resident dj. Well known in Brussels, he performed in the most famous Belgian clubs during the 80′s: the legendary Theatro, the Fifty-Five or the Vizio. New wave and 80′s music have no secret for him. He will make you dance !

Richard23 is the famous frontman of Front 242. For many years, he’s djing with Coder23 but this time he will play a special pure new wave set. Here are his explanations. « New Wave started in 78, right after the Punk rage, and back then the genre would cover and include a lot of different sounds and directions. To me New Wave is more than just « A Forest », « Love Like Blood » or « Don’t you Forget About Me ». So I’ll play some of the forgotten New Wave tracks that most of us know but never really ear anymore in New Wave parties nowodays ».

Since 1996, Tzii, DJ & music composer, spreads his magickal frequencies all over the world through touring from Eastern and Western Europe to Australia, passing by USA, Canada, Japan and Africa, where he played hundreds of shows… He created his own label NIGHT ON EARTH in 2001, releasing vinyls and tapes, and is a co-founder & active member of the label/collective V-ATAK. As a DJ he shared the stage with many artists such as Doppler Effekt, Patrick Codenys, Alden Tyrell, Alexander Robotnick, Parade Ground, Marshall Allen… to name just a few… http://www.tzii.tk

Consensation is the founder and director of the French label « La Forme Lente » (HNN, Bonjour Tristesse , ADN’Ckrystall, Circuit d’Actes …), based in Brussels for the moment. He took part to many events in Paris such as Bal des Mutantes of Bunker Bal. His CD/vinly selections include Synth Wave / Minimal Synth / Post Punk / New Wave / EBM / Synth Pop / Lectro Wave / Cold Wave / WAVEWAVEWAVE with a special taste for 80s music and new productions. More information on http://soundcloud.com/la-forme-lente-1

NEWS WAVE - The Smiths back together in 2013?

When it comes to The Smiths and their potential reunion, it's always seems to be just that, rumors. However multiple sources are now confirming that the popular 80's new wave band featuring frontman Morrissey  and former Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr, might in fact be getting back together in 2013, with one date at Glastonbury.

Holy Moly was the first to report on the potential reunion. With Digital Spy posting their own report moments later, and other sources now confirming the the reunion.
However, sources are not able to confirm if it will be all four members of The Smiths, or just three. In case most don't remember, drummer Mike Joyce sued frontman Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr for a sum of $1 Million in 2007, and there still seems to be bad blood between both parties.

NEWS WAVE - Hey, Paul Weller has a son!

We catch NME cover stars Paul Weller and Miles Kane on their photo shoot in London, where they discuss meeting each other for the first time, colour co-ordinating for the shoot and working together in the future. 

VIDEOKILLER - "Dragonfly" by Paul Weller

Paul Weller has unveiled the video for his new track, 'Dragonfly', and you can watch it above.

The NSFW video to the 'Sonik Kicks' song features a naked model writhing around on a bed while images are projected onto her body.

'Sonik Kicks' comes out on March 26, contains a total of 14 tracks, and includes guest appearances from Noel Gallagher and Blur's Graham Coxon. 

Paul Weller recently discussed his battle with drink, stating: "I think I'm an alcoholic". In an interview with the The Times, the singer revealed he had given up drinking over a year ago because he feared that his hedonistic lifestyle was going to kill him. 

Weller said: "I feel fitter now. I go to the gym. Stopped drinking about 16 months ago… Time for a lifestyle change. I couldn't keep doing it. It was killing me... I miss the silliness… I'm not one of those people who can just have a couple of drinks. If it's two, it might as well be 20. If it's 20, it might as well be 40…".

VIDEOKILLER - "You spin me around" by Dead or Alive (original, new version and extended)

VIDEOKILLER - "Mr. Rain" by Tyson

VIDEOKILLER - "U can dance" by Bryan Ferry

VIDEOKILLER/OFF THE RECORDS - Welcome back, GM, out of the "White Light"!

OFF THE RECORDS - "Brilliant" remix by Ultravox

TALK TALK - "They want Ultravox become an X-Factor...!". Midge Ure speaks out!

"There was a reticence about doing this as we didn't know what the public response would be, and especially with a band like us, Ultravox just seemed to be a fantastic punch-bag for the media back in the day and we tended to think: "Do you really want to go and stick your head in the lion's mouth again?"

"But I think all that disappeared when we started working together again, it just felt natural, it felt right, it felt, not easy but comfortable and it was exciting because it was new technology. It was even more exciting when we decided to stand up for ourselves and say: "You know what? We're going to do it the way we want to do it. Whether it's for anybody else, this is how we want to do it." And there was something really nice about that. So the process of getting it right musically, first and foremost, was imperative.

"What happens to it now, when you give it to the wide world, is completely out of our hands so the response from people, the reviews, whether they like it or hate it, there's nothing we can do about it now, that's what making music is all about, you make what you think is right and then hopefuly it will translate into somebody else's life.

"The great thing about Brilliant I think, I'm not sure what Billy thinks about this, I think it's quite possibly the best collection of songs that we ever did. Period. And it's because Billy's continued writing, I've continued writing all the way through the twenty odd year break that we've had and I think that you can hear that. So that, in a way makes everything else redundant, it takes it really back to: 'Is this an intersting piece of music, is this an interesting lyric, is this a good melody, does this do something to you, does it make you cry or laugh or smile or dance or whatever?' That's the core of what it should be, and that's why we stopped talking to Universal because they didn't want that, thay wanted an X-Factor version of that and we weren't prepared to go there. It became very obvious to us they wanted a record with Ultravox's name on it, some signature sounds and my voice on it, but they weren't really interested in what the music was other than the fact was it commercially successful?, and that really hasn't made an awful lot of difference to us. When we got together in the first place, Vienna wasn't a commercially acceptable track, it was completely and utterly out there, it's only become successful and seen as an obviously commercial track in hindsight, but at the time it was radically different, so I don't think our attitude to that process has changed."

Tom Artrocker

Extracted from a full and fascinating interview with Midge Ure and Billy Currie, featuring more of Keith Martin's wonderful photos. Read the whole piece in the new issue of Artrocker available today from all good shops or direct from us here: artrockermagazine.com

LET'S TOUR - Duran Duran back in Italy!

(ANSA) - ROMA, 11 LUG - Tornano in Italia i Duran Duran: il 16 luglio all'Arena di Verona, il 18 luglio al Foro Italico di Roma e il 20 luglio all'Arena della Regina di Cattolica. Attesissimo il tour europeo della band che lo scorso anno aveva programmato in Europa una serie di live per promuovere il tredicesimo album All You Need Is Now, in seguito annullati a causa di problemi alle corde vocali del frontman. La tranche europea seguira' le date in Australia e Sud America. Il live di Verona sara' la prima occasione di vedere la band dal vivo dall'ultimo tour europeo del 2008.

TALK TALK - Robert Smith: "I Cure fuori da qualsiasi logica"

Intervista a Robert Smith a cura di Matteo Cruccu per il "Corriere della Sera"
MILANO - «Ci avete dato una bella lezione. Ma la Spagna, che squadra di marziani: da anni, io tifo per loro e non per i miei. Perché Rooney, da loro, giocherebbe al massimo nella seconda squadra». I «miei» sono gli inglesi di Roy Hodgson, battuti dagli Azzurri. E lui è l' ultima persona al mondo con cui ti immagineresti a parlare di pallone. Già, lui è Robert Smith, da 35 anni profeta oscuro dei Cure, uno che sembrerebbe avulso dal mondo. E che invece vi è immerso assai, specie quando decide di uscire dal suo ritiro nel Sussex. E di concedere una delle rarissime interviste: sabato è a Rho (Milano) con i compagni di ventura di sempre, headliner dell' Heineken Jammin' Festival che si apre stasera con i Red Hot. Robert, 53enne con la faccia di bambino, parla un inglese placido e chiarissimo. E ci parla innanzitutto del concerto: forse solo il Boss, tra i grandi rocker della Terra, è più generoso dei Cure. Robert e soci non scendono infatti mai sotto le tre ore di show. C' è un motivo, spiega: «Nel 1973, risparmiai per un mese per poter vedere a Londra David Bowie, il primo vero concerto della mia vita. Lui suonò soltanto per 45 minuti. Quando sono diventato musicista, ho sempre pensato che avrei dovuto rispettare il mio pubblico. E poi cantare è una cosa bella, adrenalinica, lo faccio in casa come lo faccio sul palco. Perché dovremmo risparmiarci?». Già, i tour: l' Italia delle lezioni calcistiche è anche l' Italia che più ha dato soddisfazioni ai Cure. «Ricordo con piacere tutti i concerti da voi. Ma soprattutto il tour dell' 89, forse uno dei migliori della nostra carriera, proprio nei giorni di Tien-An-Men: sentimmo una comunanza incredibile col pubblico». E italiano è anche Paolo Sorrentino che ha confessato di essersi ispirato a lui per il Sean Penn di «This Must The Be Place». Robert ci scherza su: «Non l' ho visto, proprio per non doverlo commentare. Ho letto però la trama. E ho guardato le foto di scena. Ma il personaggio di Penn mi assomiglia così tanto? E soprattutto, la sua storia non sembra affatto la mia, ma al limite quella di una delle mie canzoni». Ecco, le canzoni, l' immaginario buio, il mal di vivere che ancora è appiccicato come un marchio indelebile ai Cure: «Che noia. Sono una persona normale. Mi posso alzare felice, come con la luna storta. E poi sono vent' anni che cerchiamo di sembrare il più possibile allegri, guarda i video...». Di sicuro però i Cure non fanno parte dell' establishment di Britannia. Né ci tengono. Non li si vedrà nel parterre de roi dei concerti per le Olimpiadi, né sono saliti sul palco per il Giubileo della Regina. Partiamo dalla seconda: «Che cosa assurda la monarchia, la famiglia reale, il concetto di ereditarietà: io sono un fottuto repubblicano». E bum. I giochi? «Un business delle grandi corporazioni, una macchina per fare soldi. Io mi vergognerei a cantare per un evento come quello». Insomma, in questo i Cure non sono mai cambiati: «Siamo sempre stati fuori da qualunque logica nazionalpopolare in Gran Bretagna. E il potere ci ha cancellato. Non me ne faccio alcun problema». Semmai Robert non ha più la stessa concezione del tempo. Da teenager disse di voler passare a miglior vita entro i 25: «Quand' ero giovane ero abituato a pianificare la mia vita in termini di anni e avevo tempo di pensare anche alla morte. Ora cerco di vivere giorno per giorno. Anche se l' attitudine a guardare il lungo periodo non se ne è andata via del tutto. Diciamo che mi sforzo di progettare soltanto i prossimi tre mesi». Per morire c' è tempo. 

OFF THE RECORDS/NEW GOLD DREAMS - Tyson, the new Sylvester...his "Die on the Dancefloor" is the best dance '80s album of the Year

In 2011, after a lukewarm attempt at a solo career, London's Ali Love somehow became the male vocalist in house circles: he was versatile enough to feature on top of the spewed electro of Justice's Civilization or the chilled nu-Balearica of Luca C & Brigante's "Different Morals," and he featured, most prominently, on that unescapable half-disco, half-house gem by Hot Natured ("Forward Motion"). If there is one thing you could reproach, however, it's Love's singing, its overall self-restraint, its under-the-top-ness.

Enter Tyson, another Londoner with the same knack for Italo-tinged pop, who works with the same label (Back Yard Recordings), and the same studio collaborator (Martin Dubka, of indie-dance hopefuls Cazals), but with a totally different approach to self-characterization. On the basis of his Die on the Dancefloor long-player, it wouldn't be surprising to see this young newcomer ubiquitously occupy in 2012 the same ground Love did last year. Except Tyson is, at heart, a more theatrical vocalist in the diva house tradition. (Think Robert Owens meets Billie Ray Martin meets Chelonis R. Jones meets Hard Ton.) The campy attitude he displays on the ten tracks on offer might be too much of an acquired taste, but there is also a commanding posture at work here that makes his music definitely stand out.

Aesthetically speaking, Die on the Dancefloor is pretty much in synch with what you'd expect post-disco resurgence dance pop to be like. "Fight," for instance, constitutes a rather enjoyable go at the kind of commercially sound, mainstream recordings Giorgio Moroder perfected during his Flashdance soundtrack phase, although it is hard to tell if the overwrought guitar solo that severs the song in two is tongue-in-cheek or just tootongue-in-cheek for its own good. The same could be said about songs like "Love's on the Line" or "Ran for Love," which both recall Tina Turner's reign in sci-fi classicMad Max. Album closer "On the Radio" constitutes the mandatory—and disposable, to be frank—unhurried track: not slow enough to be fully epic, yet not danceable enough either, it mostly serves to draw attention to the fact Tyson has undeniable magnetism on one hand, but that he also relies on the strength of the background compositions at all times. That said, you can't help but hope that Die on the Dancefloor will be Tyson's entry ticket on the house scene next to other novices like EJ, Little Jinder or even Amirali, and his authoritative vocal presence won't make electronic music producers shy away from one of the most interesting characters to emerge from the UK these past months. 

NEWS WAVE - Download free "Hungry like the wolf" remix by Steve Aoki

Simon Le Bon ‏@SimonJCLeBON

FREE download of the "Hungry like the Wolf" Steve Aoki+Duran Duran The New York Werewolf Mix: http://bit.ly/MvCvs9”

VIDEOKILLER/NEW GOLD DREAMS - "The Truth" by PNAU

VIDEOKILLER - "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk

">

OFF THE RECORDS - "The Spirit of Talk Talk" is here to stay! (Thanx to Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode...)

THE SPIRIT OF TALK TALK - CD: A double tribute album celebrating the visionary band, Talk Talk. Designed by James Marsh and released by Fierce Panda on September 3rd 2012.

Descrizione

FEATURING 30 artists, including: Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode/ Recoil), White Lies, King Creosote, Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Zero 7, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Joan As Police Woman, Sean Carey (Bon Iver), Lights, Goldheart Assembly, Thomas White (Electric Soft Parade), Fyfe Dangerfield (Guillemots), Thomas Feiner, The Black Ships, Turin Brakes, as well as Ian Curnow, David Rhodes, Gaynor Sadler and Martin Ditcham, all of whom worked with Talk Talk.

The CD PACKAGE is designed by Talk Talk’s graphic artist James Marsh using a stunning cover created in 1983 for a prospective album 'Chameleon Hour', but never released.

Alan Wilder is the musical and production supervisor for the project, and the album has been mastered by Denis Blackham, who was also responsible for mastering many of Talk Talk’s albums.

TRACKS come from both sides of the Atlantic, and from seven countries in total, featuring some incredible collaborations.

Track listing :

01. WEALTH - Lone Wolf
02. THE COLOUR OF SPRING - Zero 7
03. I BELIEVE IN YOU - S.Carey
04. DUM DUM GIRL - Recoil ( feat. Shara Worden )
05. LIFE'S WHAT YOU MAKE IT - Duncan Sheik
06. THE RAINBOW - Thomas Feiner, Fyfe Dangerfield, Robbie Wilson
07. AFTER THE FLOOD - Halloween, Alaska
08. IT'S GETTING LATE IN THE EVENING - Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm, Davide Rossi
09. GIVE IT UP - King Creosote
10. LIVING IN ANOTHER WORLD - Lights ( feat. Darkstars )
11. THE RAINBOW - Zelienople
12. MYRRHMAN - Joan As Police Woman
13. RUNEII - The Last Dinosaur
14. ? - Jack Northover


CD 2:

01. IT'S MY LIFE - The TenFiveSixty
02. INHERITANCE - Recoil ( feat. Linton Kwesi Johnson & Paul Marshall ) 03. ASCENSION DAY - Turin Brakes
04. TODAY - White Belt Yellow Tag
05. I DON'T BELIEVE IN YOU - Ian Curnow ( feat. Human )
06. CHAMELEON DAY - Goldheart Assembly
07. APRIL 5TH - Matthias Vogt Trio
08. NEW GRASS - Do Make Say Think
09. TOMORROW STARTED - Jason Lytle
10. GIVE IT UP - White Lies
11. TIME IT'S TIME - Lia Ices
12. THE PARTY'S OVER - The Lovetones
13. CANDY - Thomas White
14. RENÉE - The Black Ships ( feat. Amelia Tucker )
15. TAPHEAD - The Acorn
16. I BELIEVE IN YOU - Richard Reed Parry

Additional bonus tracks available to download at digital stores -

01. ASCENSION DAY - Minerva Lions
02. IT'S MY LIFE - Mike Gill ( feat. Robert Owens )
03. EDEN - Kurran & The Wolfnotes

Please visit www.fiercepanda.co.uk for more details.


SPIRIT OF TALK TALK - BOOK:
A richly illustrated, beautifully designed book celebrating the music and art of the legendary Talk Talk will also be available 27th September 2012. Every copy will be individually signed by James Marsh, who offers a fascinating insight into all his wonderful Talk Talk paintings including inspiration and illustrated sketches.

Chris Roberts, one of the UK’s leading music journalists, traces Talk Talk’s history and evolution, reflecting on their unique journey from synth-pop to near-silence.

The book features stunning photos by Richard Haughton, Sheila Rock and many other leading rock photographers from ’81 - ‘91. Many of these shots have never before been made public and feature vivid live shots from the superb Montreux festival gig.

The book also features 100 written contributions from bands, label owners, DJs and creatives, all of whom share their appreciation and influences, inspired by the music and art of Talk Talk.

Contributors include: Guy Garvey (Elbow), Sir Peter Blake, Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode/Recoil), Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), James Lavelle (UNKLE), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Nick McCabe (The Verve/The Black Ships), Richard Wright (Pink Floyd), Mark Radcliffe, Tom Fleming (Wild Beasts), Matt Johnson (The The), Jimi Goodwin (Doves), Sean Carey (Bon Iver), Paul Hartnoll (Orbital), Karl Hyde (Underworld), Charles Cave (White Lies), Joan Wasser (Joan As Police Woman), Kenny Anderson (King Creosote), Gideon Coe ,Tim Elsenberg ( Sweet Billy Pilgrim), and Olly Knights (Turin Brakes).

‘Spirit Of Talk Talk’ also includes extracts from the Talk Talk chapters of Phil Brown’s excellent book ‘Are We Still Rolling’, as well as in-depth interviews with Talk Talk musicians including John Turnbull, Ian Curnow, Phil Reis and Martin Ditcham.
For more details or to register your interest for the book please visithttp://spiritoftalktalk.com/

Projects conceived and co-ordinated by Toby Benjamin.
Dedicated to Mark Hollis and Talk Talk.

NEWS WAVE/LET'S TOUR - It's the Ultravox Day! New "Brilliant" album out, new European tour dates!

Seminal electro pioneers Ultravox have issued the artwork for their first new album in 28 years, ‘Brilliant’ which is released on May 28th through EMI. The legendary quartet of Midge Ure, Billy Currie, Chris Cross and Warren Cann have created an album that not only stands alongside the finest work of their career but firmly places them as both a huge influence upon, and a vital contemporary force within, today’s musical climate.

Recorded in Canada, Los Angeles and the UK, ‘Brilliant’ is a stunning tour de force. “I think this record is probably the best one we’ve ever done,” explains Midge Ure, “because the songs are so much stronger than before. There’s a lovely naivety you have when you start out where you throw things together and think that they’re great and somehow that affects other people, but I think the fact that we’ve been working away separately over the years perfecting our art comes out on this record.”

The writing process for the twelve songs on ‘Brilliant’ started when Billy and Chris joined Midge at his house in Canada. “I have a house in the middle of the woods by a lake in Montreal and we realised if the three of us went to my house out there and sat down with some laptops, keyboards and guitars with no outside distractions at all, we could find out whether we were actually capable of writing something together again. And it was a phenomenal experience, a great bonding thing for the three of us; we just ate, slept and breathed music. It was a very, very instant thing, like getting back onto the horse again. We climbed back onto the saddle again and we were off and running.”

It was this sense of starting again that, according to Midge, really inspired the band. “That’s what we were trying to do when we first started, make something unique, something that came from the four of us. You can hear directly from what we were doing thirty years ago stuff that was coming out of deepest, darkest Germany - bands like Kraftwerk and Neu - but you can also hear the pop of Roxy Music and David Bowie and you put that mixture together and it becomes unique because nobody else sounds like that collective. But over the years we had an awful lot of followers and you can still hear some of that influence running through music today with other bands, the melody and the structure and the atmospherics.”

Yet the fact that the four members of Ultravox have come together again means that ‘Brilliant’ has the singular, unique sound which has inspired so many of today’s artists, but never been bettered.“If it was Ultravox with a slightly different line-up, if one of us wasn’t there it wouldn’t have that link but because the four of us are there together it has that link. Something about the persona of these characters coming together and those emotions turns it into something else.”

Further sessions in Canada and LA to record Warren’s drum parts followed leaving Midge, Billy and Chris to finish the recordings in their home studios. With the album almost complete they decided to bring in an outside producer to bring the whole album together.

“We didn’t want to lose the momentum and dry up after this amazing flurry of activity and great creative bubble,” recalls Midge. “So that’s when [producer] Steve Lipson came into the process at the end and helped us fine-tune everything. He’s very much a musician and became almost a fifth member of the band for a while, and he would challenge and question us on everything. We’d done about a year’s work on our own, very isolated and insular, and nobody else had heard anything. So once he came on board and got involved it just worked incredibly well.”

And the result is astonishing. From the opening, swelling barrage of ‘Live’ with its instantly identifiable piano motifs through the epic rock of ‘Flow’ to first single and title track ‘Brilliant’, there is no mistaking the sound of Ultravox; the huge choruses, the impassioned vocals, the driving rhythms and pulsing electronics.

‘Rise’ is a modern computer-pop classic while the likes of ‘Remembering’, ‘One’ and ‘Change’ evoke the cinematic atmospheres Ultravox do so well. Coupled with the widescreen drama of ‘Lie’, the chiming exoticism of ‘Satellite’, the sinister tension of ‘Hello’ and the chilling heartbreak of ‘Fall’, Ultravox have crafted an album that may well be ranked as their finest work to date.

The final part of the jigsaw puzzle was choosing which record company to release the album through, as the band had a number of offers on the table. But it was EMI, the band’s home for many years that they decided to return to. “We’ve always had the EMI connection through being signed to Chrysalis and EMI did such a fantastic job with the reissues around the ‘Return To Eden’ shows that it felt very natural. EMI got it, and understood what we were doing and understood the standards we have. We spent six weeks rehearsing for a three week tour to make sure it was as good as it could be and EMI are able to work to the same high standards.”

More info on the European tour dates below, with further details to follow on a few of the shows to follow where marked tomorrow.

Please note that Italy is the ONLY show in Europe which will have a presale. This presale will start on Wednesday 30th May for 24 hours only (link in listing below, no password required).

SEPTEMBER 2012 21 Bristol Colston Hall 22 Oxford New Theatre 23 Portsmouth Guildhall 25 Nottingham Royal Centre 26 Birmingham Symphony Hall 27 Hammersmith HMV Apollo 29 Guildford G Live 30 Manchester Palace Theatre

OCTOBER 2012 02 Southend Cliffs Pavilion 03 Ipswich Regent Theatre 04 Sheffield City Hall 06 Blackpool Opera House 07 Glasgow Clyde Auditorium 08 Gateshead Sage

OCTOBER 2012

• 10.10.12 - France, Paris, Trabendo - on sale 30th May
• 11.10.12 - Belgium, Antwerp, Trix Hall - on sale now / 0900 00 600
• 12.10.12 - Holland, Tilburg, Poppodium - on sale 2nd June / 0900 300 12 50
• 14.10.12 - Germany, Hamburg, Docks - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000
• 15.10.12 - Denmark, Copenhagen - MORE INFO TOMORROW
• 16.10.12 - Sweden, Malmö - on sale 30th May / +46 771 651 000
• 18.10.12 - Finland, Helsinki - on sale 30th May / 358 (0) 600-1-1616
• 20.10.12 - Sweden, Stockholm - on sale 30th May / +46 771 651 000
• 21.10.12 - Norway, Oslo, Rockefeller - on sale now / 00 815 11211
• 23.10.12 - Sweden, Gothenburg- on sale 30th May / +46 771 651 000
• 25.10.12 - Germany, Berlin, Columbiahalle - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000
• 26.10.12 - Germany, Mainz, Phoenixhalle - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000
• 27.10.12 - Germany, Leipzig, Haus Auensee - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000
• 29.10.12 - Germany, Munich, Kesselhaus - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000
• 30.10.12 - Austria, Vienna - MORE INFO TOMORROW

NOVEMBER 2012

• 01.11.12 - Switzerland, Zurich - MORE INFO TOMORROW
• 03.11.12 - Germany, Memmingen, Stadthalle - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000
• 05.11.12 - Italy, Milan - PRESALE 30th / general sale 31st May / +39 0253006501
• 07.11.12 - Germany, Köln, E-Werk - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000
• 08.11.12 - Germany, Bielefeld, Ringlokschuppen - on sale now / +49 (0)1805 570000

The Brilliant microsite has now launched, and you can either pre-order the album from there or directly from www.ultravox.org.uk/store.shtml. These are the same Amazon (worldwide), Townsend, HMV, Play & iTunes links that appear on the EMI microsite, and there is no difference to ordering from either; your order will be helping EV either from either location (thank you!).
You will still be able to view the video clips and competitions (all worldwide this time) which will appear on the microsite; no purchase is necessary to see them or to take part.