News: Dame Shirley Bassey Returns With New Album ‘Hello Like Before’
2 min read
One of the most iconic voices in British music Dame Shirley Bassey will return with ‘Hello Like Before,’ her first album in five years & most personal yet, celebrating her very own Diamond Jubilee of an incredible 60 years in the entertainment business. The album is scheduled for release November 17th in the UK and November 28th in Australia.
Recorded at the legendary Abbey Road studios with producer and musical director Stuart Barr at the helm, ‘Hello Like Before’ is a collection of some of the greatest songs of the 20th century – songs that Dame Shirley has always longed to record and finally been able to imbue with her own Bassey spellbinding presence.
This tour of Dame Shirley’s own personal musical history includes the likes of Sting’s ‘Englishman In New York’, Nina Simone’s ‘Wild Is The Wind’, The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’ (on the deluxe edition) and ‘It Was A Very Good Year’, made famous by Frank Sinatra and of which Dame Shirley says “When I was 17 I was too young to do this song, and when I was 21, and 35 … I’ve waited all these years to do it.”
The scope of the album charts the entire range and variety of Dame Shirley’s life and career. From the fun and sassy, to the theatrical, to the epic and emotional. ‘MacArthur Park’, in particular, was difficult to record – Dame Shirley admits “I broke down with emotion in the rehearsals for this, couldn’t finish it … I want it make everybody cry”. There is also a stunning duet with Paloma Faith on the timeless ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’.
With an unparalleled career in show business spanning over sixty years, Dame Shirley Bassey has done and seen it all, performing for the likes of Royals and Presidents, being met with rapturous applause on worldwide stages from the glamour of Las Vegas to the mud of Glastonbury.
‘Hello Like Before’ Tracklisting:
1. This Is What You Are
2. Englishman In New York
3. Fever
4. I’m Still Here
5. Macarthur Park
6. Wild Is The Wind
7. Goldfinger
8. Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend (duet with Paloma Faith)
9. Here’s To Life
10. It Was A Very Good Year
11. Hello Like Before
12. We Got Music (deluxe bonus track)
13. Hey Jude (deluxe bonus track)
