MASTERS of their craft Westlife return with their most heart-stirring offering to date.
New single Safe showcases the awesome emotional weight of an outfit at the height of their powers.
Recorded in Los Angeles, with legendary producer John Shanks, the soaring ballad features the quartet in their most nakedly raw form.
“I’m crawling on the floor to reach you/I’m a wreck you see” sings band member Mark Feehily as strings swell to head-spinning effect.
It confirms the lads’ position as the undisputed kings of classy, arena-packing songcraft.
More than a decade into their career, and ten albums down the line, any competition has long ago fallen by the wayside for an outfit whose ability to chime so skillfully with the emotional landscape of their audience remains undimmed.
That their new collection arrives little more than twelve months after their last chart-topping album, signals a group who’ve struck a rich vein of form.
The album, their eleventh, is due on November 22nd and was recorded in London and California.
Sessions were steered by veteran hitmaker Shanks, who has produced global smashes for acts as diverse as Take That, Bon Jovi and Alanis Morissette and achieved no less than 47 number 1 singles in the USA.
Nicky, Shane, Kian and Mark are a musical powerhouse with over 43 million record sales under their belt.
They’ve amassed an astonishing 14 No1 singles and are the biggest-selling UK arena act ever.
Yet, they refuse to be complacent – refining their intimate connection to their legions of followers with every new album they issue.
They’re a phenomenon without rival.
Long may they stay so.