Robbie Williams to release new album Heavy Entertainment Show ft Ed Sheeran and Brandon Flowers
The follow-up to 2013's Swings Both Ways will drop on 4 November
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Your support makes all the difference.Robbie Williams has announced the upcoming release of his first new album since 2013.
The intriguingly-titled Heavy Entertainment Show is scheduled to drop on 4 November, featuring songs co-written by the big-hitting likes of Ed Sheeran, Brandon Flowers, John Grant and of course, his long-term collaborator Guy Chambers.
News of the record first broke during The X Factor ad break on Saturday night, when a 40-second clip soundtracked by the title track saw Williams dressed as a boxer in the ring, fighting as both opponents.
Heavy Entertainment Show will be the 42-year-oldâs follow-up to Swings Both Ways and is the result of three years of songwriting. âIâve been working on this album like I work on all the other albums,â Williams told Julie Adenuga in a special interview to be aired on her Beats 1 radio show.
âItâs been a process of three years, some of these songs that have been on the album Iâve had three years ago, and Iâve had on my computer and Iâve been very excited about them and the new ones have taken their place and then the old ones have gone, and then the old ones come back up, the new onesâŠitâs just a process thatâs been years in the making.â
Williams, who played Londonâs Roundhouse on Sunday night as part of the Apple Music Festival, also explained the thinking behind the albumâs title. âI was musing over the phrase âlight entertainmentâ - all the huge TV shows from when I was a kid, 30 million people watching them, this huge shared experience of these moments called light entertainment,â he said.
âSometimes it can be levelled at people in a bad way, but for me thatâs heavy entertainment. Thatâs what Iâm hoping to do with this album - to have a shared experience with millions of people through the medium of light entertainmentâŠbut on steroids.â
The singer, who has two children with wife Ayda Field, is thrilled to be back ârecreating some magicâ with Chambers. âWeâre back in each othersâ lives and I love him, heâs my musical brother, and you know, heâs my spiritual brother,â he said. âWe just try to get back into the studio and recreate some magic, and hopefully reconnect with what made it and us successful in the first place.â
Williams has 11 chart-topping albums under his belt, a tally matched only by Elvis Presley, while Swings Both Ways was the 1000th album to reach UK number one.
Check out the tracklist for Heavy Entertainment Show here:
âHeavy Entertainment Showâ
âParty Like a Russianâ
âMixed Signalsâ
âLove My Lifeâ
âMotherf**kerâ
âBruce Leeâ
âSensitiveâ
âDavidâs Songâ
âPretty Womanâ
âHotel Crazyâ ft Rufus Wainwright
âSensationalâ
Five extra songs will feature on a 16-track deluxe version of the album, along with a DVD of exclusive behind-the-scenes content.
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