The mushrooming of reality shows and talent searches on TV worldwide has given birth to new faces and refreshing voices in acting or singing. But only a few succeed in reaching the top. One of them is UK’s The X-Factor winner Shayne Ward.
Only on his second year in the music scene, the Manchester-born Shayne has scored a No. 1 single and an album, sold millions of records, was nominated in the Brit awards, with hit songs that have charted higher than Justin Timberlake in the music charts. If you’ve been reading the music news, you’ll know exactly who I’m speaking of as Shayne’s charm and excellent voice have reached other European countries and Asian countries like Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore. Here in the Philippines, FM radio stations play his song No Promises, from his self-titled debut album under SonyBMG, every so often.
His sophomore album, Breathless, to be released on Nov. 26, sees Shayne creating a sound different from the ballads stamped all over his debut album which had a successful launch in Hong Kong last year. Shayne is toning down the sound of maturity and turning up the volume of youthfulness.
“The songs in the album are edgier, funkier and really speak about my age and the fans,” Shayne says in a recent phone interview.
The 23-year-old relates it’s just exciting to listen to songs for fun and groove to a funky beat.
This way, Shayne somehow gets to relax compared to the days before winning The X-Factor. He used to work in a shoe shop in London to help his mom Philomena fend for a large close-knit family where singing is every member’s passion. These days, Shayne complements his singing with some dance moves.
However, it doesn’t mean Shayne is turning his back on romantic songs. All he wants is to give listeners a taste of his personality and how guys his age deal with everyday life.
Recorded in Sweden with pop legend Max Martin, Breathless contains eight all-original songs with pop, R ‘n B and electronica feel but with a lot more depth and adventurousness.
Among the songs in the album are the carrier single Breathless; If That’s Okay With You, a feel-good, uptempo pop-reggae track about the end of one relationship; No You Hang Up and You Make Me Wish have an organic feel which suits Shayne’s personality.
The album also reflects the types of songs Shayne prefers to listen to like the ones from Prince, Ne-Yo, Pink and Timberlake.
Does he now own a lot of CDs unlike before when money was so tight he could only afford to buy Daniel Bedingfield’s If You’re Not the One?
“Ha, ha, ha, yes I now own too many and still love listening to songs of Justin Timberlake and Pink,” Shayne says.
With the success he’s enjoying now, is there anything more Shayne wants to achieve?
“There’s so much more I want to achieve. I wanna go back to Asia which will be very, very soon. I love to perform and enjoy the sound with people,” he replies.
Doesn’t he plan to mount a concert here, so Filipinos will be more familiar with his songs?
“Of course yes, I’m gonna be coming over there very, very soon and it’s just gonna be exciting to do an album launch there,” Shayne replies.
Breathless will be locally distributed by SonyBMG.