Sophie Ellis-Bextor has released her new orchestral greatest hits album The Song Diaries which is out now through Cooking Vinyl.
Sophie’s Orchestral Greatest Hits is her seventh studio album and is the follow-up to her recent album Familia and previous record Wanderlust, both of which charted in the Top 10 and marked a change in musical direction for her.
With six Top 10 singles over her 21-year musical career, she returns back to her original disco roots on The Song Diaries, which features her biggest hits, but not as you’ve heard them before. Singles such as Murder On The Dancefloor and Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love), which was the most played record on UK radio between 2000 and 2010, have been re-worked with beautiful orchestral arrangements to create new versions of Sophie’s biggest hits and the album includes orchestral versions of 6 top 10 singles. It also features the recent Radio-2 A-listed single Love Is You, which is a cover of Carol Williams’ disco classic, featuring the original sample from Sophie’s hit with Spiller Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love).
The most recent single from the album was Theaudience’s track A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed, which was originally a single for Sophie in 1998 when she was the lead singer in Theaudience. It was one of the band’s most popular songs, becoming a Britpop classic. The track has been re-recorded with a full orchestra and band and produced by Sophie’s long-term musical collaborator and friend Ed Harcourt and it is the first time it’s available on streaming services.
The full tracklising for The Song Diaries is as follows:
1. GrooveJet – Orchestral Version
2. Take Me Home – Orchestral Version
3. Murder On The Dancefloor – Orchestral Version
4. Move This Mountain – Orchestral Version
5. Music Gets The Best of Me – Orchestral Version
6. Mixed Up World – Orchestral Version
7. Catch You – Orchestral Version
8. Me and My Imagination – Orchestral Version
9. Today The Sun’s On Us – Orchestral Version
10. Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer) – Orchestral Version
11. Bittersweet – Orchestral Version
12. Not Giving Up On Love – Orchestral Version
13. Young Blood – Orchestral Version
14. Love Is a Camera – Orchestral Version
15. Wild Forever – Orchestral Version
16. A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed - Orchestral Version (Bonus Track)
17. Love Is You (Bonus Track)
18. Take Me Home - Orchestral Disco Version (Bonus Track)*
19. Murder On The Dancefloor – Orchestral Disco Version (Bonus Track)*
* Available via download code on Vinyl LP format
Production on the record comes from acclaimed singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt, who also produced Familia and Wanderlust, with string arrangements from Amy Langley of Dirty Pretty Strings and additional production by David Arnold, renowned for his TV and film compositions, including five James Bond films.
Sophie performed tracks from The Song Diaries at her biggest London headline show to date at Royal Festival Hall at the end of last year alongside a 30-piece band and orchestra. She will be taking The Song Diaries on the road in both June and November with a full orchestra and band for a UK tour, including a headline show at the London Palladium, and tickets are on sale now. Full live dates, including two upcoming outdoor shows supporting Kylie Minogue, are as follows;
June:
Sun 2nd Cambridge Corn Exchange
Tues 4th Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Wed 5th Bristol St George’s Hall
Fri 7th Brighton Dome
Sat 8th Birmingham Symphony Hall
Sun 9th Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Tues 11th Edinburgh Usher Hall
Thurs 13th Dublin Vicar Street
Sun 23rd Woodstock Blenheim Palace (with Kylie Minogue)
July:
Fri 12th Lytham St. Annes Lytham Festival (with Kylie Minogue)
November:
Tues 19th Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Wed 20th London Palladium
Sun 24th Leeds Town Hall
Mon 25th Sage Gateshead
Wed 27th Basingstoke The Anvil
Thurs 28th Guildford G Live
