Also Xenomania had imploded, so the people there were all working independently.
|
|
You guys originally had Brian Higgins of Xenomania (S Club, Girls Aloud, Kylie Minogue) in mind to produce this.
|
|
That was the first album we did quite a bit with Brian Higgins of Xenomania, which worked out really well.
|
|
I then went on to work with Xenomania, a pop production company who nurtured my pop sensibility in my early twenties.
|
|
Today, she's also released a four-track EP which mostly just sounds like Girls Aloud songs (a good thing), basically because they're all produced by pop hitmakers Xenomania, who were behind most of Girls Aloud's most enduring hits.
|
|
Clearly aware this group were giving off that same specific energy which appeals to young British girls in particular, SYCO quickly sent them to work with some of pop's most wizard-like producers – TMS, Future Cut, Steve Mac, Xenomania, Jon Levine among others.
|
|
Taffel, 27, and Leccese, 28, met as students at the Parsons School of Art and Design in New York, and when they graduated in 2015, they both went on to work for the antiques dealer Emilie Irving in her curiosity-filled store Xenomania in Manhattan's East Village.
|
|
The deal with London Records and Xenomania ultimately fell through.
|
|
All tracks were produced by Xenomania. Credits adapted from the liner notes.
|
|
The following is a discography of UK pop production house Xenomania, put together by songwriter and record producer Brian Higgins. Members of the Xenomania writing and production team include Nick Coler, Giselle Sommerville, Niara Scarlett, Miranda Cooper (who shares co-writing credits in nearly all Xenomania-written tracks), Lisa Cowling, Tim Powell, and Matt Gray. In the turn of the decade, the team also welcomed members Carla Marie Williams, Toby Scott, Timothy "Hight" Deal, Florrie, Luke Fitton and Ben Taylor and Sarah Thompson. Xenomania also have their own in-house DJ and remixer, Tony Lamezma.
|
|
Also in 2015, Gatfield co-founded and invested in Synchronized, an interactive video platform. He has also invested in a number of tech start ups. In 2016, Gatfield founded Twin Xenomania Ltd. with producer/songwriter and Xenomania founder Brian Higgins.
|
|
"All Fired Up" is a song by British-Irish girl group The Saturdays, released as the second single from their third studio album, On Your Radar (2011). The single was released on 4 September 2011. The song was written by Tim Deal, Brian Higgins, Matt Gray, Annie Yuill, Miranda Cooper, MNEK, Xenomania and Space Cowboy. The song was also produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania, and was recorded at Xenomania.
|
|
Long term members Tim Powell and Nick Coler left in 2010. Xenomania also includes a house band who work on potential songs; members include Florrie Arnold (drums) Kieran Jones (guitar, bass) and Jason Resch (guitar, keyboards). French remixer Fred Falke also frequently works with Xenomania. Xenomania started a "record label" of the same name in 2008, developing artists and working on material before looking for major label deals.
|
|
Xenomania worked with a number of other new artists, such as Alex Gardner, Jessie Malakouti, and Vagabond, to varying degrees of success (see artist development). In 2011, Xenomania produced two tracks for The Saturdays' album On Your Radar, including their top five hit "All Fired Up", which was co-produced with Space Cowboy and MNEK. The same year, they produced songs for The X Factor runner-up Rebecca Ferguson, British boy band The Wanted, and girl group SoundGirl. Xenomania worked with another X Factor alumnus (and Xenomania Records signee), Amelia Lily, producing and writing an album that was subsequently shelved.
|
|
In 2000, Higgins and Gray produced a single for London Records with the singer, Miranda Cooper (a.k.a. Moonbaby). Although the song did not become a hit, Cooper's lyric writing talent would become a key part of Xenomania. Complications resulted from the late nineties sale of London Records to Universal Music Group. Eventually, Xenomania became an independent production company based in Kent, where Higgins, Cooper, and the rest of the Xenomania production team currently reside.
|
|
All tracks were produced by Xenomania. Credits adapted from the liner notes of Out of Control.
|
|
Yes is the tenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 18 March 2009 by Parlophone. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and was produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks.
|
|
In 2012, Xenomania Records became an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment and signed Amelia Lily, a finalist from The X Factor. Xenomania's in-house drummer Florrie Arnold signed to Sony after finding Internet success. Xenomania held an open audition for recording artists in London's Shoreditch area in 2013.
|
|
The album features production work from previous collaborators Timo Kaukolampi and Richard X, as well as Xenomania and Paul Epworth.
|
|
Annie co- wrote Mini Viva's debut single "Left My Heart in Tokyo", released in September 2009 and produced by Xenomania.
|
|
"Some Kind of Miracle" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their debut studio album Sound of the Underground (2003). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. One of six songs produced by Xenomania for Sound of the Underground, "Some Kind of Miracle" was also remixed by Illicit. Receiving comparisons to The Bangles and Geri Halliwell, "Some Kind of Miracle" was praised by contemporary music critics as a stand- out track from Sound of the Underground.
|
|
The single also featured the album version, produced by the Xenomania production team, who also co-wrote the track with the band.
|
|
Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Pet Shop Boys, The Saturdays and Sugababes. In particular, all but one of Girls Aloud's studio albums have been entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Sugababes' "Round Round" and Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" have been credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s.
|
|
In 2014, Xenomania produced "What Are You Waiting For?" for The Saturdays, the lead single from the group's greatest hits album Finest Selection. Also that year, Xenomania reunited with former Girls Aloud member Nadine Coyle to write and produce material for Coyle's upcoming second studio album. The sessions have so far yielded three singles, "Go to Work", "Fool for Love" and "All That I Know" as well as an EP, titled Nadine. On 23 January 2019, Xenomania launched a four- member girl group called unperfect, releasing their debut single "Gots To Give The Girl" on the following day.
|
|
The second CD format featured an original composition titled "Blow Your Cover", co-written by Girls Aloud with Xenomania. The Tony Lamenza Remix of "Call the Shots" was being included on the CD single also at first, however, the Xenomania Club Mix was selected instead. The Tony Lamenza Remix was then included on the Singles Box Set, released in 2009.
|
|
Moonbaby released "Here We Go" as her debut single on 14 August 2000, with cover art shot by fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth. The single failed to make the top 75 on the UK Singles Chart. The deal between Xenomania and London Records fell through. Cooper and Higgins, however, went on to write and produce for other artists as Xenomania.
|
|
Xenomania worked with other British artists such as Bananarama, Texas, and Rachel Stevens. They contributed tracks to Stevens' album Come and Get It, a commercial failure that The Guardian listed among its "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" and hailed as "a riot, thanks to a stellar team of pop producers [...] who seem to have taken the precarious state of Stevens' career as an excuse to let their imaginations run amok". Xenomania continued their work with both Saint Etienne and Sugababes, producing the latter's UK top five single "Red Dress" (from the 2005 album Taller in More Ways), described by The Observer as "a thumping tour de force from Xenomania [...] Not unexpectedly, it flirts vivaciously with pop songwriting convention, boasting not one but two killer choruses". Xenomania also produced Totally Frank stars Frank's 2006 debut album; the group was dropped after their album failed to perform well.
|
|
NME magazine called Don't Stop "Xenomania-abetted lipstick-pop genius". Pop duo Mini Viva's three singles—"Left My Heart in Tokyo", "I Wish" (both 2009), and "One Touch" (2010)—were produced by Xenomania. "Left My Heart in Tokyo", which charted within the top ten, was co-written by Annie and Fred Falke. The song was critically acclaimed, and all three singles were shortlisted for the annual Popjustice £20 Music Prize.
|
|
"Biology" is a song performed by English-Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their third studio album Chemistry (2005). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and Higgins' production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Composed of distinct sections, it avoids the verse-chorus form present in most contemporary pop music. "Biology" was released as a single in November 2005, ahead of the album's release.
|
|
Mania was a joint venture between Higgins and BMG. The duo, consisting of Xenomania songwriters Giselle Sommerville and Niara Scarlett, released one single before being dropped. The boy band V, whose single "Hip to Hip" was produced by Xenomania, was short lived. Higgins called V "bright and motivated, with a lot of charisma [...] When we decide to work with an artist it is normally a decision based on personality and the challenge we feel it holds for us".
|
|
Several of their songs, including "Money In My Pocket" and "I'm Not Shy", were covered by the girl group Frank. All of their songs were produced by Higgins and the Xenomania team.
|
|
"Here We Go" was recorded by British all-female pop group for their second studio album What Will the Neighbours Say? in 2004. Their version was also produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania.
|
|
A Joyful Noise is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Gossip. It was released on May 11, 2012, by Columbia Records. The album was produced by Xenomania founder Brian Higgins.
|
|
"Life Got Cold" is a song by British girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their debut album Sound of the Underground (2003). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Noel Gallagher of Oasis received a writing credit due to similarities with Oasis' "Wonderwall". Released as their third single in August 2003, "Life Got Cold" became Girls Aloud's third consecutive top three hit on the UK Singles Chart.
|
|
Pet Shop Boys' tenth studio album, Yes, was produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania. Yes reached number four on the UK Albums Chart in 2009, Pet Shop Boys' highest placing since their 1996 album Bilingual. The album was nominated in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Don't Stop, the second album by Norwegian singer Annie, was released in 2009 and includes several tracks produced and co-written by Xenomania, including the single "My Love Is Better".
|
|
"My Love Is Pink" was written by Sugababes members Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range in collaboration with the British songwriting and production team Xenomania, consisting of Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Lisa Cowling and Nick Coler. Higgins and Xenomania produced the song. It was mixed by Powell and Higgins; programmed it with Cooper and Gray. "My Love Is Pink" was sent to digital retailers in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 10 December 2007 as the second single from Change.
|
|
Introduction is the first EP by Florrie. It was released on 15 November 2010 as free download on her official site. It's available also on iTunes. The EP consists of four songs produced by Xenomania.
|
|
"Red Dress" received positive reviews from music critics. Stuart McCaighy of This Is Fake DIY described the song as "top of the range pop", and considered it an example that Xenomania "don't keep all their best songs for Girls Aloud." Peter Robinson of The Observer called the track a "thumping tour de force from Xenomania", and noted that it "flirts vivaciously with pop songwriting convention". A journalist from Virgin Media regarded "Red Dress" as an "irresistibly funky effort from the amorphous trio and their producers".
|
|
Following the demise of their deal with London Records, Cooper and Higgins began writing and producing for other artists. Cooper has been described as the "chief lyricist" of Xenomania, who are based out of a converted mansion in Kent. Cooper co-wrote the song "Round Round" which became a number one hit for the Sugababes in 2002. Xenomania continued their commercial breakthrough by writing "Sound of the Underground" for Popstars: The Rivals winners Girls Aloud; the song spent four consecutive weeks at number one.
|
|
Xenomania and Pet Shop Boys wrote the song in sessions for the latter's album Yes. Both parties had previously agreed there would be just three co-written songs on the album, and having noticed Chris Lowe's "slight reticence" towards the song, Higgins suggested that Girls Aloud record "The Loving Kind". Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant said that they co-wrote the song while working with Xenomania, and described it as "beautiful but still dancey". It was the second song Girls Aloud recorded for Out of Control.
|
|
"Untouchable" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control (2008). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Influenced by trance music and Balearic beat, the album version of "Untouchable" is over six minutes long. Remixed for single release in April 2009, "Untouchable" memorably became Girls Aloud's first of only two singles to miss the top ten on the UK Singles Chart.
|
|
"Whole Lotta History" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their third studio album Chemistry (2005). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as "a lush ballad", "Whole Lotta History" was slightly remixed and released as a single in March 2006. It continued Girls Aloud's string of hits by becoming their twelfth consecutive single to chart within the top ten on the UK Singles Chart.
|
|
Stevens co-wrote the song "Funny How" with British production team Xenomania. "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)", the album's third and final single, was written by the duo Jewels & Stone and Rob Davis.
|
|
Nadine is the first EP by Irish recording artist Nadine Coyle, released on 22 March 2018 by Virgin EMI Records. After reuniting with Brian Higgins from production team Xenomania, new music from Nadine began development in 2014.
|
|
"No Good Advice" is a song by British girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their debut album Sound of the Underground (2003). The song was written by Aqua's Lene Nystrøm Rasted, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. It has themes of rebellion, reflecting Higgins' general mood of failure after a business partnership fell through. Following the overwhelming success of Girls Aloud's debut single "Sound of the Underground", the group waited five months until May 2003 before releasing the follow-up.
|
|
Florrie performed with Selfservice at night and worked part-time as a nanny during the day. A meeting with the manager of Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi led Florrie to a successful audition as the drummer in the houseband of Xenomania, the successful Kent-based production team. Her first job was playing on Girls Aloud's 2008 single "The Promise", although she also assisted with administration work. She provided drums and drum programming on Xenomania-produced tracks by Alesha Dixon, Rebecca Ferguson, Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, and The Saturdays.
|
|
Vagabond's vocalist Alex Vargas said, "It sounds cheesy, but we really are one big family". Mini Viva, who were formed in 2007, spent two years working with Xenomania before their launch. Other artists discovered and developed through Xenomania Records include Alex Gardner, Brooke X and Jessie Malakouti. Commenting on the underperformances of Gardner and Mini Viva's singles, Popbitch wrote that the publicity surrounding the latter act may have placed "too much emphasis on a 30 and 40-something production duo" that "shouldn't be trying to be the next Timbaland or Red One ".
|
|
It came out in the UK on 19 October 2009 and in the US on 17 November. Don't Stop includes collaborations with former collaborators Richard X and Timo Kaukolampi, as well as British producers Xenomania and Paul Epworth. The album's release was preceded by two digital singles: "Songs Remind Me of You", a Richard X production, and "My Love Is Better", which was produced by Xenomania and features guitar from Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand. The latter initially featured backing vocals by British pop group Girls Aloud, but their record label intervened.
|
|
The song was written specifically to serve as the theme tune to the 2007 film St Trinian's. It was written especially by the film's composer Charlie Mole, with additional lyrics by Ali Thompson. The song was offered to many artists, but was eventually given to Girls Aloud and produced by their production team Xenomania. "Theme to St Trinian's" was later re-recorded by the Banned of St Trinian's; this appeared on the soundtrack to St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold and was also produced by Xenomania.
|
|
"Something Kinda Ooooh" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their first greatest hits collection The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits (2006). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Inspired by 1980s pop and George Michael, "Something Kinda Ooooh" was released as a single in October 2006. It returned Girls Aloud to the top three of the UK Singles Chart for the first time in two years.
|
|
Late is the third EP by Florrie. It was released as download on iTunes on 31 May 2012. The EP consists of four songs produced by Xenomania. Florrie released a music video for the song "Shot You Down".
|
|
The band was later taken to London by Xenomania and they were offered a recording contract. Gregory's acting talent was discovered after he was spotted in his own music video. He was then signed to an acting management agency.
|
|
Niara Scarlett is a British-born singer-songwriter, perhaps most famous for her work with British production house Xenomania. Scarlett appeared on a number of dub, garage, grime, and house singles in the latter half of the 1990s and the 2000s.
|
|
In a review of the EP, The Guardian wrote, "Thankfully, Florrie has the songs to make this way of working pay, having collaborated with Xenomania, MNEK, Fred Falke and Mike Chapman of Parallel Lines to create some sparkling pop moments".
|
|
Xenomania has been given various accolades and recognition. British music industry trade magazine Music Week said in an October 2008 piece, "As one of song-writing and production team Xenomania, the publicity shy Brian Higgins has been responsible for some of the most life-affirming and innovative pop songs of the last decade." They were named Music Week's Producer of the Year award for 2009. Higgins won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for his work on Cher's "Believe"; it was also awarded the sales-based International Hit of the Year and Best Selling UK Single.
|
|
"The Loving Kind" is a song by British girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control (2008). The song was written by Pet Shop Boys, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as a "synth-pop ballad", "The Loving Kind" was originally written for inclusion on Pet Shop Boys' Yes (2009) before being given to Girls Aloud. Upon its release in January 2009, "The Loving Kind" entered the UK Singles Chart at number ten, thereby continuing their six-year streak of top ten hits.
|
|
"I'm Not Mad" is the debut single from Scottish pop singer Alex Gardner. It was released as a CD single and download on 29 March 2010 in the United Kingdom and Ireland on A&M; Records. The song was produced by Xenomania.
|
|
Brian Thomas Higgins (born 1966Births, Marriages & Deaths Index – England & Wales) is an English record producer, who has written and produced albums and tracks for several successful pop music singers and groups, including Girls Aloud, S Club and The Saturdays, through his Xenomania production group. A key collaborator with Higgins is Miranda Cooper, who shares co-writing credits in nearly all Xenomania-written tracks. His musical style has been described as part electro, part power pop, more basic pop, with elements of new wave, rave, and dance found in many of his collaborations in the more than 15 years he has been in the music industry.
|
|
"All Fired Up" was written by Brian Higgins, Tim Deal, Matt Gray, Annie Yuill, MNEK and Miranda Cooper and was produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania. The song was recorded in 2011 after the band said they wanted to try some music which was a lot more "sexier" and "definitely a different sound". The song was recorded at Xenomania. The band revealed that a lot of the songs on the album (including "All Fired Up") are about love which the inspiration of the songs came from their celebrity boyfriends; David Gandy [Mollie King], Wayne Bridge [Frankie Sandford], Marvin Humes [Rochelle Wiseman], and Ben Foden [Una Healy].
|
|
The song "We Wanna Party", which Nystrøm- Rasted recorded and co-wrote with Xenomania, appeared on Girls Aloud's 2008 album Out of Control. Nystrøm-Rasted and Xenomania co-wrote two more Girls Aloud songs, the tracks "No Good Advice" and "You Freak Me Out", which appeared on the Girls Aloud debut album Sound of the Underground. "No Good Advice" became a breakout hit for the group. In 2005, Nystrøm-Rasted provided guest vocals on the LazyB single "I Love N.Y." and as part of charity project Giv Til Asien on the single Hvor små vi er, which peaked at number 1 at Danish single charts.
|
|
"Can't Speak French" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fourth studio album and serving as the third and final single from the album Tangled Up (2007). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Described as "a swirling, slower cut with great jazzy guitar changes," Higgins said it was "the easiest Girls Aloud single they made." Upon its release in March 2008, "Can't Speak French" charted within the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, continuing their five-year streak of top ten hits.
|
|
Since their inception, Xenomania has garnered praise from all areas of the international media. Pitchfork Media, which generally focuses on independent music, praised Xenomania for their "deathless hooks and multi-genre pyrotechnics [...] songs stuffed to the gills with one, two, three, sometimes four different choruses, sounding like patchwork assemblages of the best bits of a hundred fantasy pop songs." In 2006, British pop website Popjustice stated, "This cartel of songwriters and producers are the most talented pop powerhouse since the glory days of Cheiron, and could easily become the most exciting British hit machine of all time." "Sweet About Me", by Gabriella Cilmi (pictured), won an ARIA Award for Best Single.
|
|
Glamour Women of the Year Awards 2015 Mini Viva were formed by Xenomania in 2008, when Frankee Connolly and Britt Love attended an audition held by a label called Select Music UK. Xenomania took the duo to their headquarters in Kent, and they spent a year working with the production team before their launch. They were signed to Universal Music Group in May 2009, after performing "Left My Heart in Tokyo" in the office of Universal chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge. Mini Viva supported The Saturdays on their The Work Tour in 2009. The Guardian featured the duo as the "New Band of the Day" on 17 July 2009.
|
|
"Party Over" is a song recorded by British singer Amelia Lily. Written by Lily, Brian Higgins, Matt Gray, Miranda Cooper, Wayne Hector and Annie Yuil, and produced by Xenomania, It was released on 21 April 2013 and debuted at number 40 on the UK Singles Chart.
|
|
Experiments is the second EP by Florrie. It was released on 14 June 2011 as download on iTunes. The EP consists of six songs produced by Xenomania. There were made music videos for the songs "Begging Me", "I Took a Little Something" and "Experimenting with Rugs".
|
|
Blatt's solo releases were of variable success; her most prominent being "TwentyFourSeven", a collaboration with the Artful Dodger, peaking at No 6 in September 2001. Melanie began recording on her debut solo album in 2002, working with numerous producers including Sony Music production team Xenomania. In late 2003 she released her debut single "Do Me Wrong", it reached number 18 in the UK and led to Blatt being dropped by her label due to its low charting. The album she was working on was scrapped, therefore the release of her upcoming single "Blue" was cancelled, but later included on British singer Amelia Lily's debut album Be a Fighter, on which she worked with Xenomania.
|
|
Chemistry is the third studio album by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2005 by Polydor Records. After the success of What Will the Neighbours Say?, the album was again entirely produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania.
|
|
The track was remixed again four years later for the UK compilation Atomic - The Very Best of Blondie and the '98 Xenomania mix was later included on the first Queer as Folk soundtrack album. Billboard Magazine described "Atomic" as an "electronic enhanced dance number" in which the vocals blend with the instrumental music.
|
|
Lily's debut single, "You Bring Me Joy" (2012), reached number two and was described by pop music blog MuuMuse as "110% incredible". Higgins assumed production duties for indie rock Gossip's album A Joyful Noise, a collaboration met with scepticism by Vice magazine—"This is not the first time indie artists have fallen for his [Higgins'] cred-pop charms [...] no one involved managed to work out that Gossip isn't a pop band". Also in 2012, Xenomania recorded with Mutya Keisha Siobhan—a group consisting of the first line-up of the Sugababes—and Little Mix. Xenomania contributed two new tracks—including the single "Something New"—to Girls Aloud's second compilation album, Ten, the group's first album since announcing a hiatus after Out of Control (2008).
|
|
The album features two tracks co-written and produced by Xenomania ("Lightning Strikes Twice" and "Stars Above Us") as well as a guest vocal from 1970s pop star David Essex on "Relocate" (Essex had earlier appeared on the Saint Etienne album So Tough via sampled dialogue from the 1973 film That'll Be the Day).
|
|
The album was recorded in Los Angeles in 2005. Seven of the tracks are co- written by Frank, alongside Brian Higgins and Xenomania, who also produced it. Tracks one and five were also covers of Xenomania's "vanity act" Mania. The album was released in Summer 2006, reaching a disappointing #110 on the UK Charts.
|
|
"One Touch" is a song by English female pop duo Mini Viva, written and produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. The song was released as Mini Viva's third and final single on 9 May 2010. Remixes from Wideboys, Christian TV and Tom Neville were also commissioned. The single failed to make the UK top 100.
|
|
She also co-wrote the 2010 single "One Touch" for the short-lived female duo Mini Viva, "Something New" (2012) for Girls Aloud, and "What Are You Waiting For?" (2014) for The Saturdays. Xenomania producer Brian Higgins encouraged Florrie to sing one of the songs she had written, which prompted her to pursue her own music career.
|
|
Cooper began recording music with him under the moniker Xenomania. "As soon as he played me some tracks, I thought 'This feels right.'" Thanks to a connection with Pete Tong, Cooper and Higgins were able to sign a deal with London Records. In 2000, Cooper was signed as a solo artist under the alias of Moonbaby.
|
|
The song was not well received by critics; however, the cover became Girls Aloud's second number one single, holding the position for two weeks. The album What Will the Neighbours Say? was entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Upon its release on 29 November 2004, the album charted just outside of the top five and was quickly certified platinum.
|
|
"Quand je ferme les yeux" (English: "When I Close My Eyes") is an electronic music song performed by Belgian singer Natacha Atlas and Myra Boyle. It was written by Atlas, Brian Higgins and Lisa Cowling, and produced by Xenomania for Atlas' fifth album Something Dangerous (2003). It was released as a single by Mantra Recordings in 2003.
|
|
Miranda Cooper was introduced to British record producer Brian Higgins by Saint Etienne members Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs in the late 1990s. Cooper began recording music with him under the moniker Xenomania. "As soon as he played me some tracks, I thought 'This feels right.'" She and her sister attended boarding school in Canford Magna in Dorset, England.
|
|
The song is produced in the key of D flat major. Described as an "upbeat pop tune", the song received comparisons to Bananarama. It was also called "brilliantly barmy, with its lyrics about transvestite boyfriends running down the Old Kent Road." "Long Hot Summer" was written by Xenomania while they were in Los Angeles to meet with Disney.
|
|
"Made of Glass" appeared on the Australian compilation Now Spring 2005. "Giving You Up" was written and recorded during the summer of 2004 in London, England by Minogue and Xenomania. It was the third new song recorded for the compilation; the other two were "I Believe in You" and "Loving You", with the latter being cut from the album.
|
|
"Cinderella" was released as the lead single on 21 July 2013. Co-written by Miranda Cooper of Xenomania fame, the video features Vickers attending a party at a mansion and falling in love with one of the guests there. The video premiered during the week commencing 27 May 2013. The single premiered on BBC Radio 1 in April 2013.
|
|
The song went back and forth between Xenomania and their band several times before being finalised. A restructure of the song placed Cheryl Cole's "I've got to heat it up" verse in the introduction as well as the middle 8, while the third remix of the song turned "Something Kinda Ooooh" into a full-on dance track.
|
|
Following the release of their greatest hits album, Overloaded: The Singles Collection (2006), the Sugababes went back into the studio to work with a number of American producers on their then-untitled fifth studio album, the band's first full studio album with Amelle Berrabah. Collaborators on the album include Dr. Luke, Danish production team Deekay, and Novel as well as previous collaborators Xenomania, Dallas Austin and Jony Rockstar. Although, it was Amelle's first production, some of the songs from the album were leftover tracks that were originally intended to appear on Taller in More Ways (2005). The album was produced by Higgins and production team Xenomania, known for their work on other Sugababes singles including "Round Round", "Angels with Dirty Faces", "Hole in the Head", "In the Middle", and "Red Dress".
|
|
"Round Round" and "Sound of the Underground" have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. The Telegraph placed the latter song at number 15 on a list of 100 songs that defined the 2000s, while NME included it at number 39. In 2003, Xenomania wrote and produced "No Good Advice" for Girls Aloud, which reflected Higgins' general mood of failure after the deal between Xenomania and London Records fell through. Shortly afterwards, Higgins heard the other tracks that Girls Aloud had recorded for their debut album Sound of the Underground and was dissatisfied with the obscurity and inconsistency of the group's direction, and personally intervened to produce four more original tracks for the album to replace some of the weaker content.
|
|
Alesha Dixon scored her first UK top five single as a solo artist with "The Boy Does Nothing" (2008). In 2008, Xenomania's success continued. Australian singer- songwriter Gabriella Cilmi released her Xenomania-produced debut album, Lessons to Be Learned. The single "Sweet About Me", inspired by "obscure Parisian psychedelic records" that Higgins and Cooper had introduced to Cilmi, was an international success.
|
|
Scott was discovered by British pop singer Kéllé Bryan from the girl group Eternal, who signed her as a client. She went to work with British songwriters and producers Xenomania. In 2014, the YouTube channel "Reload" published two videos featuring her, as part of their "Reload Sessions" series. Her first major acting role was a Disney Channel UK series Life Bites.
|
|
It was released as a limited edition vinyl single in the United Kingdom. In Australia, the CD single was limited to 25,000 copies. All formats featured the B-side "Made of Glass", which was written by Minogue and Xenomania during the recording sessions for Ultimate Kylie in 2004. It was also recorded by British recording artist Rachel Stevens but was never released.
|
|
"I Wish" is a single by English pop duo Mini Viva, written and produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. The song was released as Mini Viva's second single in December 2009. The promo single of "I Wish" contains remixes by Cahill and Paul Harris. On 15 December 2009, "I Wish" reached number 64 on the UK iTunes Store's Top 200.
|
|
"Love on the Run" is a song by English electronic dance music artist Chicane featuring Northern Irish singer Peter Cunnah. It was released on 24 February 2003 in the United Kingdom, intended to be the lead single from the album Easy to Assemble, which was never released. Co-written with Brian Higgins of Xenomania, the song reached number thirty-three in the UK.
|
|
Stay Together, the band's sixth studio album, was released on 7 October 2016. It was co-written and produced by Brian Higgins, whose production company Xenomania has worked with the likes of Girls Aloud and Pet Shop Boys. The album's name is a reference to the song "We Stay Together". The first single from the album, "Parachute", was released on 14 June 2016.
|
|
Lessons to Be Learned is the debut album by Australian singer-songwriter Gabriella Cilmi. It was released in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2008 by Island Records and in Australia on 10 May 2008 by Mushroom Records. Co-written and produced by the team Xenomania, the album takes its title from a line in the song "Sweet About Me", which became a worldwide hit.
|
|
The single charted at number 57 on the Official Singles Sales Chart, and at number 52 on the Scottish Singles Chart. Coyle released her Nadine EP the same year, reaching number 1 on iTunes chart. In 2019, her single "Fool for Love" was released under Xenomania. In 2020, her single "All That I Know" was released, which reached 62 on the Official UK Charts.
|
|
This was followed with her joining songwriting teams Xenomania and Wolf Cousins. The deal led her to write songs for Girls Aloud and Icona Pop. During that time, she was going through hard times during a relationship, so she decided to avoid writing songs about that matter. At one point, however, she "could not handle it anymore" and started to write tracks related to her situation.
|
|
Chemistry was released in Ireland on 2 December 2005 and in the United Kingdom on the following Monday. In addition to the standard edition of the album, a limited edition with a bonus disc was also released. The bonus disc contains Christmas music, including covers and original songs produced by Xenomania under the moniker Festiv Gifts. The songwriters also took on Christmas-related pseudonyms.
|
|
"The Boy Does Nothing" is a song performed by English singer-songwriter Alesha Dixon. It is the lead single from her second studio album, The Alesha Show (2008). The song was written by Alesha along with the help of Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Carla Marie Williams, and other members of Xenomania. The single was her first since 2006 after "Knockdown" was released in October of that year.
|
|
" The album's eighth track, "Girls Allowed", was co-written by Westlife member Brian McFadden. It was described as both "Basement Jaxx meets Spice Girls" and "Donna Summer meets Dannii Minogue". "Forever and a Night" was described as "a soppy love song earmarked as a Christmas single", but slated for sounding like "every girl- group slushy song ever written." "Love/Hate", another song crafted by Xenomania, "lays vocals over garage beats.
|
|
In the 1980s and 1990s, Marr played on three Billy Bragg recordings. In the late 1980s, he performed on albums by Bryan Ferry and Talking Heads. In the 1990s and 2000s, he performed on three Pet Shop Boys albums, and also plays guitar and harmonica on their Xenomania-produced album, Yes, released in 2009. In the 1990s, he also performed on albums by M People, Beck and Tom Jones.
|
|
"I'm Not Shy" is the only single from English girl group Frank, released in the UK on 31 July 2006. It was made available on CD and digital download. It was later included on Frank's only album, Devil's Got Your Gold. "I'm Not Shy" was originally recorded by Mania, an act formed from part of the Xenomania songwriting team, and appeared on an album sampler leaked to the internet.
|
|
DNA is the debut studio album by English girl group Little Mix. It was released on 19 November 2012 in the United Kingdom via Syco Music. The group began work recording the album in December 2011 and concluded in September 2012. Throughout the recording process, Little Mix worked with several producers, including TMS, Future Cut, Steve Mac, Jarrad Rogers, Richard "Biff" Stannard, Ash Howes, Jon Levine, Xenomania, Fred Ball and Pegasus.
|
|
Despite her age, Harding portrayed teenage rebel Roxy, a new student at St. Trinian's School. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews, holding a 10% 'rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Harding worked with Girls Aloud producers Xenomania to record three solo tracks for the film's soundtrack – "Too Bad," "Make It Easy," and a cover of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging". In December 2009, Harding appeared on MTV's Sarah Harding in 24 Hours.
|
|
Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper (born 1975) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and television presenter. Miranda Cooper has worked in the music industry since 1996 when she gained her first recording contract. She worked as a professional dancer for artists such as Dannii Minogue before going into television presenting. In 1997, Cooper met Brian Higgins, the founder of Kent-based songwriting and production team Xenomania.
|
|
For the promotion of the album, Girls Aloud appeared in a variety show entitled The Girls Aloud Party which aired on 13 December 2008 on ITV. The second single from Out of Control was "The Loving Kind", the track was produced by Xenomania. The song peaked at number ten, becoming Girls Aloud's twentieth consecutive top ten single. The final single from the album, "Untouchable" was released in April 2009.
|
|
Mini Viva were an English pop duo formed in 2008 by British songwriting and production team Xenomania. They were managed by 19 Entertainment and signed to Geffen and Polydor Records. Consisting of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love, the duo were due to release their debut album in 2010. Despite a successful first single and positive reviews, the group failed to gain further traction and confirmed their split in late 2010.
|
|
They released their debut single, "Left My Heart in Tokyo", in September 2009. Produced by Xenomania, the song was named "the catchiest single of 2009" by NME magazine. It reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the highest-charting single of the duo's career. They have stated that they are inspired by Rihanna and Lady Gaga.BBC Radio 1 interview, The Radio 1 Chart Show, 13 December 2009.
|
|
From its inception Coler was a core member of the Xenomania production house along with Tim Powell, Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper writing, playing and producing on numerous top ten hits for acts such as the Sugababes, Girls Aloud, Gabriella Cilmi, Franz Ferdinand, Pet Shop Boys, Alesha Dixon, Texas, Kylie Minogue, Enrique Iglesias. He left Xenomania in 2010 and is now signed to BMG Berlin working on new acts with his own independent production company Mr Magus including acts such as CTA, Felony Disco and Randomizer. In 2011, Coler played at the Southbank Centre Festival Hall participating in a Vintage Weekend at the behest of Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley playing alongside other notable musicians such as Graham Gouldman of 10cc and Rob Davis of Mud fame. During his career he has also worked on various soundtracks including Wayne's World and Revenge of the Nerds and contributed music for numerous television shows from The Tweenies through to Totally Spies.
|
|
The director of Love Actually, Richard Curtis, phoned Xenomania while they were in a taxi in Berlin to tell them he thought "Jump" would make a good Girls Aloud single. Girls Aloud's version of "Jump" was not featured in the film itself. Love Actually uses the Pointer Sisters' original version due to international audiences being unaware of Girls Aloud, who feature in the end credits. Girls Aloud do, however, appear on the British soundtrack.
|
|
Scott introduced Higgins to Steve Rodway (also known as Motiv8) who took on Higgins as a session musician. Higgins then co-wrote and co-produced the successful 1997 song, 'All I Wanna Do' for Dannii Minogue. Two of his collaborators on this single, Tim Powell and Matt Gray, would become important future members of Xenomania. Higgins' involvement in 'All I Wanna Do' led to an opportunity to co-write a song for Cher.
|
|
Taller in More Ways is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005, in the United Kingdom. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Jony Rockstar, with additional production from Cameron McVey, Xenomania and Guy Sigsworth. The title of the album was inspired by a line in the album's second single, "Ugly". Upon release, Taller in More Ways received generally favourable reviews from music critics.
|
|
Gardner's debut single and lead single from the album "I'm Not Mad" was released on 29 March 2010 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the UK, Gardner performed the song on shows such as GMTV and This Morning. He performed an acoustic set of the song on the Scottish TV show The Hour, which was Gardner's debut television appearance in the United Kingdom. Gardner is working with UK production house Xenomania.
|
|
"Begging Me" is a song by British singer and songwriter Florrie. It was released on 28 April 2011 as the lead single of Florrie's second extended play Experiments via iTunes. It was written by Florrie, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Toby Scott, Fred Falke, Matt Gray, Owen Parker, and Eliza Dodd-Noble, and produced by the Xenomania team. A remix made by Fred Falke was released as a companion single on 19 December 2011.
|
|
"Giving You Up" is a song recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her third greatest hits album Ultimate Kylie (2004). The song was released as the album's second and final single on 28 March 2005. It was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Lisa Cowling, Paul Woods, Nick Coler, and Minogue, while production was by Higgens and Xenomania. The song is a dance- pop track, which features instrumentation of synthesizers and keyboards.
|
|
Additional producers and songwriters include Steve Booker, Fraser T Smith, Xenomania, Paul Barry and Mark Taylor. Ferguson later revealed that she would be co-writing the whole of her album in order for her to "connect" with the songs. The main genre from the album features genres like soul, pop, blues and R&B.; The lyrical content of the album mainly explores the subjects of betrayal, friendship and love found, lost and unrequited.
|
|
"Sound of the Underground" is the debut single by British pop group Girls Aloud, later featured on their debut album of the same name. The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, and Niara Scarlett, and produced by Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Following Girls Aloud's formation on the ITV1 reality television show Popstars: The Rivals, "Sound of the Underground" was released just sixteen days later on 16 December 2002. Commercially, the song was an immediate success.
|
|
"Sound of the Underground" was 2002's Christmas number one single and spent a further three weeks at number one. "Sound of the Underground" and another Xenomania production, Sugababes' "Round Round", have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Following the single's success, Girls Aloud proceeded to begin recording their debut album, which shares its title with the single. As the team grew, their music began to take over the nation.
|
|
"You Bring Me Joy" is the debut single by British singer Amelia Lily. The song premiered on The Hits Radio on 7 July 2012, after the radio premiere the song leaked online the following day. Officially it was released in the United Kingdom on 9 September 2012 through Sony Music. The song was written by Annie Yuill, Brian Higgins, Carla Marie Williams, Fred Falke, Luke Fitton, Matt Gray, Miranda Cooper, Owen Parker, Toby Scott and produced by Xenomania.
|
|
"Swinging London Town" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their third studio album Chemistry (2005). The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, and Matt Gray, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. "Swinging London Town" both chronicles and ridicules the lives of the upper class in London, particularly yuppies, socialites and It girls. Influenced by techno, the synth-pop song drew comparisons to Giorgio Moroder and Pet Shop Boys.
|
|
In November 2010, Coyle released her debut studio album, Insatiable. Coyle collaborated with producers such as Toby Gad, Guy Chambers and William Orbit. Upon its release, the album received generally mixed to unfavourable reviews from music critics, and was met with limited commercial success due to an exclusive distribution through Tesco stores. Wanting to release a potential follow-up record, Coyle announced that she and Brian Higgins of Xenomania had begun working on new material in 2014.
|
|
Tove Lo performing at the 2015 Melt! Festival in Gräfenhainichen, Germany Swedish singer and songwriter Tove Lo has written over 70 songs for her four studio albums and one extended play, as well as for other artists. Between 2006 and 2009, Lo was a member of math rock band Tremblebee, and wrote the lyrics for their songs. In 2011, she signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music, and later joined songwriting teams Xenomania and Wolf Cousins.
|
|
" It later appeared on Girls Aloud's What Will the Neighbours Say?. The production team were due to work with rock bands New Order and Franz Ferdinand, but both sessions proved fruitless. Xenomania was due to produce for New Order's Waiting for the Sirens' Call, but Peter Hook said they "scrapped the Brian Higgins stuff because we didn't like it. I thought he did quite a good job on Girls Aloud but he didn't do a good job on us.
|
|
Higgins and Xenomania were once again given free rein for Girls Aloud's third album, Chemistry. The album's second single, "Biology", was critically acclaimed, being called "the best pop single of the last decade". Despite the group's near total obscurity in the United States, the song was listed at number 245 on Pitchfork Media's "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" list. It was also listed at number 23 on The Observer Music Monthlys 75 best singles of the decade.
|
|
Williams moved to full-time songwriting in 2006 after losing her voice from muscular tension. She was signed to Xenomania as a songwriter by Brian Higgins. Williams has written tracks for Girls Aloud, The Saturdays, Kylie Minogue and Alesha Dixon. Most notably she co-wrote Girls Aloud's "The Promise", for which she received a BRIT Award, and has been nominated for a Grammy for her work on Naughty Boy's "Runnin' (Lose It All)" and Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar's "Freedom".
|
|
In 2005, British all-female pop group Girls Aloud recorded a cover of "See the Day" for their third studio album Chemistry. Their version was produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. A contender for the Christmas number one, the single was released just four weeks after "Biology". The single became Girls Aloud's lowest charting single at that point, but continued their string of top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart and received extensive airplay.
|
|
Much like Girls Aloud's 2004 cover of The Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You", Brian Higgins and Xenomania felt "See the Day" needed to stick closely to the original in terms of tone. The song, described as "the obligatory Christmas ballad", was "given a glossy 21st century refurb." The song was released on 19 December 2005 as a contender for the Christmas number one of the year. It was available on two CD single formats and as a digital download.
|
|
Out of Control is the fifth and final studio album by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud, released in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2008 by Fascination Records. Like their previous albums, it was crafted by the production team of Brian Higgins and Xenomania. Out of Control builds on the sound of Girls Aloud's previous albums and represents a move into the mainstream for the group. Out of Control debuted to positive reviews from contemporary music critics.
|
|
"Graffiti My Soul" is a song by British-Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their second studio album What Will the Neighbours Say? (2004). Written and produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, the track was originally written for Britney Spears. "Graffiti My Soul" includes a sample of Peplab's "It's Not the Drug." Receiving comparisons to Madonna and The Prodigy, "Graffiti My Soul" was lauded by contemporary music critics who praised its innovation.
|
|
"Knockdown" is a song by English recording artist Alesha Dixon. It was taken from her debut album Fired Up. The single was commercially released on 30 October 2006, having been made available for legal download the previous week. The song was written by Alesha and the Kent-based production team, Xenomania. Knockdown is Dixon's lowest charting single to date, peaking at number forty- five in the UK Singles Charts, and spending just four weeks in the charts.
|
|
"Angels with Dirty Faces" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their second studio album of the same name. It was written by the Sugababes in collaboration with the Xenomania members Brian Higgins, Bob Bradley, Tim Powell and Matthew Del Gray. Higgins, Bradley, Powell and Gifford Noel produced the song. An uptempo pop and R&B; record with dance influences, it was released on 11 November 2002 as a double A-side with "Stronger", as the album's third single.
|
|
Tangled Up is the fourth studio album by English-Irish girl group Girls Aloud. It was released through Fascination and Polydor Records on 16 November 2007, and distributed in two physical formats and available for digital consumption. The record was produced by Brian Higgins and production team Xenomania; the band members earned songwriting credits for two tracks. Production and development began with each member meeting with Higgins to discuss their personal and professional experiences since the release of their third album Chemistry (2005).
|
|
Unfortunately, due to Sony and Florrie's creative visions clashing, the two had parted ways as it was said that Sony enticed her to drift away from making music from Xenomania and work with others. This also meant that the album was scrapped. In 2019, she made a musical comeback with the single "Borderline", where she was currently signed to Xenomania's newly-established self-titled label. She was also announced as a member of the group Capulets, with whom she plays and writes for.
|
|
Vincentelli wrote, "Production team Xenomania crafted a typically ace tune for this 17-year-old Aussie, and her unassumingly sexy delivery brought it all home." "Sweet About Me" was nominated in the category 'Most Performed Work' at the Ivor Novello Awards. The song won 'Single of the Year' at the 2008 ARIA Awards. Nueve, a private Spanish television channel owned by Mediaset España Comunicación (in turn owned by Fininvest's Mediaset of Italy), used this song for its jingle and theme.
|
|
Mania was a British pop duo composed of Niara Scarlett and Giselle Sommerville. The two met while contributing songwriting for the British pop production house Xenomania, and formed Mania in 2004. Mania was a joint venture between the record producer Brian Higgins and BMG. They released only one single, "Looking for a Place", and the #29 UK Singles Chart placing of the lead single meant that the planned album 'Do You Know Your Daughter's On The Roof?' was never released.
|
|
The tour was cancelled without reschedule in April 2018, a month before commencing, with Coyle stating it was becoming "impossible to achieve" what they had wanted to do, and that the cancellation was "definitely a lesson" for her. In 2019, Coyle returned to the music scene with her summer anthem "Fool for Love", produced by Brian Higgins of Xenomania. In December of that year, Coyle announced that she will have another track called "All That I Know" which will be released in 2020.
|
|
"I Took a Little Something" is a song performed by British singer and songwriter Florrie. It was released on 18 July 2011 as the second single off her second extended play Experiments. The song was released onto iTunes along with a remix bundle, entitled I Took a Little Something (Dance Package). A dance-pop song, it was written by Florrie, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Toby Scott, Fred Falke, MNEK, Keith Reid, and Cristopher Thompson, and produced by the Xenomania team.
|
|
The album's lead single, "The Promise", is a 1960s Spector-influenced number. Despite the popularity of 1960's pastiches, it was said that Girls Aloud's "go-for-broke, very modern re-imagining of Spector's wall of sound proves to be more authentic and entertaining than most other recent attempts". "The Loving Kind" is a collaboration with Pet Shop Boys. Neil Tennant said that they co-wrote the song while working with Xenomania, and described it as "beautiful but still dancey".
|
|
Girls Aloud were formed through the ITV1 programme Popstars: The Rivals by a public vote on 30 November 2002. Their debut single "Sound of the Underground" was one of sixty songs that Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper had written with the aim of launching their own girl group. The song was originally recorded in 2001 by London girl group Orchid, who disbanded before gaining a firm record deal. It was produced by Xenomania and chosen by Girls Aloud's manager Louis Walsh as their debut single.
|
|
Digital Spy music reporter Robert Copsey gave "One Touch" five out of five stars, stating: > After a quivering, '80s-ish intro, Britt and Frankee get straight down to > the dirty, teasing: "Do you want a candy? Hey baby! / With a different > taste?" without so much as a flinch or giggle from either of them. > Thankfully, the cheeky lyrics are backed by a typically infectious Xenomania > production boasting struttable synths, loads of "whooosh!" effects and a > chorus as moreish as a bag of Haribo Tangfastics.
|
|
Change is the fifth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released through Island Records on 1 October 2007. The album features production by Dr. Luke, Jony Rockstar, Dallas Austin, Deekay and Xenomania, among others, and is the first album to feature complete vocals by Amelle Berrabah. The album debuted on top of the UK Albums Chart, where it became the band's second consecutive number one album and was eventually certified platinum by the BPI. In addition, it reached the top ten in Estonia and Ireland.
|
|
Since 2002, Xenomania have been recurring collaborators of Girls Aloud. Miranda Cooper co- wrote all of Girls Aloud's original singles up until their hiatus in 2009, including the BRIT Award-winning number one "The Promise". Cooper also co- wrote another number one single for the Sugbabes, 2003's "Hole in the Head", as well as the singles "In the Middle" and "Red Dress". In 2011, Cooper worked with girl group The Saturdays, co-penning the single "All Fired Up", and boy band The Wanted.
|
|
Natalia Rodríguez Gallego (born 11 December 1982) better known as Natalia is a Spanish singer. She was a contestant on the successful Spanish TV show Operación Triunfo in 2001, where she finished 13th. In 2002, she released her album No soy un ángel (I'm Not an Angel), produced by British dance producers Xenomania and the first single off the album, Vas a volverme loca, a cover version of Charlotte Nielsen's hit "You Got Me Going Crazy". In 2003, Natalia released Besa mi piel (Kiss My Skin).
|
|
Coler has also produced and collaborated on the 2012 Saint Etienne release Words and Music by Saint Etienne which has received universal acclaim according to Metacritic's review criteria. He has also written a track for Starlight Express with Alistair Lloyd Webber, he has been nominated for three Ivor Novello Awards for the Girls Aloud song – "The Promise", Sugababes' song "Hole in the Head" and Gabriella Cilmi's song "Sweet About Me", and has won the Music Week's Producer of the year award as part of Xenomania in 2009.
|
|
In 2000, the band crossed genres by working with trance producer and DJ Paul van Dyk, resulting in the single "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)", with vocals by Cracknell. The 2005 album Tales from Turnpike House features David Essex as a guest vocalist. Several tracks on the album were co-written and co-produced by Brian Higgins' songwriting production team, Xenomania. Sarah Cracknell has collaborated with Marc Almond on his single "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" for his album Stardom Road.
|
|
"My Love Is Pink" is a song by English girl group Sugababes from their fifth studio album, Change (2007). It was written by band members Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range in collaboration with the songwriting and production team Xenomania, who produced the song. "My Love Is Pink" is an uptempo dance, electro and pop song, reminiscent of those performed by British girl group, Girls Aloud. The song was released on 10 December 2007 in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the second single from Change.
|
|
Words and Music by Saint Etienne is the eighth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 18 May 2012 by Heavenly Recordings. The band announced the album in a Christmas message on their official website on 11 December 2011. The album features collaborations from longtime Saint Etienne associate Ian Catt, as well as Richard X and former Xenomania members Tim Powell and Nick Coler. The title of the album was provided by Lawrence of the bands Felt, Denim and Go-Kart Mozart.
|
|
"Angels with Dirty Faces" is the title track of the Sugababes' second studio album. The group began working on the album soon after the departure of original member Siobhán Donaghy, who was replaced by former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range in September 2001. Within seven months, they composed forty tracks for the album, ten of which made the final cut. "Angels with Dirty Faces" was written by the Sugababes in collaboration with members of the British songwriting and production team Xenomania, including Brian Higgins, Bob Bradley, Tim Powell and Matthew Del Gray.
|
|
In 1999, a cover of the Carly Simon song "Why" was released on EMI Music Germany. In 2000, Quinones provided vocals on the Dario G song "Voices" on the soundtrack to the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Beach. In 2001, the (Cream Records) song, "In Praise of the Sun" was released by the Mr. Joshua presents Espiritu (of Brian Higgins/Xenomania) collaboration, co- written by Nick Bracegirdle, better known as the dance artist Chicane. Subsequently, Espiritu was recruited to re-record the song for the 2003 Chicane album Easy to Assemble.
|
|
"All I Need (All I Don't)" was described as "a Kylie-type tune set to squelchy techno", as well as "a disco- funk workout with traces of Cameo and Bedtime Stories vintage Madonna". "Life Got Cold", the album's first ballad and third single, was a late addition to the album, completed by Xenomania shortly before the album's release. The song received attention because of similarities between the guitar riff of "Life Got Cold" and that of the Oasis hit "Wonderwall" (1995). Warner/Chappell Music has since credited Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher.
|
|
"The Show" is an uptempo dance- pop and electropop song with elements of the 1990 rave records. "The Show" garnered a positive response from music critics, who deemed it another unique track produced by Xenomania, and it was considered one of the best songs of 2004 by The Times. It debuted and peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, continuing the band's string of hits by becoming their fifth consecutive single to chart within the top three. The song also peaked inside the top ten in Ireland and certain European territories.
|
|
What Are You Waiting For? is a song by British-Irish girl group The Saturdays. It was co-written by MNEK (credited as Uzoechi Emenike), Carla Marie Williams, Annie Rose Yuill (credited as Annie Yuill), Tim Deal, Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tove Lo (credited as Tove Nilsson), Luke Fritton, Matt Gray, Gavin Harris, Nick Hill and Toby Scott, and produced by Xenomania and Higgins. It was released on 10 August 2014, as the lead and only single from the group's first compilation album, Finest Selection: The Greatest Hits (2014).
|
|
In addition to solo ventures, Allison's career has concentrated on collaborative efforts, and has seen her work beside Scott Walker, Massive Attack, Paul Weller, Hal David, Arab Strap, Mick Harvey, Pascal Gabriel, Kevin Shields, Pete Doherty, Xenomania and Gary Mounfield. She started her career with Scottish proto- indie-dance outfit One Dove, before she released her debut album, Afterglow, in 1999 to generally positive reviews. A song-oriented pop outing, it was followed by the electro and house music inspired We Are Science in 2002. In 2007, she released Exaltation of Larks.
|
|
"Round Round" was written by Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, Heidi Range, Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa Cowling. Due to the inclusion of a sample from "Tango Forte" by German production team Dublex Inc., Florian Pflueger, Felix Stecher, Robin Hofmann, and Rino Spadavecchia are also credited as songwriters. Production on "Round Round" was helmed by Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby for Manna Productions based on an original track Higgins and Powell had created for Xenomania Records, while Jeremy Wheatley provided additional production and handled the mixing.
|
|
"Memory of You" originated in 2004 as a song by Cadence, a trance project composed of Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Mike Koglin, Darren Edge and Paul Woods. The song, then entitled "Japan," was written by Koglin, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, and Giselle Sommerville, all members of Higgins' production team Xenomania, while Louise Griffiths provided vocals. Girls Aloud's "Memory of You" retained the same melody and lyrics, although the backing track was completely different. New verses were also added, earning Girls Aloud a co-writing credit.
|
|
Girls Aloud's collaborations with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim, due to an innovative approach to mainstream pop music. The group amassed a fortune of £30 million by May 2010. Guinness World Records listed them as "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2007 edition. They also held the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition, and were credited again for "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2011 edition.
|
|
Ferguson released her debut single "Nothing's Real but Love" on 20 November 2011, which was written by Ferguson and Eg White. The single peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart. Her debut album Heaven followed and was released 5 December 2011 in the UK. The album features Ferguson collaborating with Eg White, Steve Booker, Fraser T Smith, Xenomania, Paul Barry, Mark Taylor and Brian Higgins. Ferguson later revealed that she would be co-writing the whole of her album for her to "connect" with the songs.
|
|
Florence Ellen Arnold (born 28 December 1988), better known as Florrie, is an English pop singer-songwriter, drummer and model. Closely associated with the Xenomania production house, since joining as their in-house drummer in 2008 she has played live and on record for popular artists such as Kylie Minogue, Girls Aloud and the Pet Shop Boys. In 2010, she began a solo career. She has drawn positive reaction from the online music community for releasing her own material in collaboration with remixers such as Fred Falke for download without charge.
|
|
Their first headlining tour, The Work Tour, had 27 dates.Jessie Malakouti goes on tour with The Saturdays Xenomania News, 1 June 2009 McFly's Dougie Poynter, Sandford's boyfriend played bass guitar during "Just Can't Get Enough". White tripped on some wires back stage and had a foot injury, she remained seated on stage for some shows. In 2008 and 2009 the Saturdays appeared in adverts for several products including a brand of deodorant, tampons,The Saturdays are the new faces of Tampax Pearl Sugarscape, 13 July 2009 mobile phones, an operating system, and hair removal products.
|
|
Recording of Lessons to Be Learned, the parent album of "Sweet About Me," began in Melbourne, Australia, when Gabriella Cilmi was thirteen years-old. Cilmi then re-located to London, England in 2007 to launch her musical career and complete the recording of "Sweet About Me". The song was co-written by Cilmi in collaboration with its producers Xenomania, who are critically acclaimed for their work with Girls Aloud, Sugababes and Kylie Minogue. "Sweet About Me" was written after Cilmi was pillaging a Parisian record store for inspiration.
|
|
While the song was being crafted she was influenced by rock bands Kings of Leon and Jet, "I wrote with [Xenomania] who are totally different to me and came from a totally different musical background, they had worked with a lot of pop acts before and at the time I was listening to a lot of Jet and Kings of Leon, so when both our ideas met we came up with something pretty good." Musically, the song has been compared to Amy Winehouse's 2007 single, "Rehab", for their similar composition, soul and swing musical influences.
|
|
They also achieved seven certified albums and have been nominated for five Brit Awards, winning the 2009 Best Single for "The Promise". The group's musical style is pop, but throughout their career they had experimented with electropop and dance-pop. Girls Aloud's collaborations with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim, due to an innovative approach to mainstream pop music. The group became one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, amassing a fortune of £30 million by May 2010.
|
|
" Rolling Stones Will Hermes commented that the album "refines [Annie's] Euro-disco with more flavors and fewer hooks. Still, the music remains rapturous and cheeky." Craig Carson of PopMatters expressed that the album "exudes polish, depth, and the sense that Annie is moving confidently forward as a pop artist of the first order", concluding, "All tracks considered, Annie makes a significant step forward with Don't Stop." Ailbhe Malone of NME noted, "Though production is split three ways between Xenomania, Paul Epworth and Timo Kaukolampi, the record is all Annie's own.
|
|
Taio Cruz was hired by Cowell to write and produce tracks for the album, and Irish Indie band The Script agreed to write a song, however, it was submitted too late. Production and songwriting team Xenomania were reported to have written five songs for Lewis's second album, described by songwriter Miranda Cooper as "tragic songs with a twist." Ne-Yo wrote songs for the album, including "Can't Fight It". Lewis expressed interest in working with Chris Martin of Coldplay to give the album a rockier edge, though a collaboration never came to light.
|
|
The album was produced by a number of top record producers, including Xenomania, Richard X, Pascal Gabriel and Jewels and Stone. It reached number 28 in the United Kingdom, remaining of the charts for just two weeks. Come and Get It was not released in many territories outside the UK; in the United States, it was released on 26 June 2007 on iTunes. The final two tracks, "Every Little Thing" and "Dumb Dumb" are listed on the album as 'bonus tracks', but appear on all versions of the album.
|
|
The Alesha Show is the second studio album from British recording artist Alesha Dixon, the album is her first album to be released in the United Kingdom. It was released on 24 November 2008 in the UK by Asylum Records. Dixon, an ex-member of R&B;/garage girl group, Mis-Teeq, used her full name for the first time while releasing The Alesha Show (her previous album was credited mononymously as "Alesha"). The album's Xenomania-produced track, "The Boy Does Nothing" was chosen as the lead single.
|
|
" NME confess that "Although Cruz's downfall comes when he acts the player ('Break Your Heart', 'Dirty Picture'), it's obvious his real talent comes when he exchanges vocal manipulation for balladeering as on 'Falling In Love', and disregards romantic cynicism for a rather hopeful 'The 11th Hour'." David Jeffres from Allmusic rated it 3 stars (out of 5) and concluded that: "The hooks are plentiful on Rokstarr and infectious as they come. while as a producer Cruz is the Akon-meets-will.i.am-meets- Xenomania package that radio and record labels have dreamed about.
|
|
They have been nominated for five Brit Awards, winning the 2009 Best Single for "The Promise". The group's musical style is pop, but they had experimented with electropop and dance-pop throughout their career. Girls Aloud's collaborations with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim,Girls Aloud Critical Acclaim due to an innovative approach to mainstream pop music. The group became one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, amassing a fortune of £30 million by May 2010.
|
|
Girls Aloud's debut single "Sound of the Underground" and another Xenomania production, Sugababes' "Round Round", have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. The Telegraph placed the song at number 15 on a list of 100 songs that defined the 2000s, while NME included it at number 39. Spinner.com named "Sound of the Underground" the eighth best British song of the 2000s. In 2009, The Times included 2007's Tangled Up at number 62 on a list of the decade's best pop albums.
|
|
"Love Etc." is a song by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys from their tenth studio album, Yes (2009). It was released on 16 March 2009 as the album's lead single. The single was also made available on the US and Canadian iTunes Stores on 24 March 2009, making it the duo's first single to be released in the US, albeit as a digital download, since "Break 4 Love" in 2001. The song was co-written by Pet Shop Boys with production team Xenomania, who also produced the track.
|
|
"The Promise" is a single by British-Irish girl group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control (2008). The song was written by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Influenced by Phil Spector and music of the 1960s, "The Promise" is an upbeat love song that was written to announce Girls Aloud as "a supergroup". Upon its release in October 2008, the single became Girls Aloud's fourth number one on the UK Singles Chart, continuing their six-year streak of top ten hits.
|
|
The group's musical style is pop, but throughout their career they had experimented with electropop and dance-pop. Girls Aloud's collaborations with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim,Girls Aloud Critical Acclaim due to an innovative approach to mainstream pop music. The group became one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, amassing a fortune of £30 million by May 2010. Guinness World Records lists them as "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2007 edition.
|
|
Stevens performing "Funky Dory". In 2004, Stevens briefly appeared in Suzie Gold and began working on her second solo album, Come and Get It, with producers and songwriters Richard X and Xenomania. The following March, its first single, "Negotiate with Love", was a top ten hit in the UK. "So Good" was released in July 2005 and also peaked at number 10, being hailed as "tastily produced and sassily delivered." In mid-2005, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary which followed Stevens through the summer as she promoted "So Good".
|
|
Cher performing "Believe" on the WKTU's "Miracle on 34th Street" show in New York City on December 11, 1998. Believe was first released in France on October 22, 1998, in the United Kingdom on October 26, 1998 and in the United States on November 10, 1998. The album was later released in Japan on December 23, 1998 with two additional Japan-only bonus tracks "Believe" (Club 69 Future Mix) and "Believe" (Xenomania Mix). To promote the album, Cher made a number of televised appearances and live performances of the album's singles.
|
|
Signed to Universal Publishing, Pebworth and George Astasio remain successful writers and producers under the name The Invisible Men, along with colleague Jon Shave, formerly of Xenomania. They have already had hits with artists like The Noisettes and Gabriella Cilmi and also work with Iggy Azalea and Jessie J. Johnny Lonely continues to perform as well as manages new artists under the name Lo Pro in Los Angeles and performed with Roentgen on the Hott Mess EP. Chris Cano works continuously as a drummer and toured with Ozomatli.
|
|
The song ends with a spoken outro. Originally written for Miranda Cooper under the pseudonym Moonbaby, "No Good Advice" seems to be about a rebellious girl who doesn't need "no good advice" and does things independently. However, according to an interview for The Guardian in July 2004, Brian Higgins said that the song reflected his general mood of failure after a special deal between Xenomania and London Records fell through in 2000, and about persisting in spite of what people told him to do or not to do. The song's chorus originally began with the phrase "I don't like fried rice".
|
|
" Michael Osborn said that "Sound of the Underground" offers "a fresh tune that has no intentions of following the road to seasonal schmaltzville." An article from The Guardian called the song "an icy confection very different from the normal run of girl-band things." "Sound of the Underground" and another Xenomania production, Sugababes' "Round Round", have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Peter Robinson wrote, "Instead of what would become the predictable 'victory lap' ballad, here was an upbeat attitude-soaked celebration of life, partying, and being young.
|
|
Following a brief hiatus, Polydor Records enlisted Brian Higgins and Xenomania to produce Girls Aloud's second album in its entirety, following the success of their debut album. Higgins explained that Polydor were not going to continue with the group's contract unless he produced songs for the album. He continued, saying that his initial reaction was that he thought he would only be required to produce a couple of songs, however Polydor insisted that he produce the album in its entirety and that they thought only he understood what they wanted. The album was recorded from April to September 2004.
|
|
Cilmi performing at the 2008 Godiva Festival The tracks "Don't Tell Me" and "Sorry", co-written with Barbara and Adrian Hannan, appeared on the soundtrack of 2005 Australian film Hating Alison Ashley. Cilmi shared a manager (Cassandra Gracey), writer/producers (Xenomania) and UK record label (Island) with the Sugababes, and supported former Sugababe Mutya Buena at the Jazz Café in London in 2007. She made her UK TV debut in December 2007 when she sang her single "Sweet About Me" on Later... with Jools Holland. The same month, Cilmi's song "Sanctuary" featured in the film St Trinian's and on its soundtrack.
|
|
She recorded the theme to UK TV series Echo Beach, which aired in early 2008 on ITV1; it is a cover of "Echo Beach" by Martha and the Muffins. In February 2008, she supported the Parisian band Nouvelle Vague on their UK tour. Cilmi's first album, Lessons to Be Learned, was written and recorded with hit production team Xenomania and was released in March 2008 in the UK. Cilmi has been compared to Amy Winehouse. The first single, "Sweet About Me", debuted on the UK Singles Chart that month and climbed to number six three months later, in June.
|
|
She commented that the remixes were "the first thing I did that was really cool and my love of dance music and clubbing started from there." Minogue's interest in dance music and clubbing influenced her third album, Girl, released in September 1997, which featured collaborations with musicians such as Brian Higgins of Xenomania. The album presented a more sophisticated and adult style of dance music, but despite generally positive reviews, failed to make the British top 50. The lead single "All I Wanna Do", which the Daily Mirror described as a "bass-bumping, shuddering return",Hyland, Ian.
|
|
"Red Dress" was written by the Sugababes—Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Heidi Range—in collaboration with Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, and Bob Bradley, for the group's fourth studio album Taller in More Ways (2005). According to Range, the song was inspired by the perception that women must expose their body to be noticed. It was produced by Higgins and Xenomania, who also produced the album track "Ace Reject". "Red Dress" was mixed by Jeremy Wheatley and Powell with assistance from Richard Edgeler, and programmed by Powell and Higgins.
|
|
Ritual was formed by producers Tommy Baxter and Adam Gross in the London music scene where Baxter was a touring guitarist, while Gross created hip-hop beats for independent UK artists. They met Gerard O'Connnell, who was writing songs with the Xenomania production house for the likes of Kylie Minogue. As a trio, they wrote songs for other artists and released their own EPs beginning December 2014 with their debut, The Fall. Ritual were signed to Island, who picked up their debut, and released their second EP, From the City to the Wilderness, in March 2015.
|
|
For the album, Ellis-Bextor worked with several writers and producers such as Greg Kurstin, Xenomania and Dimitri Tikovoi, which went towards an electro, pop and dance atmosphere. It produced the singles "Catch You", "Me and My Imagination" and "Today the Sun's on Us". In 2009 and 2010 Ellis-Bextor collaborated with the DJs Freemasons and Armin van Buuren on the dance-pop and EDM singles "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)" and "Not Giving Up on Love". Junior Caldera also worked with Ellis-Bextor in the song "Can't Fight This Feeling", which was released on 2 April 2011.
|
|
The five girls who made it into the group were Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, and Sarah Harding; Javine Hylton missed out on a place in the group, despite previous expectations that she would be placed in the line-up. The group was named Girls Aloud and were managed by Louis Walsh until 2005 when Hilary Shaw replaced him. The new group competed with the boys' winning group, One True Voice to have 2002's Christmas number one single. Girls Aloud won the battle with their single "Sound of the Underground", produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania.
|
|
In an interview with the Metro, Lily revealed that the song was about a long distance relationship between a male and female who are constantly flying between London and Los Angeles and keep passing each other. She refused to say whether or not it had anything to do with her relationship with Adam Pitts of Lawson, whom she previously dated. The single was released via East West Records after Lily signed a new record deal with the label in April 2014. The singer departed Sony Music and Xenomania following the catastrophic handling of her original debut album, which was scrapped and remains unreleased.
|
|
Pete Waterman caused a media frenzy after accusing Girls Aloud of being unoriginal and not singing on "Sound of the Underground" (after they claimed it was better to release a new song than a cover as the A-side). Many articles falsely claim that this track was then "stolen" from Orchid by Girls Aloud. The track was actually owned by Xenomania (the producers) and the original version was used as a "session singers" version, making it Girls Aloud's and not a cover as some articles suggested. Due to the press attention, the members of Orchid are credited on the single release and remain backing singers on the single.
|
|
Following a brief hiatus, Polydor Records enlisted Brian Higgins and Xenomania to produce Girls Aloud's second album in its entirety, following the success of their debut album. Higgins explained that Polydor were not going to continue with the group's contract unless he produced songs for the album. He continued, saying that his initial reaction was that he thought he would only be required to produce a couple of songs, however Polydor insisted that he produce the album in its entirety and that they thought only he understood what they wanted. The album was recorded from April to September 2004, with the lead single being released in June 2004.
|
|
After Lily embarked on the X Factor tour, it was announced that she had signed a £500,000 record deal with Sony subsidiary Xenomania. In September 2012, she released her debut single, "You Bring Me Joy", which reached number one on iTunes following its release, eventually charting at number two in the UK. Her second single, "Shut Up (and Give Me Whatever You Got)", was released in January 2013, peaking at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. Her third single, "Party Over", was released in April 2013 and reached number 40. Her debut album was planned to be released on 29 April 2013, and was to be titled Be a Fighter.
|
|
The song was produced by Xenomania. In 2008, the song won the award for the Popjustice £20 Music Prize, an annual prize awarded by a panel of judges organised by music website Popjustice to the singer(s) of the best British pop single of the past year. "Call the Shots" proved to be commercially successful upon its release, charting at number three on the UK Singles Chart, continuing the band's string of hits by becoming their sixteenth consecutive single to chart within the top ten, and being later certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. The song also peaked at number nine on the Irish Singles Chart.
|
|
Pet Shop Boys completed their next album in late 2008. Recorded with Xenomania and released in UK on 23 March 2009, Yes was a critical success and hit No. 4 in the UK, their highest album chart position in more than a decade. Pet Shop Boys also appeared on Girls Aloud's new album Out of Control, collaborating on the Top-10 track "The Loving Kind", released on 12 January 2009 as a single. In February 2009, Pet Shop Boys received the British Phonographic Industry's most prestigious accolade, the award for outstanding contribution to British music, at the 2009 Brit Awards ceremony held at the Earls Court Arena in London.
|
|
Florrie was a drummer in the Xenomania production and writing team since 2008. During 2010, it was announced that she would pursue a solo career as a singer, releasing a promotional track, "Panic Attack", on 19 April 2010. The song was released as a Fred Falke remix only, with further remixes being released later, up to 2013. In June 2010 it was announced that she would release for purchase her debut single, titled "Call 911" (released for free download back in February 2010) as an "early introduction to Florrie, ahead her debut album next year", since a debut album by the singer was initially planned to be released in 2011.
|
|
In August 2004, it was announced that Minogue would be recording new tracks, rumored to be some kind of Christmas material. The month after, it was announced that the artist would be releasing a greatest hits album, titled Ultimate Kylie, containing two new tracks, being "I Believe in You" and "Giving You Up"; Jake Shears and Babydaddy were in charge of the production of the former, whilst the latter was produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania. A separate compilation DVD with the same name, containing several music videos by the singer, was also released to coincide with the distribution of the album.Ultimate Kylie (DVD liner notes). Parlophone.
|
|
In August 2004, it was announced that Minogue would be recording new tracks, rumored to be some kind of Christmas material. The month after, it was announced that the artist would be releasing a greatest hits album, titled Ultimate Kylie, containing two new tracks, being "I Believe in You" and "Giving You Up"; Jake Shears and Babydaddy were in charge of the production of the former, whilst the latter was produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania. A separate compilation DVD with the same name, containing several music videos by the singer, was also released to coincide with the distribution of the album.Ultimate Kylie (DVD liner notes). Parlophone.
|
|
"Theme to St Trinian's" is a promotional single recorded by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud for the album St Trinian’s: The Soundtrack (2007), released to promote the film of the same name. The song was written by the film's score composer Charlie Mole and Ali Thompson, while Girls Aloud's recurring collaborators Xenomania provided production. The track was recorded by Girls Aloud to coincide with their cameo appearance in the film as the St Trinian's School Band. A music video of their performance from the film was used to promote the track, which was available for digital download alongside the rest of the soundtrack album on 10 December 2007.
|
|
Following a brief hiatus, Polydor Records enlisted Brian Higgins and Xenomania to produce Girls Aloud's second album in its entirety, following the success of their debut album Sound of the Underground. Higgins explained that Polydor were not going to continue with the group's contract unless he produced songs for the album. He continued, saying that his initial reaction was that he thought he would only be required to produce a couple of songs, however Polydor insisted that he produce the album in its entirety and that they thought only he understood what they wanted. The album was recorded from April to September 2004, although its lead single "The Show" was released in June 2004.
|
|
In 2003, British girl group Girls Aloud covered "Jump" for the soundtrack to the romantic comedy film Love Actually (2003) although ultimately it was not used in the movie; the Pointer Sisters' original was instead. Their version was produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, recorded at the request of Love Actually director Richard Curtis. Upon its release in November 2003, "Jump" continued Girls Aloud's string of hits, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and receiving a silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry. Their version appeared on the re-release of their debut album Sound of the Underground and was also included on 2004's What Will the Neighbours Say?.
|
|
Jessie J co-wrote the song with The Invisible Men members George Astasio and Jason Pebworth, who were former members of Orson and had penned hits for Sugababes ("Easy"), Noisettes ("Never Forget You") and Gabriella Cilmi ("On a Mission"); Jon Shave, who is also part of The Invisible Men, but had also been part of Xenomania; Kyle Abrahams, who had worked with Chipmunk and N-Dubz; and Parker Ighile, who wrote "Oopsy Daisy", a UK number-one hit for Chipmunk. Although "Do It like a Dude" was Jessie's debut single, she had previously written songs for other artists, including Miley Cyrus's international hit "Party in the U.S.A." The track was produced by The Invisible Men and Parker & James.
|
|
Vagabond were a UK band and signed to the newly reformed Geffen Records UK. The band released their debut album, You Don't Know the Half of It on 17 August 2009. You Don't Know the Half of It was produced by Xenomania, who have previously worked with Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Cher, Gabriella Cilmi and Kylie Minogue. The Guardian featured Vagabond as "New Band of the Day" on 20 February 2009, and the newspaper also declared "They could be the world's biggest new band." "Sweat (Until the Morning)" was released as the first single from the album as a free download on 8 June 2009, followed by "Don't Wanna Run No More" which was released on 3 August 2009.
|
|
Melanie Ruth Blatt (born 25 March 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in 1997 as a member of the girl group All Saints. The group have gained five number one singles, two multi-platinum albums, two BRIT Awards and have sold over 10 million records worldwide making them one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, and the second best-selling girl group in the UK. Blatt began recording a solo album in 2003, working with numerous producers including Xenomania and released her debut solo single "Do Me Wrong" in 2003. Blatt was later dropped by her record label, and her solo album was cancelled.
|
|
As a result, the Sugababes undoubtedly brought the best out of us as we always felt under pressure to produce results that would do justice to their voices and overall talent." Xenomania were approached to create the debut single for a girl group formed through the television talent show Popstars: The Rivals. The eventual winners, Girls Aloud, recorded "Sound of the Underground", one of sixty songs that Higgins and Cooper had written with the aim of launching their own girl group. Higgins said Girls Aloud were "a blueprint for a girl group that we'd had in our minds for ages, one that was individual rather than generic, with a sound that blurs the edges between pop and indie.
|
|
Lunae was a short-lived Spanish pop group built upon the success of Operación Triunfo a reality show talent contest popular on Spain's TVE network. The band was composed by putting together singers that were not given the chance to pursue a solo career after the show, and was composed of Tessa (born 7 November 1982), Elena Gadel (born 11 November 1982) and Marey (born 19 December 1983) In the summer of 2003, their debut single 'Hipnotizadas' (produced by Xenomania) was a minor summertime hit across Spain, and it was used in a Pringles advertisement tie-in. In September, Lunae released their debut album, Olor a Nuevo. It included 13 tracks, with 3 in English.
|
|
Dixon had worked with Brian Higgins, of Xenomania, on her previous single, "Knockdown", but it failed to enter the top 40 on the UK Singles Chart, resulting in Dixon being dropped by her record label, Polydor Records. In early 2007, still with no recording contract, Dixon received a phone call from Higgins, who asked if she would like to continue working together. Dixon stated, "The plan was to make the whole record with Brian without talking to any record labels, we were just going to wait until we had made something special and then approach people with a finished album." However Dixon's profile was raised when she signed up to compete in Strictly Come Dancing, which she eventually won.
|
|
Four singles were released from the album: "Heavy Cross", "Love Long Distance", "Pop Goes the World" and "Men in Love", with "Heavy Cross" charting at number two in Germany and Switzerland. Their fifth studio album, A Joyful Noise, was released in May 2012 and featured collaborations with British production team Xenomania and French DJ Fred Falke. The album peaked at number one in Switzerland and number two in Germany – it was certified gold by the Swiss branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and the Bundesverband Musikindustrie in Germany. The album produced three singles: "Perfect World", "Move in the Right Direction" and "Get a Job", with "Move in the Right Direction" reaching number three in Austria and number 11 in Germany.
|
|
While producing the album, Cilmi worked with Greg Kurstin, The Invisible Men and Dallas Austin, as well as Xenomania. She made her debut in producing with the track "Love Me Coz", saying that it was the song she was most proud of due to the fact it was produced with her band. It bore an electropop sound in contrast to her first album, which had more of a pop/rock style. Ten was not as successful as Lessons to Be Learned, reaching number 17 in Australia and number 28 in the UK. In an interview, Cilmi explained that the sales were not her first concern; however, she expressed regret about posing topless for FHM magazine during the publicity for the album.
|
|
Their signings include songwriting and production duo Saltwives (co-writers of Zayn & Sia's global hit Dusk Till Dawn), Dylan Cooper (co-writer of Allergic by Post Malone), Michael Blackburn, Darryl Reid (aka Massappeals), Jeff Young (co- writer of 5 In The Morning by Charli XCX) and Dan Smith of Noisettes. Before The Invisible Men were formed in 2008 Jason Pebworth and George Astasio were members of Orson, who sold over a million copies of their debut album, reached No. 1 in both the UK singles and album charts, and received the Brit Award for Best Breakthrough Act 2007. Jon Shave was a member of Xenomania in the early 2000s, contributing to a string of top 10 hit singles, including co-writing "The Show" for Girls Aloud.
|
|
After releasing "Shape", the fourth and final single from their successful previous album Angels with Dirty Faces (2002), the group announced that they had gone back into the studio to start work on the next album with producers whom they worked with on the previous album such as Jony Rockstar and Xenomania. They went over to America to work with producers such as Linda Perry and Diane Warren, who wrote the ballad "Too Lost in You". They had also aimed to promote the new album in America. The girls co-wrote and recorded their own tracks on the new album—Keisha's being "Whatever Makes You Happy", Heidi's being "Sometimes", and Mutya's being "Maya", a song about her sister who died unexpectedly.
|
|
Shortly after the album's release, another round of sessions during that summer yielded three new tracks that later surfaced on a reissue of the album in November, including a massively successful cover version of The Pointer Sisters song "Jump" for the film Love Actually. It was said that "Higgins injects an element of instant- catchy-cool to the songs without going overboard in trying to shape uber-chic dance floor hits." Also that year, they produced the singles "Miss Perfect" and "7 Ways" for former Five member Abs's solo album, Abstract Theory. Sugababes' "Hole in the Head", another UK number-one, was one of several tracks for their album Three that were co-written and produced by the Xenomania team.
|
|
"Red Dress" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways (2005). The group's members wrote the song in collaboration with its producers, the British songwriting and production team Xenomania, based on the perception that women must expose their body to be noticed "Red Dress" was released in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2006 as the album's third single, and is the first to feature vocals by Amelle Berrabah, following the departure of Mutya Buena in December 2005. The Sugababes performed a cover of the Arctic Monkeys' song "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" as the single's B-side. The song is an uptempo pop record that contains a sample from "Landslide", a Northern soul recording by Tony Clarke.
|
|
The first part of "Call the Shots" to be composed was the instrumentation, which was done by Xenomania in 2005. The lyrics of the song were written in 2006, when songwriter Miranda Cooper was "inspired by an article she read on something called (coincidentally) the Miranda Complex, named after the ambitious lawyer in Sex and the City, about how women are earning more than men and pushing ahead." Polydor Records originally intended to release it as a single for The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits (2006) the same year, but was deemed "too downbeat, when a greatest hits single needs to be a celebration." Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Cole, Sarah Harding and Kimberley Walsh recorded vocals for the song in London, England, while Nadine Coyle recorded her vocals in Los Angeles.
|
|
BBC Music hailed Ten as "incredible proof of how perfect pop can be in the right hands" and wrote that "Alongside the Xenomania hit machine, at their best Girls Aloud create a universe entirely of their own, standing as one of the greatest pop acts of this century". Cooper later said of Xenomania's relationship with the group, who split up in 2013, "We kind of thought of ourselves as a bit of the band, so the essence of Xeno was Girls Aloud. They were our creative muses and, therefore, a lot of the stuff was written by ourselves. They got more involved in the writing as time went on, but we were probably all a little bit guilty of having an inner pop star desperate to get out of Xeno".
|
|
Nick Levine of Digital Spy Chart Blog gave the song a positive review stating: > After hearing 'Left My Heart In Tokyo', the brilliant debut single from Mini > Viva, lots of pop fans felt the Xenomania-signed, developed and produced duo > might fill the Girls Aloud-shaped hole in HMV this Autumn. Sadly, in > recognition of the fact that the Christmas release slates are crowded enough > already and the only X Factor appearance they're likely to bag is a spot > between Gordon Smart and Sinitta over on the ITV2 show, it's been pushed > back until next year. Consolation, however, comes in the form of their > follow-up single. 'I Wish' is a misty-eyed disco-pop nugget, full of regret > and longing, whose irresistible chorus has just the right hint of the > Vengaboys to it.
|
|
" Drowned in Sounds David Renshaw called the album "brilliant", adding that "[t]he production throughout Don't Stop is noticeably strong. The sound is taught and modern but avoids the current pitfalls of sounding like a prime cut of Stock, Aitken and Waterman Eighties chart fodder or a Timbaland reject circa the year 2001". Christopher Muther of The Boston Globe viewed the album as "an electro-pop truffle—a tasty confection with a hard, glossy shell surrounding a smooth, melt-in-your-ear interior of cheeky, playful lyrics", while commending Annie for her "incredible knack for marrying Pat Benatar's lip-gloss feminist swagger with playful dance-club melodies." AllMusic critic Andy Kellman wrote, "As on Anniemal, Don't Stop contains some of the catchiest, most clever dance-pop in circulation, highlighted by the fizzy 'I Don't Like Your Band'", but argued that the collaborations with Xenomania, Timo Kaukolampi and Richard X "aren't as powerful, [...] with a good handful of their songs no match for Anniemals weaker moments.
|
|
On 29 January 2019, Pet Shop Boys announced a live album/DVD/Blu-ray release called Inner Sanctum. It contains the soundtrack and footage recorded from their July 2018 four-date residency at London's Royal Opera House, as well as the duo's 17 September 2017 show at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil. It was released on 12 April 2019. On 5 February 2019, Pet Shop Boys announced a new EP called Agenda. It contained four new songs with a political and pop culture angle that has been produced by Tim Powell (Xenomania) and Pet Shop Boys, and was released on 8 February 2019. Discussing the EP, Neil Tennant said: “It contains three satirical songs and one rather sad song. I think it's because of the times we’re living through.” A lyric video was released for the track "On Social Media", the second track to be revealed following the lead track "Give Stupidity A Chance".
|
|
Since leaving Xenomania, Williams has founded her own writing collective, New Crowd Media, and has worked with artists Mabel McVey, Ray BLK and vocalist Kyla (who features on Drake's track "One Dance"). Williams also founded the Girls I Rate movement in 2015, launching it in March 2016 , In 2016, Carla was recognised by Music Week in its Women In Music Roll Of Honour. Girls I Rate has partnered with organisations such as PRS, Island Records/Universal Music, as well as PRS Foundation and VEVO to deliver educational programmes for its GIR Academy of next generation young women, such as the Get Heard A&R; masterclasses, Arts Academy Weekenders, social events throughout the year and most recently Mentor Me in partnership with Musicians Union and PPL, as well as the All My Girls UK Tour seeing her mentor over 300 girls and even GIR Radio. At the end of 2019, Carla joined X Factor as Guest Judge.
|
|
Roberts co-wrote every song on the album, with the exception of The Korgis song "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" which she covered for the record. The songwriting partnership was important to Roberts, who said "I had to feel like I would say and mean every single one of these lyrics" and explained that she wouldn't want to release something that wasn't her own as she had been given an opportunity where she "put every last bit of heart and soul into it". In an interview with Rolling Stone Roberts was questioned on her concept for the record, where she stated that she wished to avoid a record produced under guidelines of regular pop music. She found that producing an "electro" record helped her produce an innovative record, she found that after working with the Girls Aloud producer Xenomania that she was used to "breaking pop rules" something which she continued with during the production of Cinderella's Eyes.
|
|