Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Breaking The Circle / Hana

My early non-singles faves are Tokyo, He's A Dreamer, Reflections, We've Been Watching You (unless any of those have been singles)
 
my favourite synthesiser
escape artist moving like a dancer

can't wait to get stoned and declare He's a Dreamer one of her best songs :disco: cherry picking but so far it's lovely
 
This is such a lovely album. I know it is part of the 'Ed trilogy' but it feels very different to the other two albums. I guess that is not so surprising considering the time that has passed.

I'm not sure that anything else here will surpass Everything is Sweet. Maybe Beyond the Universe...
 
Hopefully that's enough to stay top ten.

Her studio album peaks to date

#2 Read My Lips
#19 Shoot From The Hip
#7 Trip The Light Fantastic
#33 Make a Scene
#4 Wanderlust
#12 Familia

Interesting HIT-FLOP pattern there! :D
 
I was shocked to see it top 3. I hope it stays top 5, I am thinking #6 or so with Louise bumped to #10 and Jake to #11

Loving seeing these names in the top 10 though on the same week :disco:
 
I'm not quite sure how or why (other than completely twattery on my part) I slept on Breaking The Circle when it was released - I remember thinking 'yeah, pretty good' and never listening again - but it's absolutely up there with my favourite songs of the year.

And it's way too early to let it bed in, but I can conceivably see the album being my favourite of hers when the dust settles.
 
lolly said:
I'm not quite sure how or why (other than completely twattery on my part) I slept on Breaking The Circle when it was released - I remember thinking 'yeah, pretty good' and never listening again - but it's absolutely up there with my favourite songs of the year.

And it's way too early to let it bed in, but I can conceivably see the album being my favourite of hers when the dust settles.
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I feel exactly the same. Breaking The Circle might be my favourite thing she has done.

 
#4 on the Wednesday midweek update

1 Foo Fighters - But Here We Are (33,634)
2 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Council Skies (33,157)
3 Lewis Capaldi - Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (5,572)
4 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - HANA (5,051)
5 Taylor Swift - Midnights (4,967)

6-10

7 Louise - Greatest Hits
8 Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom
 
I just checked and Familia's opening week sales were 5,107 copies. So assuming she can shift another 56 copies before the end of the week, she'll clear that. Pretty good sign, given sales are down in general from seven(!) years ago.

Obviously the Kitchen Disco era did her a lot of good. Plus this album has had much stronger singles so far.
 
And she's still touring the same size venues she was 20 years ago - and I think she has consistently throughout her career. I do think that's really quite something that not many of her contemporaries have pulled off.

She's playing here as part of the tour in December. Same venue I saw her in for her first (I think) solo tour, with a capacity of around 2.2k. It's already about 80% sold out looking at the booking page now, so I imagine it will be completely sold out by the time of the gig.
 
Yes, she’s retained a fan base that should allow her to tour relatively profitably for as long as she wants to at this stage provided she is smart in terms of venue bookings, which she clearly is. That she is top 10 and still touring in 2023 really is an achievement.

Glad the album has been well received, though I do get a little tired of reading some comments elsewhere about her not doing dancepop any more and clearly not giving the songs a chance.
 
The Kitchen Disco era did a LOT for her. Yes she is playing the same size venues as 20 years ago (maybe), but it's not true to say it's been consistent, here at least. She did the Wedgewood Rooms here for Familia, which is a 400- standing capacity club venue, basically. This time, the Christmas Kitchen Disco tour is at the 2000 capacity Portsmouth Guildhall. I also was astonished to see how big the tour is- that certainly wasn't the case for the last couple of albums.

She's also leaned into the retro and festival circuit a lot, which has not only helped pay the bills, but has cemented her reputation as a) a really good live act (which she very much is)- especially as her early reputation was for not being that strong a live singer- and having a really strong back catalogue show. I know lots of people who saw her here at Victorious, were really surprised by how much they knew and how much they enjoyed her and a few are going to see the full show as a result. Her early stuff has grown to a point that the disco stuff is properly classic- at least in the gay world- and throwing in a couple of covers from the Kitchen Disco helps too.
 
Actually I do remember her playing a smaller venue here for Familia, although I thought that was because the other venue was closed for a good few years for refit.

I very much think you're right re Kitchen Disco though - Mr L saw her with me on that first tour, and as much as he enjoyed her, he never showed any interest in her further albums or tours until this one. But he's a fan particularly of her BBC Sounds show and says he likes her as much as the music. So if she has moved back to bigger venues, I think that's probably a sign of Kitchen Disco and a general amount of goodwill and affection - and if she has that (and can chuck out really very good indeed albums every few years), it's a great sign.
 
Things had definitely dipped for Sophie pre-Strictly, and I think Wanderlust really benefited from her raised profile right off the back of that. It had tailed off by the time of Familia before emerging national treasure status was eventually confirmed by the kitchen discos.

It will be interesting to see where she goes next musically. The planned Harcourt trilogy is now wrapped up but I can’t really see that a return to making whole albums of dance pop is on the cards. In her Instagram video the other week she seemed a bit unsure about what direction she would go in next and said that she would probably work with Ed again in some form.
 
I would like to see her dip into the electro-pop waters again. Hypnotised did well for her last year. I wouldn't say no to an album in that vein, just to mix things up a little.
 
I was playing Make a Scene today and actually had realised I generally overlook how good it is beyond the singles, albeit that there were at least six plus Off and On which kind of was anyway. AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON DEAR JIMMY :disco:

But yes, her stock was at an all time low pre- Wanderlust. That felt like a turning point (post- Strictly) but Kitchen Disco took it up another level

She did Hypnotised at Hoopla and I was surprised how well it went down and was known. It made me want another electro/ dance album.
 
Make a Scene has a bit of a grab-bag-y feel compared to her other albums, but it does have some really good stuff on it.

Starlight was randomly on the playlist of a chain of country pubs across Yorkshire for years, so I'd hear it out all the time.
 
Make a Scene was awful. basically a mixtape. I only want her going back to dance pop if her heart is in it.
 
VoR said:
Make a Scene has a bit of a grab-bag-y feel compared to her other albums, but it does have some really good stuff on it.
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Well, it was recorded in record company hell over about three years, and put together essentially for the Russian market, so yes…

But awful? What nonsense!

08 Revolution
08 Bittersweet (though the Freemasons Mix should have been used- 10)
09 Off and On
11 Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer
10 Not Giving Up On Love
09 Can’t Fight This Feeling
09 Starlight
08 Under Your Touch
07 Make a Scene
06 Magic
07 Dial My Number
07 Homewrecker
09 Synchronised
06 Cut Straight To The Heart

05 Sophia Loren
10 Dear Jimmy

There’s some great stuff on it, though yes, as I said, it’s about the singles really and tails off towards the end.

I’m not saying it’s her best work or anything, but that was kind of my point- I’m surprised how much I like it when I listen to it.
 
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Actually, that makes a good time for an album rank:

1. Wanderlust
2. Trip The Light Fantastic
3. Shoot From The Hip.
4. Make a Scene
5. Read My Lips
6. Familia

(7. The Song Diaries)

I expect Hana to come in around number 3 but it’s too early to tell.

I like them all, though- bar the execrable #7
 
And with the exception of the last three, haven’t her albums always been a bit “mixtape”-y and not as cohesive as they should be? That first album was scattershot and whoever thought whacking the admittedly wonderful Today The Sun’s On Us in the middle of a string of disco smashes was a sadist…
 
Sheena said:
I was playing Make a Scene today and actually had realised I generally overlook how good it is beyond the singles, albeit that there were at least six plus Off and On which kind of was anyway. AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON DEAR JIMMY :disco:

But yes, her stock was at an all time low pre- Wanderlust. That felt like a turning point (post- Strictly) but Kitchen Disco took it up another level

She did Hypnotised at Hoopla and I was surprised how well it went down and was known. It made me want another electro/ dance album.
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My favourite SEB album!!!

Get on the revolution :disco:
 
It is no Trip but I do love Make a Scene. I think it is the cluster of features in the middle of the album which gives that cobbled together impression but they're all great so fine. The two Richard X tracks and Synchronised are especially dreamy. Some of the teaser videos for Hana made it sound more electro but I am very happy with what we got.

Dear Jimmy is outstanding (and she mentioned it as a great lost track recently). Only retrospectively Make a Scene era though i think.
 
Talking of number 11s the other day, not quite the same, but Heartbreak stopping just outside the top ten is another big annoyance for me- particularly as it had been leaked forever and a day and had the worst release strategy ever. It’s always felt a much bigger hit than it actually was and it was most certainly deserving of being.
 
Sophie has mentioned that Until The Wheels Come Off from this album is dedicated to her stepfather (the 'John' Janet mentions above).

 
I’m rather excited that I’ve just got tickets through a friend to an “intimate” (read: corporate) SEB gig and Q&A at a hotel in Portsmouth next Thursday for some radio group. :disco:
 
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