Not a Million Miles

The six track EP will be released on 29 December, and will include the following tracks:

1. Not a Million Miles (single mix)
2. Time Heals
3. To Live a Lie
4. Back in the Day
5. Not a Million Miles (semi-acoustic)
6. When October Comes (semi-acoustic)

All three exclusive b-sides were originally written and recorded for inclusion on Empires but, for one reason or another, did not make it to the final cut. Time Heals inspired many of  the tracks on the album, while To Live a Lie and Back in the Day are more sombre tracks, the former being similar in many aspects to In Your Eyes.

The new version of When October Comes was originally suggested around the time Solitaire came out, as it was thought this track might be the fourth single. It was initially abandoned because of the complexity of the chords, and then completed in September. The new remixes of Not a Million Miles draw on different aspects of the original, and bring together new sounds and ideas to perfectly complement the original version.

The eighth album

Work continues on the eighth studio album, currently known by its working title H8. Altogether 33 tracks have been recorded or are being worked on. The album is expected to be released at some point in the first half of 2005.

Not a Million Miles

The EP will be released within the next couple of weeks. It is not yet known what the tracklisting will be, although it is expected there will be either 6 or 7 tracks, including three exclusive new tracks and several remixes.

Something in the air

The next single is on its way… but what will it be?

We  released two promotional singles over the last few weeks to test the water and help us decide. They are one track CDs of Not a Million Miles and In Your Eyes. We're thinking about releasing an EP some time in Autumn or Winter.

In other news, we've started working on brand new tracks for our eighth album.

Two pictures on the wall

Coming soon: the third single release from Empires, A Picture on the Wall, including two exclusive new versions and two brand new bonus tracks.

We can now reveal the third single from Empires: A Picture on the Wall.

Following the success of the last single Solitaire, we have decided to release this track to represent the variation of tracks on the album, since this track is musically much more up-tempo than either of its predecessors.

Altogether, three remixed versions of A Picture on the Wall were recorded: two edits and an extended version, all based very closely on the original album version. The final single edit has a shorter introduction and ending, and has one verse removed. The unreleased alternative version keeps the missing verse and instead has shorter instrumental sections, and is unlikely to see a release in the near future. Meanwhile, the extended version has some additional instrumental sections.

The single also once again includes two new bonus tracks, Fateful Hour, which was written over around 18 months starting in March 2002, and Not in My Name, an anti-war rant which was completed this spring after around a year of progress. Both were progressively recorded over the same period as many of the tracks on Empires. The first has an retro electronic sound, while the second is not dissimilar in style to the last single Solitaire.

The confirmed tracklisting is as follows…

01. A Picture on the Wall (Radio Edit)
02. Fateful Hour
03. Not in My Name
04. A Picture on the Wall (Extended)

Solitaire: the new single

Coming soon: the new single, Solitaire, an exclusive extended mix and two brand new b-sides.

Finally, we can bring news of the new single, the second release from our seventh album Empires.

The first single Wherever You Are Now brought more interest in us than any previous release, and the latest album, although widely ignored by the general public, has received considerable critical acclaim. We can now finally reveal that the follow-up single will be Solitaire, due for release on Monday 19th January 2004.

The sleeve artwork will be the one shown below, taken in Grimma, in Saxony, eastern Germany.

The single, much harder and darker in sound than its predecessor, will include the original album version, an exclusive extended version, and two brand new b-sides, A New Leaf and The Hunter’s Smile, both of which were started during 2002 and completed in February 2003. Countless demos have been made of both tracks during the making of the album, but neither were ever seriously considered as contenders for the album.

Both tracks were started off as fairly laid back sounding and were completed in very recent studio sessions, which is also when the extended version of Solitaire was recorded, as well as various other tracks. The final version of The Hunter’s Smile is fairly harsh and electronic in style.

The confirmed tracklisting is as follows…

01. Solitaire (Album Version)

02. A New Leaf

03. The Hunter’s Smile

04. Solitaire (Extended)

This is the first single release since 1999 to have more than three tracks on it, thanks to changes in UK chart rules in January.