The Freemasons/Sophie video update (Part three)

Here are a few pictures from the video shoot, in the form of a slideshow with the single backing it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZIDeJPbHLE

Sophie looks so fierce

new Sophie track

Someone from universal hinted that there is another collaboration with Richard X apart from I Still Believe In Magic...

There seems to be a song called Immune To Love, with Richard X and Hannah Robinson. I'm thinking its probably going to be another 70's disco "China Heart" type songs... ooh can't wait for the new album...

Heartbreak: Tracklist

01. Heartbreak (Make me a dancer) (Radio edit)
02. Heartbreak (Make me a dancer) (Club mix)
03. Heartbreak (Make me a dancer) (The Mac Project remix)
04. Heartbreak (Make me a dancer) (Bitrocka club mix)
05. Heartbreak (Make me a dancer) (Bitrocka Italo mix)
06. Heartbreak (make me a dancer) (Steve Mac dub mix)
PLUS ENHANCED VIDEO!!!

Too bad the demo didn't make it to the single, but i'm thrilled that the Bitrocka mix is going to feature on the CD!! YAY!!

more details on Heartbreak's release

I'm loving all this hype for the single. I don't think Freemasons or Sophie have ever done this in the past. Its nice to know they're taking the extra mile to ensure this hits the charts.

The song has already been added to the C-list this week on Galaxy, and hit #1 on the Cool Cuts chart.

But it isn't going to get a release anytime soon. The release date has been pushed back to 21st June. Here's what the Freemasons had to say on their MySpace blog:

"First of all apologies for not being in touch recently - we had such an amazing time in Australia at Mardi Gras and across the continent in some great clubs and ever since we got back it's been go go go to get the single ready, do the video (although that was mainly Sophie to be fair!), get cracking on our mix album 'Shakedown 2' and also start writing and producing for a very special lady (but we can't say who yet...). Anyway here is the sleeve for 'Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)' , how gorgeous does Sophie look? Believe us when we say she is exactly the same in person. The release date has had to be put back just a week, it's now 21st June, because the video is taking much longer than anticipated - there's loads of post-production special effects being done to make it look spectacular. Can't wait? Neither can we!"

They have also added a snippet of the song on their MySpace. I'm not too sure about the beginning of the song, its very brash. To be honest, i preferred the way the demo opened slowly with a beat. I hope the final radio edit has a good opening.

This is going to be massive! YAY!!

The OFFICIAL cover art: Heartbreak

I know its not very "heartbreak", but its one hell of a sexy pic!! I for one adore it!! Sophie looks so much sexier after having teamed up with Rimmel.. does she still do her own make-up or does someone else do it for her now?? She's such a pussycat, don't you think????

I'm loving everything about this single:
1. The (original) song - EXCELLENT!
2. The new mix - Smash Hit in the making
3. The video still on the Freemasons' FB Page - fierce
4. The cover art - Sexy (going back to the old RML style, very nice)

With just the right promotion and a superb video, i'm sure this is going to be a #1

More about the duet with The Feeling

During an interview with Dan, recently...

What's the latest on Sophie Ellis Bextor's guest vocals on the new album?
Well, I changed the key, so we've got to re-record the whole thing and she's obviously been very busy with Kit. So we had the vocal, but now it's not in the right key. She did a lovely job, though.

That'll be the first guest vocal on a Feeling song.
It will, yeah. It's very exciting. We didn't do it for the sake of it, it just happened naturally. I'd demoed a song and sent it to Richard, who played it in his house. Sophie heard it and loved it, so she ended up singing on it.

Have you met little Kit?
Yes, he's amazing. Still very, very wee, but he's doing well.

Previously, during an interview with Paul...

Final question is from Andisha, aka Miss Pathos on the forum. She'd like to know if it's true that The Feeling and Sophie Ellis Bextor are collaborating on a song.
Yeah, but it's very early stages. There was a song we'd been working on for a little while and the nature, lyrics and mood of the part seemed to suit a girl's voice, so it seemed obvious to let Sophie sing it and see how it sounds. And it sounds pretty good! She just popped into the room we use above Sophie and Richard's bedroom in their house to record it. It was all very relaxed; she might end up on more songs or no songs, nothing's really decided at this point. In fact, there's still time for me to unleash my vocal performance on something.

The Freemasons/Sophie video update (Part two)

I'm really glad to read the fan responses everywhere about the song. Of course, there are both positive and negative responses, but i'm sure the song will land up in a top 10 spot, if they're lucky then it might go top 5 as well.

Anyway, the Freemasons posted a picture from the video shoot on their facebook page. And my god, Sophie looks stunning.


So, she is actually going to dance, and i believe that now cos there are backup dancers and they're all in the same pose. YAY!! Sophie looks fierce! And so fit, after a second pregnancy!! Can't wait for a sneak peak of the video...

Crossing my fingers

The Freemasons/Sophie video update (Part one)

I figured i'm going to keep getting updates about the video, so i made this "Part One"!!

Anyway, Sophie said this on her twitter:

• 6:31 AM Apr 18th from web
  the video shoot is nearly here. dance rehearsal on monday. i get to wear a great outfit with gorgeous high heels. yay! it's a hard life... x
  
  
• 8:18 AM Apr 20th from web
  finished dance rehearsal. vertiginous heels make for sore thighs. worth it, though. video tmw. single was premiered on radio one on friday. x
  
  
• about 22 hours ago from web
  off out at stupidly-early-o'clock to make a video. will be tiring but fun. hope i remember the steps...! x
  
  
• about 3 hours ago from web
  finished my 16th video today, it's going to look bloody lovely if i do say so myself. great team and tiring but fun day. sleep here i come!

This means Sophie is doing a dance routine. Now if its like the dance routine on MOTD, IWCY or the hand dancing on MAMI, then i'm not going to get myself really excited about the video. I hope she's got some real moves this time. I've been seeing Sophie playing live on stage (on youtube) and i've seen her improve in her presentation. She's always dancing around, and i think she can dance. So she should really shock everyone by dancing this time. Ooh and she has got to show off her long fine legs in the video. I remember talking to my friends about her and they said that she's got amazing legs!

Anywho, its her 16th video!! Her videos get better and better everytime, and i for one am looking forward to an amazing video. Can't wait to watch it...

The Sophie/Freemasons track, first ever review!!

Okay i listened to the song about a million times now. One good thing is that they kept the twangy bass intact. I noticed that they've used an atmospheric organ kinda instrument, which adds to the dark effect of the song. But all that is only in the verses. Once the chorus pops in, the song takes on this dancefloor anthem image and the dark image sort of fades away. Thankfully, they kept the "keep it coming on and on and on" bit, cos now the song sounds almost complete!!

Whats missing in the song?? A twangy guitar, like the one on Dear Jimmy. I think with that, this song would be a delicious treat to my ears. Nonetheless, bravo!! Both Freemasons and Sophie.

One more thing that i appreciate is the live drums that they have used for the snare-fill effects, and that slap/whip beat is simply amazing!! The middle eight with the crescendo of the strings/violins etc is brilliant!! As a dance track, i think the song is just ace. Flawless and a sure #1 on the dance charts. But this song would sound really odd on Sophie's album cos i'm sure she's not going to do anything this ibiza-ish for the album. So i think a good thing to do is also to add the Junior Caldera track to the final tracklist, so this song would have a bedfellow!

I'm still not sure if it is going to do anything for Sophie. If anything, it might just arouse some attention in her and inform people that she is ready for her next album. Sophie, apparantly, is performing the song sometime soon at G.A.Y. So keep your eyes peeled. I wish she performs more songs from her new album - Sophia Loren, Synchronized etc., and some older ones as well..

Heartbreak (the new mix)

http://drop.io/PTSfreemasons6404/asset/freemasons-mp3

The radio rip of the song.. here are my comments
1. Its pretty good, but i still say it sucked the emotion out of the song completely
2. They haven't got rid of the "keep it coming on and on and on" part entirely, its there after the 2nd verse, thankfully!!
3. The middle eight is a bit meh, but i'm sure it would be better on the full length mix
4. Its very "Ring The Alarm" meets "Green Light" meets "Deja Vu", in short, its very Freemasons!!

Critical Reception of the new single

1. It lacks character. The song is actually a song about overcoming pain by dancing it away. It just needed a hint of disco flavour and be a dark sounding song. The original "demo" was perfect. The new mix is way too let-me-see-you-resist-this-on-the-floor type show off track. Its just beats and sounds and is pointless. You have a huge title like that, means that your song should be really good, not crap it up by remixing it mindlessly.

2. Its going to do NOTHING for Sophie!! She's probably going to get re-labelled as the queen of disco, and that is not what we want for her now, is that?? Sophie is a pure popstar and all she does is include a bit of dance flavour to her singles so they perform well. But that doesn't mean she's into disco. I mean, even her "hardcore dance record (TTLF)" has some gorgeous down-tempo pop songs! So the new mix is going to do nothing for her, except let people know that she's not pregnant anymore and she's probably thin enough to star in the next Rimmel advert..

Here are some fan responses:

1. I really do not like it. Perhaps it's a generational thing, but I cannot see it as an improvement on the earlier demo. I think they have ruined the song, and in its present mix it does Sophie no favours. Just my grumpy opinion.
2. I don't like it at all. I know I'm not a huge fan of remix, but there's no improvement! I don't like the fact they cut out "keep it coming on" and it takes like a minute for the first verse to start... They could have done something nice like Calvin Harris did with Off & On, which I think it's completely "releasable"
3. I don't think it's strong enough to launch an album - and certainly not to create the kind of impact Sophie is going to need to sell albums.
4. But I liked the "keep it coming" bit...
5. I love the pumped up sound of the remix but, yeah, the song suffers without the "keep it coming on and on and on" part. Such a little thing makes such a difference in the game of disco tension & release. Hopefully this clip is just the "club mix" and the single version will reinstate that little bridge.
6. The updated version has so much more verve. Also the YouTube leak is a short chunk of an epically long 9 minute mix, but the point is that they made everything dramatic tenfold -- which only stands to serve Sophie better (as the original was a bit...plodding.)
7. I heard it at Mardi Gras and it was a bit fucking amazing. I don't know how to describe it, but it had obviously been beefed up. Think the album version of The One compared to the remade club mix. Not altogether different, but alot more worthy of the attention it's getting...
8. That is the version of the single?
   The intro can not be longer by god!
9. This is why remixes of original songs should never happen - because there are very few that don't turn to complete shite!!
10. Sucked the emotion out of the original, but, good stuff.

What should Sophie wear for the Freemasons single??

Sophie just delivered a baby, and i'm pretty sure she's still carrying some baby weight. So i wouldn't really recommend hotpants, and she's not quite interested in wearing them either! Calvin suggested that he would lend Sophie his insect shades...

I've been doing some thinking.. Sophie should try wearing the Indian saree in one of her videos, and maybe this could be the video. I mean, the saree is simply a dress which is very sexy, if worn properly, and you can wear it in so many different ways.

What do you think?? Here are a few samples...

The Freemasons/Sophie song's first spin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnucO-XJu90 - PART ONE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt1k6pVhgog&feature=related - PART TWO

That is the first play of the song at the Midi Gras party way back in March. Its really long, and they actually have cut out the "Keep it coming on and on and on".. it sounds horrible without it!! I prefer the original demo. This new "version" of the song is so remixey!! I'm not fond of it AT ALL!! I don't know what all the fuss was about. And it sounds like they've put Sophie's vocals through a vocoder, and sped it up a bit too..

Honestly, all they had to do was just add some whispering of the lyrics to the song to spice it up, not remove parts of the existing lyrics and then remix the song so it should sound this robotic...

DETAILS: Freemasons & Sophie: Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer

Before you read this, you have to strap yourself onto your seat, because this is going to get you jumping around with joy.

ONE -
The new radio mix is really beefed up, you can tell from the very first few seconds of the intro, comparing it to the demo that was posted on Sophie's Myspace last year.

There's more synths making it sound a lot 'fuller' and atmospheric, bass is more prominent, more harmonies, and the breakdown with the buildup to the last chorus is EPIC (albeit not as epic as in the club mix). They've also cut out the "keeeeeep it coming on and on and on" pre-chorus bits in the verses, it now jumps straight into the chorus and it sounds great. It's officially very amazing.

Honestly, i think the song would have done well on the charts, even if it were left the "demo" way it was. I can make my peace with the sprucing up of the song, but cutting out the bridge before the chorus is a bit idiotic don't you think!?!? Its going to be something like Beyonce's Dejavu mix by them, where they've cut out parts of the song and it sounds so bloody wrong!! Even if they're cutting out the bridge from the song, they'd better use it during the middle 8

TWO -
Sophie Ellis-Bextor will feature in the video, and the single will be billed as "Freemasons feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor", but there still are chances that the single will end up on Sophie's 4th album tracklist as well. There's isn't any confirmed tracklist for the single, but the Freemasons have their own 9 minute club mix which will obviously make it onto the CD, then there's the BitRocka Mix which they'd better put on the CD, the Snippet sounds so good, and of course, the original "demo" cos that's what started it all...

THREE -
UK Release date: June 15th 2009
Europe Release date: June 23th 2009
Video Premiere: May 6th 2009
Song Premiere: March 7th 2009
Now, don't get all worried and impatient and blame Sophie for the late release. It's got nothing to do with her management or her. Freemasons are probably waiting for a good time to release it, and those dates might be the ones.

Looks like we have a release date

June 15th, according to HMV

But then again, i'm not sure if that can be trusted, cos Sophie is making the video in about a week or two now, and the mix is ready, so is the radio edit. I think only the artwork has to be decided and then released. That shouldn't take too long.

Rumours said that the song would be out by the end of April, but even if all the above said takes some time, then it should still be out in May. June is too far off, unless Sophie is considering this to be the first single off her album.

Too much confusion... Sophie needs to come online and tell us something more about the album.

In other news, Sophie is (finally, thank god) planning on making a christmas (dance) song. She was on Twitter when she discussed this with Calvin asking him if they were the people to do this together.. I do wish we get a christmas dance hit from her this year though... She's also been working with a bunch of people, still songwriting and stuff. The collaboration with The Feeling, like i confirmed in my previous post if for their album, not Sophie's. But who knows, if Sophie does end up having an equal share on the song, then the song might end up on her album as well, as a bonus track or whatever. Not too keen on that happening though, i'd rather new songs from her than collaborations from other people's albums finding their way onto her album.. Apart from this, Sophie has been feeding and taking care of her new baby, and she's been really busy with family. I do wish, though, that she would come online and tell us how the album is shaping up..

Sophie & The Feeling duet!?!?!

So all that thing about Sophie going back to work early was just the collaboration with The Feeling for their album, like i guessed!!

Anyway, here's what Sophie-Online posted about this:

Paul, drummer from The Feeling, commented on Sophie's duet with The Feeling on their latest catch-up, on Monday (30):

Final question is from Andisha, aka Miss Pathos on the forum. She'd like to know if it's true that The Feeling and Sophie Ellis Bextor are collaborating on a song.

Yeah, but it's very early stages. There was a song we'd been working on for a little while and the nature, lyrics and mood of the part seemed to suit a girl's voice, so it seemed obvious to let Sophie sing it and see how it sounds. And it sounds pretty good! She just popped into the room we use above Sophie and Richard's bedroom in their house to record it. It was all very relaxed; she might end up on more songs or no songs, nothing's really decided at this point. In fact, there's still time for me to unleash my vocal performance on something.