Artist List

AC/DC

AC/DC's mammoth power-chord roar became one of the most influential hard rock sounds of the '70s. In its own way, it was a reaction against the pompous art rock and lumbering stadium rock of the early '70s. AC/DC's rock was minimalist -- no matter how huge and bludgeoning the guitar chords were, there was a clear sense of space and restraint. Combined with Bon Scott's larynx-shredding vocals, the band spawned countless imitators over the next two decades. AC/DC was formed in 1973 in Australia by guitarist Malcolm Young after his band, the Velvet Underground, collapsed (Young's band has no relation to the seminal American group). With his younger brother Angus as lead guitarist, the band played some gigs around Sydney. Angus was only 15 years old at the time and his sister suggested that he should wear his school uniform on stage; the look became the band's visual trademark. While still in Sydney, the original lineup (featuring singer Dave Evans) cut a single called "Can I Sit Next to You," with ex-Easybeats Harry Vanda and George Young (Malcolm and Angus' older brother) producing. The band moved to Melbourne the following year, where drummer Phil Rudd (formerly of the Coloured Balls) and bassist Mark Evans joined the band. The band's chauffeur, Bon Scott, became their lead vocalist when their singer, Dave Evans, refused to go on stage. Previously, Scott had been vocalist for the Australian prog bands Fraternity and the Valentines. More importantly, he helped cement the group's image as brutes -- he had several convictions on minor criminal offenses and was rejected by the Australian Army for being "socially maladjusted." And AC/DC was socially maladjusted. Throughout their career they favored crude double entendres and violent imagery, all spiked with a mischievous sense of fun. The group released two albums -- High Voltage and TNT -- in Australia in 1974 and 1975. Material from the two records comprised the 1976 release High Voltage in the U.S. and U.K.; the group also toured both countries. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap followed at the end of the year. Evans left the band at the beginning of 1977, with Cliff Williams taking his place. In the fall of 1977, AC/DC released Let There Be Rock, which became their first album to chart in the U.S. Powerage, released in spring of 1978, expanded their audience even further, thanks in no small part to their dynamic live shows (which were captured on 1978's live If You Want Blood, You've Got It). What really broke the doors down for the band was the following year's Highway to Hell, which hit number 17 in the U.S. and number eight in the U.K., becoming the group's first million-seller. AC/DC's train was derailed when Bon Scott died on February 20, 1980. The official coroner's report stated he had "drunk himself to death." In March, the band replaced Scott with Brian Johnson. The following month, the band recorded Back in Black, which would prove to be their biggest album, selling over ten million copies in the U.S. alone. For the next few years, the band was one of the largest rock bands in the world, with For Those About to Rock We Salute You topping the charts in the U.S. In 1982, Rudd left the band; he was replaced by Simon Wright. After 1983's Flick of the Switch, the band's commercial standing began to slip; they were able to reverse their slide with 1990's The Razor's Edge, which spawned the hit "Thunderstruck." While not the commercial powerhouse they were during the late '70s and early '80s, the '90s saw them maintain their status as a top international concert draw. In the fall of 1995, their 16th album, Ballbreaker, was released. Produced by Rick Rubin, the album received some of the most positive reviews of AC/DC's career. Ballbreaker entered the American charts at number four and sold over a million copies in its first six months of release. Stiff Upper Lip followed in early 2000.

Institut Polaire

Institut Polaire formed as a three piece in 2004 by an American ex-pat (Erik Hecht), an English born scientist (David Thirkettle-Watts) and a country boy moved to the big city (Ash Blakeney; who left the band in 2005, handing over his role to cousin Ben). Institut Polaire has grown from three piece roots into a full-blown collective who currently number between seven and nine members toting everything from vintage Wurlitzer pianos to violins, banjos, trumpets, MacBooks and glockenspiels. In the past twelve months the collective have supported a number of acclaimed artists and bands, including Architecture in Helsinki, Jens Lekman, Lou Barlow, Gerling, Starky, The Panics and The Lucksmiths. Institut Polaire's debut 7" single "City Walls and Empires" (released through Love Is My Velocity Records) recently won them the Western Australian Music Industry's 'Song of the Year' Award for 2006 and have since received national airplay. "It was a fantastic confidence boost," Hecht said about the band's win in X-Press Magazine, "To see how much things have evolved in the band dynamic, instrumentation and songwriting since recording the debut single is exciting. I think most of us would agree that we are far more proud of the music we’ve been writing since. And I really suspect we may take some people by surprise with the records we put out this year." In 2007 Institut Polaire performed at the Perth leg of the Big Day Out having won Triple J's Unearthed competition for Western Australia. They also performed with Bob Evans and Bobby Blackbird & The Bluejays at the WAMi-styled Triple J Live at the Wireless gig at the Rosemount Hotel. The band were nominated for 'Best Indie Pop Act', at the 2007 WAMi Awards and also undertook their first national tour supporting Camera Obscura. In February 2007 Institut Polaire announced that they have been signed as the first Australian artist on Popfrenzy Records. Their first release will be an EP due out on July 28, 2007, with an album, nominally called The Fauna & Flora Are Too Closely Allied due late in 2007. "I think the main goal for 2007 is to continue to evolve and make some great records,” he says. “We head out on our first national tour supporting Camera Obscura in late February, followed by a debut EP release in May and an LP later in the year. It’s also looking increasingly likely that we’ll have some pretty exciting news to report rather soonish...” Band members: Ben Blakeney - guitar, vocals Elliott Brannen - trumpet, keys, vocals Catherine Colvin - violin, vocals Erik Hecht - vocals, guitar, banjo, keys Russell Loasby - drums, percussion David Thirkettle-Watts - bass Samantha Wass - acoustic guitar, vocals, keys.

Peter Cupples

My musical career was probably pre-ordained. Long before I was born, there was a musical history in my family. On my father's side, his father played the fiddle, my grandmother played the piano, my uncle played the accordion, and dad played the mandolin. They had their own band, and played colonial and Irish folk music at local dances. Peter Cupples led the band Stylus, one of Australia's best-known acts, in the 1970s when pop/rock groups Sherbert, ACDC and Cold Chisel dominated. Stylus combined a soul and funk sound with rich harmonies. Eventually the group signed for American giant Tamla Motown, the first white group to sign for the label. Hits included "Summer Breeze" and "World Of Make Believe". During the 80s, Peter led The Peter Cupples Band which made two albums and has since maintained a significant presence in the industry. This album was recorded in early 2000 but it was shelved because Peter wasn't happy with it. Eventually, after some perspective, Peter did release it and suggests that, as an analogue recording in a digital world, it has a unique charm.

Avalore

Hailing from Perth, Western Australia, Avalore are a fresh and talented new act to formally enter into the Australian rock industry with their 1st national independent release. With an average age of just 19, and forming midway through 2005, Avalore are rapidly developing into a quality live and recording rock act. The bands live success has come on the back of supports for internationally successful acts The Living End, Anberlin, Matchbook Romance and Alkaline Trio as well as local favourites I Killed The Prom Queen, Behind Crimson Eyes, Bodyjar and the Realist Few, exposing the band's youthful, yet mature style of songwriting to a variety of audiences and large crowds. Combining well crafted pop melodies with punk angst, Avalore draw inspiration from acts such as Gyroscope, All American Rejects, Snow Patrol and The Killers to produce a diverse range of songs - from the warm acoustic feel of "Lets Settle This", to the indie rock flavoured "Vixen Or Villen", and the melodic punk driven rocker "The Abbadon". Now with an 8 track self titled EP under their belt which hits stores on Monday November 20, Avalore are proud to announce the release of their debut recorded works and accompanying CD Launches, which are set to consolidate Avalore as another Perth act on the rise leading into 2007 courtesy of Avalore

Joe Camilleri

"Bakelite Radio represents the kind of music I was listening to as a young boy digging the wealth and richness of the blues. Nick Smith and I have been writing songs together for 20 years and several of the songs on Bakelite were just lying about looking to get a little sunlight. We were able to record 20 tracks for the BR sessions - six blocks of four hours plus 2 days for mixing and overdubs. We didn't dissect every little move and worked to keep the spirit intact - Ed, Claude, Nicky, Simon and I would just pick up what was needed for the track, it is always a joy making music with friends." Joe Camilleri Joe Camilleri has been making fine music for three decades now. Founder and front man of Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons, The Black Sorrows and The Revelatory, Joe is an Australian music icon and his music has become part of our lives. Songs such as So Young, Hit And Run, Shape I'm In, Hold On To Me, Harley and Rose, Chained To The Wheel and Never Let Me Go are Australian milestones. Joe has given his life to making music in this country. Joe's love of music encompasses everything from R'n'B to jazz and this diversity is reflected in Bakelite Radio. From the bluesy soul of Isaac Hayes' classic Do Your Thing to the acoustic blues of Camilleri and Smith's Hell To Pay and on to brush the edge of the jazz world with Losing Hand - it's all here. "I think that Thoughts About Roxanne is the blueprint for Bakelite Radio. I heard this song by John Mayall on a record called Turning Point, Roxanne was one of my favourite songs on that recording. It had so much of everything I love about mixing the blues, jazz, pop and folk." Again Camilleri has surrounded himself with incredibly talented players whose banjo-like Dobro, big bass drum. Hawaiian slide and chugging bass all gel in the way only a group of muses who know each other well can. It was this familiarity that led to the inclusion of a 60's roots favourite. lf a take didn't come together the guys always wound up jamming on Howlin' Wolf's, Who's Been Talking. It sounded so great it had to be added to the list. Joe Camilleri is clearly a man who lives and loves music. Whether he is onstage or behind the scenes in his studio producing some new disc, he always gives 100%. The intimate performance mode of Bakelite Radio has given Joe the freedom to further explore the music he loves and is guaranteed to please music lovers around the world.

Jaider

Jaider De Oliveira, singer, producer, performer, guitarist, percussionist, teacher and entertainer. But make no mistake, what differentiates Jaider from other musicians, is his ten string guitar, on which is a virtuoso. There are not many who can evoke such passion from an inanimate object in the manner Jaider does in such tracks as "Baiao for you" This is the wonderful track which you are listening to currently and is from his first CD "Samba Down Under" Currently Jaider has produced two c.d.'s The first Samba down under and secondly roots, you are able to purchase them directly from him by writing to his email. In January 2007 Alegria Instrumental will be released. Order your copy directly from Jaider.

Silverchair

Silverchair are one of the most acclaimed and successful bands in Australian music history. The group's members were all born in 1979 in the Newcastle surf suburb of Merewether. Singer/guitarist Daniel Johns and drummer Ben Gillies started making music together at primary school and schoolmate Chris Joannou later joined on bass. They got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo competition conducted by SBS TV show "Nomad" and Triple J. The band changed its name from Innocent Criminals to Silverchair and in August 1994 they released their winning demo - a track called "Tomorrow". The song eventually spent six weeks at #1 on the Australian singles charts and 20 weeks in the top 10. In 1995 it became the most played song of the year on U.S. modern rock radio. Silverchair's debut album "frogstomp", recorded in just nine days in early 1995, was a raw sounding slab of alternative rock. A #1 hit in Australia and New Zealand the disc went on to become the first Australian album since INXS to hit the U.S. top 10, selling more than 2.5 million copies throughout the world. As "frogstomp" and "Tomorrow" propelled silverchair to music superstardom through 1996 the group juggled memorable performances on the roof of Radio City Music Hall and tours with Red Hot Chili Peppers alongside full time schooling commitments back home in Newcastle. The trio also found time that year to record their sophomore album "Freak Show" which was released in February, 1997. A more adventurous piece of work than "frogstomp" this disc yielded three top ten singles in Australia - "Freak", "Abuse Me" and "Cemetery". Global sales eventually exceeded 1.5 million copies in spite of the fact that the band had to juggle world tours while trying to finish their final year of high school. After finally graduating from school the band was able to spend much more time creating their critically lauded breakthrough, "Neon Ballroom" which was released in March 1999. The group's songwriter, Daniel Johns had been battling personal demons as he attempted to adjust to Silverchair's sudden success and he poured these experiences into his new batch of songs. Determined to shake the constant musical comparisons that had previously dogged his band, Johns created a truly original sounding album. Fusing heavy rock with orchestral flourishes and synthetic touches with powerfully emotional lyrics, the dark and haunting "Neon Ballroom" was universally acclaimed as a huge creative leap for Johns and his bandmates. Silverchair toured extensively in support of the album, propelling it to even stronger worldwide sales than they had achieved with "Freak Show". In Europe and South America it became the group's most successful album to date due to the Comet Award winning "Ana's Song" - a track about Daniel Johns' battles with an eating disorder. Elsewhere, distinctive tracks like "Emotion Sickness" and the aching "Miss You Love" established the group's staying power once and for all. The band toured Europe and the U.S. throughout 1999 including appearances on leading festivals such as Reading and Bizarrefest. After all this touring Silverchair announced that they would be taking a 12 month break during 2000 to recharge their batteries. Having fulfilled their initial recording contract the group was pursued by labels for much of this year off. At the end of 2000 they announced that they had signed new deals and as a result their former label released two compilation albums over the following years without the band's involvement. Silverchair's one and only gig in 2000 was a sold out appearance at Australia's Falls Festival on New Years Eve. It was followed on January 21, 2001 by the biggest show of their lives - 250,000 people at Rock In Rio - a performance which the band describes as the highlight of their career to date. In June 2001 the band started work on their fourth album, "Diorama". This time Daniel Johns set out to explore even more new musical territory. A range of other musicians were drawn in to contribute to the disc, most notably the legendary Beach Boys and U2 collaborator, Van Dyke Parks who contributed orchestral arrangements to three tracks including a lush epic called "Luv Your Life". Also helping out again were "Neon Ballroom" sidemen, Paul Mac and Jim Moginie. The album saw Johns embracing melody and combining it with brighter lyrics than most of his previous works. It was a huge creative leap which also saw the band exploring a vast array of instrumentation and musical styles. Diorama means "a world within a world". It was a particularly apt name as this evocative work lifts you out of the everyday and carries you into a world of its own. According to Rolling Stone magazine in its four and a half star review, the album was "one of the boldest musical statements ever made by an Australian rock band". "Diorama" entered the Australian charts at #1 in April. It yielded the top 10 singles "The Greatest View" and "Without You" and the top 20 hit "Luv Your Life" as well as the airplay favourites "After All These Years" and "Across The Night". The album's international performance was unfortunately impeded by the band's inability to tour or do promotional appearances due to Daniel Johns' ill health. The singer/guitarist spent 2002 battling a severely debilitating case of reactive arthritis from which he is now completely recovered. Nevertheless, even without any of the usual promotional support the album has reached #12 in Germany and the top 40 of numerous other countries including Holland, Sweden and Brazil. However, the group's inability to tour in support of the release still made the middle of 2002 a very frustrating period. This all began to change in October 2002 when the band's work on "Diorama" won them six ARIA Awards (Australia's Grammys) including "Best Group" and "Best Rock Album". In a last minute surprise the trio returned to the stage to deliver a searing performance of "The Greatest View" which catapulted their album back into the national top 10. Within another two months the disc had sold over 250,000 copies in Australia making it the fastest selling album of the band's career in their homeland. It went on to be certified five times platinum. In spite of the musical challenges presented by the album and the band's inability to tour or promote it, in Australia at least Diorama still managed to attract the biggest audience of any Silverchair release. From March to June of 2003 Silverchair finally got to play the album live. Their "Across The Night" tour sold out around their homeland in minutes and was the largest of their career. The band also played multiple sold out shows in South America, the U.S, Canada and the U.K.. This remarkable tour capped a roller coaster year for Silverchair - a year which in many ways traced the journey of "Diorama" itself - from bleak times into a much happier new dawn. The event was captured in a multiplatinum CD/DVD set called "Live From Faraway Stables" that was released in late 2003. The band then went on an indefinite hiatus. Daniel Johns collaborated with Paul Mac to create an acclaimed gold selling album as The Dissociatives and the group toured Australia and the UK. Chris Joannou was nominated for an ARIA award for his production work with The Mess Hall while under the banner of Tambalane Ben Gillies recently recorded an album with some friends that showed his longstanding love of James Brown style funk. Throughout this time the group repeatedly refuted media reports that they had split up - pointing out that they were just taking an open ended break and that they would make music together again when the time was right. That time finally came when Silverchair and their management helped pull together the unforgettable Waveaid benefit concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 29, 2005. The event drew a sold out crowd of 55,000 people and saw a 'who's who' of Australian music raise over $2,500,000 for the victims of the Asian tsunami. The undeniable spark that the band felt together in the rehearsal room and onstage at that extraordinary show rekindled their desire to start making another album together later that year. And so the decision was made to regroup but to "remove all the pressure" that had surrounded the band since the explosive reaction to their first CD. Not only did that involve an unhurried and quite secretive creative approach, it also meant the band taking the highly unusual step of choosing to fund the entire album themselves so as to avoid a repeat of the creative clashes that occurred with their US label during the recording of "Diorama". The focus was on the three guys recapturing the "sense of endless possibilities" that they had when they first started out. The group did a few big Australian shows in March/April '06 to roadtest some new songs and to help build a war chest to fund the venture. Then they headed to another house in LA where tracking commenced in a backyard studio called Seedy Underbelly. The album that eventuated - Young Modern - melds elements from each of the band's previous works while somehow seeming more cohesive than anything they've done since their debut. The disc will be released in Australia on March 31, 2007 with overseas releases to follow in June/July on a label to be announced. This time around Daniel shared the producer role with Nick Launay who had helmed earlier 'chair albums Freak Show and Neon Ballroom. Diorama producer, David Bottrill was brought in as mixer on Young Modern. Paul Mac was again on hand for keyboard duties as he was with the group's two previous albums and legendary Beach Boys collaborator Van Dyke Parks reprised his Diorama role penning orchestrations for three songs. In keeping with the free spirited nature of the process his sections were recorded in Prague... as you do when you're seeking 80 piece orchestras. (By the way, this seems as good a place as any to mention that in addition to being a fine summary of the intent behind the album, "Young Modern" is also the nickname that Mr Parks has used for Mr Johns since they first met.) Silverchair's intent is clear from the brash guitar wail and the pounding drums and bass that give lift-off to the album's opening track, "Young Modern Station". "The band is back together" exclaims an exuberant Daniel Johns a few seconds into the song and it's impossible to argue the point. Then it's straight into the slow burning epic "Straight Lines" - the first single to be lifted from the album - and on through an album full of melody, invention and exuberance. Of course Young Modern has big shoes to fill. Even though the members of Silverchair are still only 27 years old the trio has already had four consecutive number 1 albums in their homeland. They've received 39 ARIA Award nominations over the last 12 years and they've sold over 6 million albums around the world. To top it all just a few months back they were the only artist other than U2, Radiohead and The Beatles to have three of their albums make the top 100 most popular Australian CD's of all time in a big ABC TV poll (Diorama came in just behind Midnight Oil's classic 10...1 as the most popular Aussie album on the list). But the challenge of living up to this amazing history is not one that Daniel Johns finds daunting. "It took me a long time to realize that the sound Ben, Chris and I make when we play my songs is something special", says the Silverchair frontman. "I've been thinking a lot since we finished the album about were this fits into the other stuff we've done. The way I see it the first album was naivety, the second one was anger, the third one was depression and the last one was escapism. Young Modern is all about acceptance. It's about embracing who we are as band and just really enjoying ourselves because that's all that really matters. Hopefully listening to this album will make other people feel what we feel when we play these songs together because I've finally figured out that that's a very special feeling."

Chloe Hall

Over a dozen years of performance explains a great deal about Melbourne artist Chloe Hall's exceptional poise and craft, but there's no accounting for her gift. Her new album White Street abounds with strong emotions and spare acoustic arrangements, the work of a mature and assured artist with an instinct for melody and subtle truths, one who knows her own voice and understands its power. Chloe has been playing music all her life; she won her first songwriting award at 14. An early love of Irish folk music led her on a fruitful journey as a teenaged troubadour, from open mic nights in Melbourne to countless stages on the Australian folk circuit through the mid to late '90s. After studying voice and composition at Melbourne University's Conservatorium, she left to build a career as a contemporary singer/songwriter. Independent and intelligent - this is an exciting voice in contemporary Australian folk. Chloe will be touring the album nationally later in the year, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist James Hazelden, perhaps best known as the front man and main songwriter for Man Bites God. Since then, Chloe has built a reputation for her well crafted songs, warm and heartfelt performances and beautiful voice. 2000 saw the release of her impressive debut, White Sky. In the process of recording with producers RL Burnside and Drew Stansbury, it evolved from simple folk-pop to something more slick and electronic. She was nominated for Best Unsigned Artist at that year's Music Industry Critics Awards in Adelaide. A self-titled EP appeared in '02, with four new songs, produced by Things of Stone and Wood's Greg Arnold. Chloe has also written for four Saddle Club albums (three gold-sellers) and various other TV and film projects. White Street is closer to home in every respect: musically, lyrically and in the warm, wood grain texture of Greg Arnold's acoustic production. She writes with rare insight, humour and feeling. From the first song of quiet determination, “All Or Nothing”, her voice has the purity of absolute conviction. “Amy” rings as true as an old friend, and “I'll Be Gone” has a melody that gets under your skin like a familiar feeling. They can also be as languid and affectionate as the title track, “White Street”; as playful as “Fallen Angel Boy” and as plainspoken and unembellished as “Just The Way You Are”. And they're often as gorgeous as “Fall For You”, a love song that resonates with the unmistakable gravity of precious life experience. “This isn't new for me,” she says, “I've been doing this for years and years but I feel like I've come back to my roots. I've realised that this is what I do best and this is what I love. It's the simplest record I've made. Early on, I wanted to say everything in one song. Years of live performance changed that. When you?re singing to an audience you lose yourself in one moment, one emotion, and hopefully they do too. The simpler the song, the easier that can happen.”

Gina Jeffreys

It’s now more than a decade since Gina Jeffreys won the Toyota Star Maker Quest, marking the start of a remarkable career that’s not only taken Gina to the top of the country music industry — where she still reigns supreme — but continued to bring new surprises and successes for this talented and vivacious woman. After releasing her first single Slipping Away through BMG Music, Gina signed a record deal with ABC Music, and released her first single for the label Two Stars Fell in 1993. The song went straight to No.1 and the career of Gina Jeffreys was launched. Her debut album The Flame went platinum, and the following January Gina won her first Golden Guitar for Female Vocalist of the Year. During her time with ABC Country, Gina enjoyed a dream run. She released five albums, each one rocketing to the top of the Country charts, and along the way gathered an impressive collection of four Golden Guitars, four MO Awards for live performance, an APRA Award, two Victorian Country Music Awards and CMT Video of the Year for Dancin’ With Elvis. Gina’s albums — The Flame, Up Close, Somebody’s Daughter, Christmas Wish, Angel and The Best of Gina Jeffreys … So Far — have all been smash hits with her loyal band of fans, collecting a steady stream of Gold and Platinum awards. Gina has also been one of the most in-demand performers in Australia, both live and on television, appearing at everything from civic receptions to Carols by Candlelight, a string of corporate functions and, of course, all the major country music festivals Australia-wide. International highlights have included performing at Fan Fair in Nashville, on a New Year’s Eve Television Special in Shanghai, China, to over 2 billion people, and the Tour of Duty Concert in East Timor. Her tours are always sell-out successes, with the fans seemingly unable to get enough of Gina’s performances. And Gina is the first to admit she leads a charmed life — performing the music she loves, and sharing the experience with the love of her life, husband Rod McCormack. But magic doesn’t just happen by itself — Gina has worked incredibly hard over the past decade to develop her career, and continues to emerge with fresh new sounds and stunning new looks to delight her fans and win over new supporters for her music. And as a hard-working patron of the Australian Leukaemia Foundation, Gina has quietly been helping sick children for over seven years. In January 2003, Gina and Rod became the proud parents of a baby boy Jackson. Since then Gina has been taking some time out of the limelight to enjoy her new role…"I wast just enjoying every second of the simple things in life, like putting our baby to bed and reading him bedtime stories, singing him lullabies. I am so glad that I did that. You can’t get those years back. But while our son Jackson is the reason I stopped music for a while, he is also the reason I started again. My heart has never sung like this before". But over the past three years, Gina began to slowly start recording what has now become her exquisite new album ‘WALKS OF LIFE’. The album, produced by Rod, showcases a new vocal maturity on a collection of songs that are near and dear to her heart. Gina has co-written five of the songs. The first single LIVE IT was released at the end of October, while the album is set to be launched at the Tamworth Festival in January. And Gina’s legions of fans just can’t wait!

Human Nature

"Calling out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat..." This classic lyric, always synonymous with good times and the incredible soulful, inspiring songs of Motown, couldn't be a more perfect way to launch the second part of our musical trip to Hitsville. Recording this album is practically a dream come true. By the time we finished making the first record, Reach Out, we kind of knew we had created something really special. The four of us looked at each other and said that if we had the chance to do this again, we'd do it in a heartbeat. So with the same producer Paul Wiltshire, the same incredible musicians and the addition of a 20-piece string section, we tapped back into the magic of this amazing catalogue of songs - and we've made what we think are some of the absolute finest recordings we've ever done as a group: "Dancing In The Street - The Songs Of Motown II". Based once again around our love for The Tops, The Tempts and The Jackson 5, the key to this record was the tracks we didn't get to record first time around. "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)", "Ain't Too Proud To Beg", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", (which The Temptations also covered with the Supremes) and "A.B.C." have always been huge favourites of ours. "Midnight Train To Georgia" - not technically a Motown song but one recorded by one of Motown's greats, Gladys Knight and The Pips - is a song we've sung a capella now for over 10 years. Funnily enough, "Dancing In The Street" (like "Reach Out I'll Be There" on the first album) was a song we'd always wanted to do but never felt we had the vocal authority to own. Now, both live and here opening this set, we feel it totally captures the essence of the Human Nature take on Motown's finest. This record was an absolute joy to sing and the songs a joy to be inspired by. We can only hope to have this much fun making albums again. Human Nature.