How does an artist approach writing and recording new music after 39 years away? For Altered Images, the process was as much about the here-and-now rather than pure nostalgia – drawing upon the things that fans adored the first time around, but also respecting just how much everyone has changed in the intervening years. Matched by lyrics which explore the highs and lows of life’s rich tapestry, it’s an approach which makes the August 26th release of their new album ‘Mascara Streakz’ such an intriguing prospect.
‘Glitter Ball’ is – appropriately enough – dazzling disco decadence. Sleek sparkling synths, choppy funk guitar patterns and punchy 808 beats coalesce for a floorfiller that Classic Pop compared to Kylie Minogue’s ‘Fever’ era. That sleek sound is more than matched by its vocals, as the topline provided by Clare Grogan’s force of personality draws intriguing parallels between the prismic reflections of the glitter ball and the way life darts off in completely unexpected directions.
Clare wrote ‘Glitter Ball’ with her near neighbour Bernard Butler within an hour. Butler’s talents have been deployed on everything from early Suede to Duffy’s big hits and, most recently, his collaborative album with Jesse Buckley, ‘For All Our Days That Tear The Heart’.
Clare says, “I was so nervous about getting together with Bernard Butler to write our first song together. In fact it was pretty easy. He started playing a melody on the piano and I started singing along. We just built it from there and I absolutely love the drama we’ve created in this song. It’s all about the beautiful and unexpected on a night out with glorious production by Bernard!”
The ‘Glitter Ball’ video cuts between Clare dancing in her favourite platform shoes on one of her most loved beaches in Scotland, and underwater shots of her younger self swimming in search of the glitter ball of life. What does it all mean? Well, that’s for you to decide. The video was directed beautifully by Stuart Alexander – Watch BELOW:
Altered Images’ summer festival dates continue with the Rew!nd Festival tomorrow, before they embark upon a UK headline tour in September. Praise for recent live shows has included The Telegraph (“Clare Grogan’s giddy, high-kicking return has all the power of her youth”) and Louder Than War (“What could have been only a nostalgia trip was averted by the promising new material and the vitality of the performance”). Remaining tickets for the shows are available HERE.
In their first incarnation, Altered Images enjoyed an intense burst of success that made them the brightest emerging stars of the new wave scene as well as the Best New Act at the NME Awards. In just two years, they released three studio albums and a catalogue of Top 10 classics – ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘I Could Be Happy’ and ‘Don’t Talk To Me About Love’ – that are still being discovered today. Altered Images have been touring on-and-off for the past two decades, most recently returning to arenas as guests of The Human League, but new music was never on the cards… until now.
Live dates:
JULY
23rd – Perth, Rew!nd Festival
AUGUST
7th – Blackpool, R-Fest
13th – Glasgow, Kelvingrove Bandstand (with Edwyn Collins)
14th – Linlithgow, Party At The Palace
SEPTEMBER – HEADLINE TOUR
9th – Paisley, Spree
11th – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
12th – Bristol, The Fleece
13th – Brighton, Concorde 2
14th – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
16th – London, Islington Assembly Hall
SEPTEMBER
25th – Skegness, Absolute 80s Weekender
DECEMBER- HEADLINE SHOW
16th – Glasgow, St. Luke’s
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