Shayne Ward - My Heart Would Take You Back

Buy My Heart Would Take You Back on Shayne's new album Closer here (iTunes)
View Shayne's website here (external link)

For my money Shayne Ward remains the epitomy of what The X Factor is all about. Still the only winner to be gifted with an original song (surely pop will eat itself at some point and That's My Goal will be covered by an X Factor boyband?), he's also the artist who is responsible for my favourite live show performance of all time (the breathtaking Over The Rainbow). His three solo albums should have yielded far more singles than they did (why oh why wasn't Melt The Snow a single?) and it's to his eternal credit that he retains a fiercely loyal fanbase to this very day. For his new single, My Heart Would Take You Back, and fourth album Closer he's teamed up with an actual music legend Mike Stock to craft a song that effortlessly showcases the seductive nature of his soaring vocal range whilst eschewing trends for a tune that will sound just as timeless in 25 years time as it would 25 years ago. Taking inspiration from those soulful Motown ballads of the 60s/70s as well as the dreamy S/A/W compositions of the 80s/90s, Shayne is perfectly placed as the lovelorn raconteur who is being given the runaround by his paramour. It's set to shimmering keyboards, a vibrant horn section and an evocative yet gentle percussion, swathed in some truly glorious backing vocals that beautifully complement Shayne's pitch perfecti singing. In a world that's increasingly fueled by bitter recriminations and an unkindness that's all too hard to swallow, it's actually refreshingly charming to find Shayne so openly candid about the fact that he's so entirely smitten and completely enamoured that past indiscretions are meaningless if it means holding onto something so precious. His voice is imbued with a combination of wide eyed hopefulness that is prevented from becoming innocent naivety by the hint of forlorn despair he displays (particularly during that heaven sent falsetto that fuels the main chorus where his head says no, no, no). The mellifluous nature of the melody ensures that each time you hear the song you fall a little more in love with the entire package - young Mr Ward proving that like a fine wine he just gets better with age (take a look at him in the video at both the very start and 27-30 second mark for visual proof of this). And while this song certainly endears and endures, let's not ignore that the Motown influences are just as inviting for many of his contemporaries (see Bruno Mars, Meghan Trainor, Swedish boyband The Fooo and of course my beloved The Overtones). It's a brilliant meshing of old and new that sets up his new album beautifully. Welcome back Shayne - don't be gone as long next time please.

(I may do a track by track review of Closer if there's an interest - let me know in the comments or on twitter!)

Top 25 songs of the week:

25 ~ McBusted, Get Over It
24 ~ Walk The Moon, Shut Up and Dance
23 ~ Ola, This Could Be Paradise
22 ~ Olly Murs, Seasons
21 ~ Taylor Swift, Style
20 ~ Auryn, Last Song
19 ~ One Direction, Night Changes
18 ~ Gravitonas, Castles In The Air
17 ~ Magnus Carlsson, Meet Me Downtown
16 ~ Maroon 5, Sugar
15 ~ Eric Saade, Sting
14 ~ Walk The Moon, Avalanche
13 ~ Danny Saucedo, All You Need Is A Spark
12 ~ Madonna, Living For Love
11 ~ Take That, Let In The Sun
10 ~ Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, Uptown Funk
09 ~ Taylor Swift, Blank Space
08 ~ Erasure, Sacred
07 ~ Giorgio Moroder ft Kylie Minogue, Right Here Right Now
06 ~ GRL, Lighthouse
05 ~ Kelly Clarkson, Heartbeat Song
04 ~ Olly Murs ft Demi Lovato, Up
03 ~ Bleachers, Like A River Runs
02 ~ The Overtones, Something Good
01 ~ Satin Circus, Crossroads (3 weeks)