Winning music formulas have helped the Irish band Westlife rack up chart success for 12 years, but it also hemmed them in creatively. On their latest album, Gravity, the quartet want to step up and set their true voices free again.
'We made some choices over recent years that we weren't happy with,' says band member Shane Filan. 'We didn't think twice about doing a Rat Pack album or an album of covers of love songs.
'For us to keep going as a band, for us to remain excited, we had to write our own material, not just record other people's songs.'
Gravity is Westlife's most well-rounded and solid album. Three months of intensive recording in London has resulted in a masterpiece of coherence, togetherness and creativity.
The key behind the turnaround has been Grammy Award-winning producer John Shanks. He has crafted global smash hits for bands like Take That and Bon Jovi. He has a whopping 47 number one singles to his name in the US.
From the onset, Westlife was happy to welcome Shanks on board. Nicky Byrne says Shanks has 'made them feel like a real band again'.