Blue star Simon Webbe is resuming his solo career with the release of new album Smile, released by Soundwave Music, on 25th August 2017.
The album will be launched with the lead single Nothing Without You (released on 12th July), which Webbe used to soundtrack his proposal to his now fiancé. Smile is the first collection of solo material from Webbe in a decade.
“To be honest I didn’t realise that much time had passed because I’ve still been going out there and doing a lot of gigs abroad,” says Webbe. “Because I’ve had so much time out of the game, I’ve got so much more to say now. I needed to evolve as an artist and I needed to close a chapter, and that’s what I’ve done with this album.”
Smile is described by Webbe as ‘urban folk’ and it contains a new version of Flashback, which appeared on Blue’s 2015 album Colours. All tracks on the album were co-written by Webbe and recorded at Metrophonic Studios, England.
Discussing the meaning behind the album title, Webbe reveals, “The album is called ‘Smile’ because not a lot of people are smiling these days. Everybody’s too busy using their phones to connect, nobody’s really connecting anymore. For me, I just wanted to put a title out there that was self-explanatory and will hit home.”
The track listing for Smile is:
1. Nothing Without You
2. Flashback
3. Jigsaw
4. Love Your Woman
5. First To The Last Kiss
6. Please Don’t Let Me Go
7. Gotta Get Close To You
8. Don’t Make Me Dance On My Own
9. More Than Perfect
10. One Last Time
11. Never Mind
12. Smile
