Nathan's solo thing

28th of January - Another day of promoting Nathan's solo album

It seems like forever since Nathan Sykes graced the stage as part of boyband The Wanted!

But luckily for us, and all you Sykos out there, Nathan is back and this time he’s on his lonesome!

We caught up with him yesterday to have a chat about his new album - which is due for release in Spring - and had a sneaky listen to three of his latest tracks.

So what are the bonuses of writing as a solo artist? Nathan said he’s enjoyed writing about his “personal experiences, rather than a studio therapy session for everyone”.

We can imagine that would be super draining, and it’s clear Nath has poured his heart and soul into tracks like the sad, but sing-along Famous.

He even admitted to crying real tears outside of the studio, after watching the heart-wrenching Fault In Our Stars on the plane - adorable. Apparently his fellow passengers were shocked - we wish we’d been there to provide a shoulder to cry on!

He said the song makes him remember a past romance…we can’t help but wonder who?

The funky Kiss Me Quick is a real show-stopper with jazzy vibes, and showing off Nathan’s big soulful voice. Who’d have known the boy has so much funk? Apparently after the first listen, he said “You know what this needs, a brass quartet”! They brought in the trumpets, and it’s absolutely made the track.

It was all very, very exciting and as Nathan put it 21 is going to be a busy year for him and he is “itching to get back out there”.

We can’t wait for the release of Kiss Me Quick, Famous and Money - let us know if you can’t either!!

4Music’s article about Nathan

 “I was 20% of The Wanted, this is 100% me”: We speak to Nathan Sykes and get an exclusive listen to his solo tracks

Like the rest of the world, we were absolutely beside ourselves with excitement when one former fifth of The Wanted Nathan Sykes announced plans to release a solo record. When his press associates asked us if we wanted an exclusive listen to THREE brand new tracks with Nathan himself, you can you bet your giddy aunt that we jumped at the chance.

“I feel like I’ve been locked in some sort of musical cave,” Nathan Sykes tells us as we sit down in a London office with him to listen to some exclusive tracks from his solo recording sessions. “I’ve been working on this album for a good few months now, I feel like I’ve lost touch with what’s going on in the real world. It’s just been full on music.”

First of all we listen to a track named ‘Kiss Me Quick’. Like every track we heard, Nathan co-wrote this one. The track also boasts writing and production credits from London based company LDN Noise. Without trying to sound like a nan, all we can say is that this track sounds very “funky.” It’s reminiscent of the current trend of live band instruments showcased by the likes of Mark Ronson on ‘Uptown Funk’ and Cheryl on ‘Crazy Stupid Love’.

‘Kiss Me Quick’ and next track ‘Money’ – produced by Harmony Samuels – both sound like massive summer hits that the radio are going to playing to death, not that we feel we can get bored of them. Without them sounding alike, you can tell that they’re related – Nathan has definitely found his niche.

“I definitely wanted to stay in the genre of pop but I wanted to find my own lane within that. With The Wanted, I was a percentage of a group. I was 20% of the band. I’m not saying I didn’t have input, because we all did, but it had to balance out. This is 100% me.”

When The Wanted announced that they were going to be taking a break back in 2013, it was pretty predictable that singer/songwriter Nathan Sykes would be the one to go solo, out of the five of them. When he finally confirmed his solo career recently, we were convinced that he would be releasing an album full of soppy ballads, but the first sneak peek shows Nathan's sound is a departure from his boyband roots.

Despite pretty much fronting a lot of The Wanted's tracks, it's only now that Nathan can really finally let his vocals shine. The first out of the three - Kiss Me Quick - gave off a Justin Timberlake/Uptown Funk vibe from the get go and immediately threw our theory out of the window, that the album was going to be filled with lovey dovey slow songs. There's a definite R n B feel to it, with it being produced by LDN Noise, but you can definitely tell that there was also elements of hip-hop and even motown in there, which Nathan told us was exactly the feel that he wanted the track to give off.

Nathan Sykes played us his brand new solo album

When we told him that it was definitely a surprise to hear something completely different to The Wanted, he admitted that although it took him a while to put all of the pieces together, he had even managed to surprise himself with what he managed to come up with. Whether or not he could pull off those JT dance moves did crop up a few times in conversation though, with Nathan admitting that dance moves definitely didn't come naturally to him.

The second track - Money - is another upbeat song, that was produced by Harmony Samuels. Again, you can definitely hear that R n B vibe, with Nathan admitting that some of his biggest influences include Bruno Mars, Pharrell and Usher. However, there's also a jazz element in there, but with modern beats - which became even more apparent when Nathan spoke to us about how in love he is with Jamie Cullum and his amazing life performances, after the track was played.

Fans can expect to hear his solo material very soon (HungerTV)

After two motown/upbeat tracks, it was then time to take it down a notch and the last song that Nathan played us was Famous - this was the ballad that we'd been expecting - only way better. Another song produced by Harmony Samuels, Nathan admitted that this was probably one of his favourites on the album and you can tell that it's a track that's very close to his heart, with the song centering around the lyrics "will you still love me I'm famous?" With it being more of a power ballad than anything else, it allowed Nathan to literally pour his heart into the song without being overly soppy.

Despite us going into that meeting room totally unsure of what we were about to hear, we're now convinced that Nathan's new album is definitely going to be in the 'ones to watch' list for 2015 and this is just the start of something very big for The Wanted singer. Watch this space.

The first single to be lifted from the album is to expected in spring, with the album following later in the year. However, Nathan did cheekily tell us that fans can expect new material "sooner than they think." So, keep your eyes peeled!

28 JANUARY, 2015 MUSIC
NATHAN SYKES OFF OF THE WANTED PLAYED US SOME NEW SOLO SONGS AND HERE’S WHAT WE THOUGHT OF THEM
In further news he’s looking well fit in his Hunger TV shoot

You know Nathan Sykes off of The Wanted (aka the second best thing to come out of Gloucester after double Gloucester cheese)? Well since the band announced their ‘hiatus’ just over a year ago he’s been locked away in studios between London and LA working on some. Solo stuff that we were lucky enough to get our lugholes yesterday at a funny one-on-one listening session thing.

So what exactly has Nath been doing in this ‘musical cave’ of his, eh? Can we expect loads of bouncy Glad You Came ‘oh oh oh-ohhh’ choruses or is the whole thing more Boys II Men-style Almost Is Never Enough balladry? Let’s ‘ave a listen.

Kiss Me Quick

The first track Nathan played us was Kiss Me Quick; a massive Motown-tinged track that essentially sounds like the result of a rather kinky one night stand involving Justin Timberlake and John Newman. This one’s produced by LDN Noise and has that whole ‘summer barbecue’ kinda vibe goin’ on (can you tell we’re serious music journos?)

Nath’s vocals are on POINT and we basically had to stop ourselves standing up for a spontaneous shimmy given the situation. Dead catchy, very happy-clappy, super slick.

Money

Well what have we here? We never thought we’d hear that fella from The Wanted channeling his inner Usher, but it’s happened on this hip-hoppy-poppy (that’s a thing) track. Produced by Harmony Samuels - who’s worked with everyone from Ariana Grande to Chris Brown - Money comes complete with a killer chorus and what can only be described as a ‘drop.’ EDGY. Chatting about the track, Nathan admitted he wanted to be as ‘ridiculous’ as ‘ridiculous’ as possible with his vocal gymnastics without sounding like, y’know, a bit of a dick.

Also he reckons us comparing his voice Usher is ‘the biggest compliment ever,’ so we think we got some Brownie points there.

Famous

Y’all already know Nathan’s voice is the musical equivalent of having hot salted caramel being poured down your ear canals while a bunny tickles your nose, right? Well WAIT till you hear Famous. Nathan’s favourite on the album, this tune shows his vulnerable side (‘I was never good enough…’/’Will you love me when I’m famous?’) before becoming this BIG ballad. Nath also told us there’s a version out there that’s properly stripped-down, all strings and little production that he’ll ‘have to put out there sometime.’ Totes emosh.

Moral of the story here? Nathan’s vocally stronger than ever, isn’t constrained to that properly poppy The Wanted sound and is gonna surprise a lot of people with his solo shiz. There’s no first single yet (it’s ‘between four,’ appaz), but chances are it’s gonna be bloody amazing. (Source: @Sugarscape)