In February, Gareth Gates is going to be playing Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat somewhere. Awww. You know I'd end up buying tickets if I was in London (well, presumably that's where it is), right? Tyler James-penned "Absolutely" from his second album is still a-maz-ing (as are many other of his songs, but that's album-track-more-people-should-really-know-about amazing...as are some of his other songs).Speaking of musicals, apparently Darius is up for some award for his performances in the West End. I'd rather have new commercial pop music...
Alex Vargas (I was obsessed with "Diamonds In The Dirt") is the lead singer in Xenomania-backed band Vagabond. Most of what I've heard from them isn't really my sort of thing--it's this kind of lazy (not as in no effort, but as in the vibe it gives off) soul-funk mix and in most cases doesn't show Xenomania influence at all--but limited single release "More Than You Can Take" (on YouTube) is sort of an interesting falsetto-featuring sort of soul-dance-indie mix; I like it enough that if I had any ability to play a vinyl single, I'd probably have bought it. First proper lead single "Sweat Until The Morning" (clip on their MySpace) doesn't get me excited, but it's due out next year, with plans for an album in summer. Maybe they're holding off from putting the great stuff on MySpace? I'd like to be enthusiastic, but I'm not yet.
The Click Five, creators of probably/possibly my favorite album ever (as of now), are messing about in Asia. At least they're still together! This despite replacement lead singer Kyle having apparently gone on a solo acoustic tour this summer/fall. I've got a giant post about them that I'll probably dig out at some point.
Speaking of TC5, original lead singer is still writing songs for his solo career. So that solo acting and music career is really working out, huh? Such a good thing you left the group... Neither party is as strong as they were together. "Go into the record industry so I can steal the pre-singer switch demos for the second album" is still my fallback career plan.
Matt Willis, in between being a TV presenter, is apparently writing songs for a new album. He's not with his old--or any--record company anymore, but I'd still love to hear more music from him in whatever context and however it's distributed. The era of his first solo album really was excellent--even the b-sides were great. I may feel a proper Matt flashback post coming on...Also on the ex-Busted front, James Bourne apparently finished up his debut solo album just days ago--eleven songs and "100% electronic," "NOT a rock album"--it has no guitars except for at the end of one song. Out early next year. There's a version of one of the songs on his MySpace, but apparently the version on the album is mixed differently.
