He’s the Irish singer who brought the “Sunlight” to Eurovision 2016. And now Nicky Byrne has reunited with his former boy band Westlife as they prepare to release their eleventh studio album later in the year.
The all-conquering group initially parted ways in 2012 after a stellar run of hit singles and albums following their formation in 1998. News of their reunion initially broke in October last year and fans having been waiting impatiently ever since for new music to arrive from the quartet of Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily (the cantankerous Brian McFadden is unfortunately not involved with the reunion).
Luckily, the wait is now over. The first single off the album, “Hello My Love”, was released earlier in January.
Westlife – “Hello My Love”
With British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran on the writing team, the song takes the group’s well-known sound and updates it for the present day.
A subtle keyboard opening draws the listener into the track. Then once the chorus comes, and we’re hit with the quartet’s combined vocals, it’s clear that the group are very much still on top of their game all these years later. The song’s warm and uplifting spirit will no doubt get fans, both new and old, singing along.
Lyrically, the boys are singing to their partner and thanking her. Even though there are “plenty of fish in the sea”, they’re grateful that they were able to meet and she chose to spend her life with them: “Hello, my love / I’ve been searching for someone like you / For most my life / Happiness ain’t a thing I’m used to…For all of time, all I know / It’s just my angel and me”.
The music video sees Nicky and his band mates singing in the desert. Such a setting could have easily made the clip quite ‘beige’ overall. However, they add in a bit of colour by blowing up a hot air balloon that has a multi-coloured-stripped pattern to it and jamming out inside.
Despite the seven year hiatus, it’s clear that the group’s fan base are loving their new sound as much as their old tunes. The song entered the Irish and UK singles charts at #2 and #13 respectively. It has even charted in countries such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
A title and release date for the full album is currently unknown. However, we have a feeling that, whenever it does drop, Nicky and the boys won’t disappoint.
Are you excited to see Nicky Byrne reunited with his former boy band? What do you think of “Hello My Love”? Now that they’ve reunited, do you want to see Westlife represent Ireland at Eurovision? Let us know in the comments below!
Nicky actually sings (briefly) on this one! A break from tradition.
Uhhh, Westlife are back 🙂 Love their version of “Mandy” 😀