The classical star said he struggled to write his first album of original songs in 20 years.
Classical star Alfie Boe has revealed Who helped to inspire his latest album – rock legend Pete Townshend. The operatic tenor, 52, said The Who guitarist helped him as he struggled to write his first album of original songs in 20 years. Pete, 80, offered some sage advice: “Stop trying to make it rhyme.”
Alfie told us: “Weirdly, the guy that taught me songwriting was Pete Townshend. I tried writing with Pete and it was like – ‘find a chorus. What rhymes with this, what rhymes with that?’ And he said, ‘Don’t try to rhyme. Don’t even try and write a chorus or a verse, just write thoughts.’
“He called it free writing. And I did. I just started it. And the minute I started, I couldn’t stop and I was sending him banks and banks of lines that were just coming to my head and storyboards and words that create images and journeys.
“And it was cathartic, it felt like I was releasing something inside me that I’d been suppressing.” Music bosses previously vetoed his desire to pen his own songs as they could not see past his opera stardom, success in musicals and stellar partnership with Michael Ball.
His new album Face Myself – out on April 11 – therefore marks a major departure for the star. The first single, Meanwhile Gardens, is released today.
The Les Miserables legend was picked for stardom by director Baz Luhrmann for his version of the musical on Broadway in 2002.
And after four No1 UK albums alongside Michael as Ball and Boe, he says: “It’s hard for people to see me in another category and another light… but it’s something I’ve been passionate about for years. Now I write every single day and I’m proud of that.
“This is the first album that I’ve actually had input on the production – in the history of my career – the freedom to write string parts, create vocal lines, lines for backing singers, work on piano and guitar parts, on percussion and everything. And I’ve loved every single minute.”
His new musical approach extends to his huge upcoming UK tour, which kicks off at the London Palladium on March 30. A far cry from the glitz of his big band arena gigs with Michael, Alfie is hitting the road with a five-piece band.
He said: “I’ve stood on stage as the opera singer, as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and as a rock singer with Pete Townshend. All that musical knowledge has put me here. But this album feels like a baring of my soul. So for the show, I didn’t want any glitz or glamour, or flashing lights.
“I didn’t want any backcloth with sparkly stars or anything like that. I want it to be simple. Even if the stage doorman has his bicycle parked at the back of the stage, I want it to stay there because it’s real!”
“I’ve taken a leap but I trust my fans. The new music is not going to put them off. I’m not singing it as musical theatre or an operatic piece, but with the voice I was born with. The voice people have followed for 30 years. I’m very grateful to them and want to give them the real me.”
Alfie, the youngest of nine, was born in Blackpool, and brought up in Fleetwood, Lancs. He worked as an apprentice car mechanic before being discovered by chance by a customer with music industry connections who heard him singing as he tinkered with a vehicle.
He went on to study at the Royal College of Music in London, but he is now living in the north again and his songs are firmly rooted there.
After years of residing in America with his ex-wife Sarah and their children, Grace and Alfred, he says his return home would surprise his younger self.
“I was a bit nervous about going back,” he admits, “because I moved to London when I was 19. I could never understand why my brothers and sisters migrated back up north. But the older I’ve got, I’ve just had that pull.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
