Belinda Carlisle has shared her cover of The Hollies’ 1973 hit, The Air That I Breathe, as the first single from her upcoming album, ‘Once Upon A Time In California’.
The track serves as the lead release from The Go-Go’s legend’s first English-language pop album in almost 30 years, with the Circle In The Sand singer admitting the song “has always been one of my very favorites growing up.”
“I love the lyrics and the complicated melody,” she says. “This was on the list I originally made of songs that I wanted to sing if I ever did a cover album,” noting, “I’m so happy with the way it turned out and I absolutely love the video as it sort of harkens back to my early solo albums and videos.”
Listen to The Air That I Breathe and watch the official music video below.
Calisle – who returned to pop with her EP, ‘Kismet’, in 2023 and released her most-recent English language album, ‘A Woman & A Man’, in 1996 – will release ‘Once Upon A Time In California’ on August 29.
Clocking in at 10 songs, it features covers of tracks that influenced the artist during her formative years, growing up in Southern California.
According to a press release, it “sees the singer take a deeply personal journey through the golden sounds of her youth, with a collection of immaculate cover versions”.
“Steeped in the spirit of her Californian upbringing, the album is a heartfelt tribute to the vintage pop culture that shaped her musical identity,” it adds.
‘Once Upon A Time In California’ is out August 29 and available to pre-order from Amazon, HMV, Rough Trade, Townsend and more.
Tracklist: Belinda Carlisle – Once Upon A Time In California
1. Anyone Who Had A Heart
2. If You Could Read My Mind
3. One
4. Never My Love
5. The Air That I Breathe
6. Time In A Bottle
7. Superstar
8. Everybody’s Talkin’
9. Get Together
10. Reflections Of My Life
Belinda first shared details of ‘Once Upon A Time In California’ in an exclusive cover interview with RETROPOP back in 2023, while promoting her Diane Warren-penned EP, revealing that project inspired the forthcoming record.
“That’s really where it all began for me,” she says of the Golden State. “Everything’s done, all the artwork – I just have to finish the songs/
“After I made [2017 chant album] ‘Wilder Shores’, people were complaining like, ‘Why don’t you do something in English?’ And I said, ‘Well, whatever I do has to really mean something’.
“After I got sober, [2007 LP] ‘Voila’ was the first time I was able to work from the heart and just love what I was doing. I have to really love it; I can’t just put out an English-language pop album for the sake of it.
“So that’s why this is a surprise. I didn’t really expect to get excited about the classic pop songs until I was given the most amazing songs from Diane.”
