Chesney Hawkes is keeping busy during the pandemic as he finishes up work on a brand new studio album and soundtrack to his upcoming musical.
The singer, who shot to fame in 1991 with his breakout hit, The One and Only, following his starring role in ‘Buddy’s Song’, last put out new music with his 2012 LP, ‘Real Life Love’.
Speaking exclusively to Retro Pop, the star, who’s currently celebrating 30 years since his musical debut, reveals new projects are on the horizon.
“This year has just been [me] sitting at home in my studio,” explains Chesney. “I just wanted to be creative, so I finally did make an album through lockdown.
“That was supposed to be released last year, but I don’t know if you heard there’s this virus going around…
“So that got put back because, artists like me, we need to play. We need to get on the road to promote an album. My management had this fantastic team ready to go, and it just gets put back and back and back.”
While a release date for the project, which remains untitled, has yet to be confirmed, Chesney’s hoping to tour the UK over the Summer, as he hits the road with other classic acts for a string of festival dates.
And it’s not the only new material the What’s Wrong with This Picture star’s working on – he’s also in the process of recording a cast album for a musical he’s written.
Teasing the project, Chesney says: “It started out as a slightly autobiographical story about a young musician that had a big hit. That’s the kind of the starting premise.
“It’s set in a pub in Leicester. It’s a bit more gritty than [‘Buddy’s Song’]. It’s interesting, but that’s another project that had to be put back because theatres are dark for the foreseeable future.
“Even when they do open their doors, there are projects lined up, [and] getting a new musical on a stage is going to prove to be very difficult within the next four years or so.
“So we decided to go ahead and make the cast album. I’m hoping we’re gonna be able to put that out sometime this year and do it the other way – the wrong way round as it were.”
In addition to music, the hitmaker is also working on his new podcast, ‘We Are All A Bit Mental’.
Chesney launched the joint venture with DJ Brandon Block last month (Feb), with an A-list line-up of guests including ’80s icon Toyah Wilcox, chef Heston Blumenthal and beatboxer SK Shlomo.
‘We Are All A Bit Mental’, also starring Lynn Ferguson and Neil Harrington, debuts new episodes Mondays on Spotify.
