Released: September 8
The Fizz relive their 1980s glory years on their superb new album ‘Everything Under The Sun’.
Hot on the heels of the group’s celebrations marking 40 years since Bucks Fizz won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with their classic debut Making Your Mind Up, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston return with their latest long-player.
Featuring 10 new recordings produced by Mike Stock, the album was made using entirely ‘80s technology, including vintage synths and keyboards, and sequenced using a Linn 9000 – famous for being used on most Stock Aitken Waterman records.
The result is an album drenched in nostalgia and sonically how one would imagine Bucks Fizz would have sounded had they teamed up with the chart heavyweights during their original run.
Opening with electric guitars and pounding drums, I Wonder Where You Are Right Now ponders the whereabouts of industry figures from days gone by, with a tongue-in-cheek lyric that not-so-subtly celebrates the group’s longevity in spite of an industry that discounted them from the start.
The sense of accomplishment is present across the set, with Treasure Forever an immediate highlight as they declare: ‘Now we’re together, stronger than ever / Feels like I’m ready to fight / We stand, we fall as one / Proud to say we faced it together’.
Much of the lyrical content is centred on the band’s latest milestone, with Everything We Do (We Do It For You) a reworking of an unreleased Stock/Waterman song from 1991 with re-written lyrics reflecting their gratitude for the loyal Fizz fan base that has always supported the group.
The band also contribute to the writing, with Jay Aston – who has been through a turbulent period, facing cancer herself along with her daughter’s meningitis battle – contributing the aptly-titled When Is Our Luck Gonna Change.
Following the trend of the group’s recent releases, ‘Everything Under The Sun’ also features a composition from Cheryl Baker’s daughter Kyla Stroud aka LAKY, who leans into Bucks Fizz’s history on I’m On My Way (Better Run), which incorporates lines from the group’s best-loved hits, including Run For Your Life and The Land of Make Believe.
What stands out across the album is the tight harmonies between the trio, which became underused in the latter years of Bucks Fizz but shine bright on the new collection, lifting tracks like A True Heart and the groovy You Can Find It Here – another standout from the set.
Nestled among the expected uptempo numbers is the tender, acoustic guitar driven Pretty Soon; an intimate Cheryl Baker-led number that promises: ‘It won’t be long until you smile again / There’ll come a time you’ll see the world anew / But until then hold onto all your dreams coming true / Don’t know when but pretty soon, pretty soon.’ Not only is it a sign of the group’s versatility, the track’s a triumph of a composition from Mike Stock, reminiscent of the slower moments on Kylie Minogue’s ‘Enjoy Yourself’.
Closer This One, a cover of Paul McCartney’s 1989 Top 20 hit, is a fitting, full-circle moment that takes on new meaning through the eyes of Cheryl, Mike and Jay, who look back on their storied past while celebrating how far they’ve come.
Since reemerging as The Fizz in 2017, the group has released as many albums together as the original Bucks Fizz did in the 1980s – and four decades on, ‘Everything Under The Sun’ may just be their best yet.
‘Everything Under The Sun’ is available now.
Read our full interview with The Fizz in the October 2022 issue of Retro Pop, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store or use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist
