Shayne Ward’s ‘Closer’ Album, Produced By Mike Stock: Listen To Clips Of Each Track

Shayne Ward‘s forthcoming, PledgMusic-funded album Closer is now at 189% of its goal, so it’s probably safe to say that the singer is good to go with the planned April 13 release date.

This record will be 2005 X Factor winner Shayne’s fourth overall, and the first straight-up commercial pop long play producer Mike Stock has worked on in quite some time. (Stock, the key figure in onetime knob-twiddling trio Stock Aitken Waterman, most recently crafted tunes for Nick Jr.’s successful UK series The Go!Go!Go! Show.)

So what does Shayne Ward music produced by Mike Stock in 2015 sound like, exactly? Thankfully the gents are giving us an appetizer two months early, via preview clips added to Amazon UK, Google Play and iTunes. A fan of Ward’s even whipped the iTunes clips into a single YouTube video, which you can listen to below:

We’re not ones to judge an album before we hear it in full, but it does kind of sound like “Moving Target,” “The Way You Were,” “I’m So Proud Of You” and, especially, “Fake” are going to be nothing short of pop perfection.

Stylistically, Closer seems to be side-stepping the modern day R&B of Ward’s Breathless and Obsession albums for a classic soul-pop vibe, a la the output of Shayne’s fellow Brits Adele and Sam Smith — mind you, minus the downtrodden dirges that make us want to sink into a two-year depression.  And really, what better, award-winning reference points from music could you pick?

Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.