Shayne Ward And Mike Stock Talk Pop, PledgeMusic And The Making Of New Album ‘Closer’: Idolator Interview

Shayne, another standout on the album is “Fake.” Lyrically, it sounds like someone did you very, very wrong. Is this one about anyone, specifically? SHAYNE WARD: “Fake” is just a fun, tongue-in-cheek song. The lyrics are a bit catty on paper, but it is not meant to be taken literally. It’s not aimed at anyone in particular. But haven’t we all come across people like that?

True that. And it’s time for a brief detour: I can’t let you off the hook without touching on this news that you’ve recently auditioned for a role on long-running UK series Coronation Street. SHAYNE WARD: I’m a huge fan of Coronation Street and I have a few friends who star in the show, so I think it would be lots of fun to do! I’d love to play a bad boy character. I’ve already got the shaved head and tattoos, so it won’t be a stretch for the casting director.

I have to haul out a total pop nerd question. Mike, prominent backing vocals are usually a hallmark of your productions. Did you get some usual suspects in for Shayne’s album? MIKE STOCK: Well, one was. But as you know, back in the day, I used Mae McKenna and Miriam Stockley and a few others — Coral Gordon and Dee Lewis, they’re on “Never Gonna Give You Up,” for example. That is a big area of mine, background support for the singers. Shayne didn’t need it as much as some of the artists I’ve worked with. I was desperate for great singers on a lot of the records. [All laugh] On this one, actually, are two girls who were finalists on The Voice, Emily Adams and Kirsten Joy, and also Aletia Adams, who used to be called Aletia Bourne, who I did some recording with in the past. So, three girls, but not necessarily all three all the time. I think actually it’s only Emily on “Moving Target,” and Kirsten didn’t do the second session.

Let’s wind down by discussing this gorgeous cover of Sugababes’ “About You Now,” which is a track on the deluxe version of Closer. Whose idea to remake this song? SHAYNE WARD: It was Mike. We were looking at maybe doing a cover, and we could have chosen either a really old song or something that was out in the last couple of years. Mike just approached me and said, “Ever thought maybe about ‘About You Now’?” He asked me to listen to the lyrics with everything slowed down, and it just takes a whole new life form. So I had a listen, and Mike said, “Let’s not do anything drastic with it — no strings, just you and a piano, keep it really simple.” As soon as I started singing it, because it had been slowed down, the lyrics just meant so much more. It shows that a good song is a good song, fast or slow. The funny story about “About You Now” is I had a chart battle with Sugababes — they got #1 and I got #2 [with “No U Hang Up,” in 2007]. And what beat me to #1 was “About You Now.” We had a good chart battle, but I’m still trying to convince my mom — typical mom: “Didn’t that beat you to #1?”

MIKE STOCK: I loved the song when it came out, and it’s got provenance, of course, because [of] Dr. Luke and Cathy Dennis. Back in the studio, when they made it with Sugababes — the backing track has a sort of aggressive nature to it; it’s very spiky as a sound — I could hear this great tune through all of that. And I also knew the lyrics had, you know, “Oh, if we could turn it back. I know what I think now. I didn’t know it then.” It’s a great idea, so that’s what got me. I said to James, one of the musicians who works with us and played the piano, “Sort this out. Make it very simple. Pull out the chords and make it tug your heart.” He did a great job on that, but in common with lots of the songs, you just open the mic, then put Shayne on it — one or two takes, it’s done. That’s brilliant.

Shayne Ward’s album Closer, produced by Mike Stock, will be released worldwide this Sunday. Pre-order it on iTunes here.