The Shires Announce New Studio Album and Release New Single “I See Stars”
UK’s hugely successful country duo The Shires are set to release their next album “10 Year Plan“on 11th March 2022, the title a reference to their modest goals when Ben and Crissie first started out making music together back in 2012. Crissie reflects “We wanted to get our music to Bob Harris, and we wanted a thousand Facebook followers . At the time it seemed crazy, but Ben was committed to it“. Since then their achievements have of course way surpassed those goals, including three consecutive UK top 3 albums, four no.1 UK Country albums , two gold-certified records and 100 million + streams. and that’s not to mention their countless sold-out headline shows.
On the upcoming thirteen track project (see the track list below) The Shires have taken all their biggest influences and condensed them into one cohesive, confident record… from the early Taylor Swift/Lady A inspired opener “Cut Me Loose” to the classic pedal steel guitar of the timeless closer “When It Hurts”. Their trademark harmonies are particularly evident on tracks including “Sparks Fly” and “Bar Without You” and there’s a collaboration with another UK talent Beth McCarthy on “Plot Twist” .
The album has been launched with the release of their new single “I See Stars” which premiered on Zoe Ball’s breakfast show on BBC Radio 2. The song was co-written by the duo’s Ben Earle and in demand Nashville hit-maker Jeff Cohen who has previously collaborated on The Shires’ fan favourites “Daddy’s Little Girl” and “A Thousand Hallelujahs” and it is symbolic of the duo’s pop-orientated take on the country tradition. It definitely has a wonderfully positive and uplifting message and anthemic feel, Ben describing it as having “arena vibes – I can picture us being up there on a massive stage with everyone singing along“. Play/Download the single here:
https://theshires.lnk.to/ISeeStars
And hopefully it won’t be too long before that picture becomes reality as after completing their current intimate, acoustic tour The Shires will commence a major UK headline tour in April which will culminate with a landmark London show at The Palladium on May 24th… full dates and ticket information here https://www.theshiresmusic.com/
And I’m sure it won’t have escaped many people’s attention that the album release date coincides with this year’s C2C festival…. should we be reading anything into that, and possibly be looking at an album launch event to be announced at London’s O2? Let’s see…
“10 Year Plan” is available to pre-order now on CD, Vinyl and Digitally . Limited number of CDs with signed inserts and Vinyl with signed 12×12 prints are also available https://theshires.lnk.to/1OYearPlan
” 10 Year Plan” Track List
- ‘Cut Me Loose’
- ‘Sparks Fly’
- ‘Side By Side’
- ‘Plot Twist’
- ‘Ten Year Plan’
- ‘I See Stars’
- ‘Bar Without You’
- ‘Baby We’re Rich’
- ‘Skydive’
- ‘Wild Heart’
- ‘Forever Tonight’
- ‘Peggy I’m Sorry’
- ‘When It Hurts’
Review written by Lesley Hastings (twitter.com/lesleyhastings)
