Are We There Yet?

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The album is Astley's first of new music since Beautiful Life (2018). It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. There is, however, room for one surprise in piano-driven closer “Blue Sky”. Here is a stark torch song where Astley confesses to “hiding the way” he “really feels”. Träumen wir alle genug? Suchen wir nach der Latte, die noch ein bisschen höher hängt? Hast du hoch genug [high enough] gegriffen? Auch das spiegelt ein wenig mein eigenes Leben wider. Meine Frau ist– sowohl als meine Managerin als auch als meine Frau– selbstbewusster als ich und setzt sich wahrscheinlich mehr für mich ein als ich selbst. Wenn wir ein Angebot bekommen, etwas zu machen, sage ich: „Ich weiß nicht, ob das eine gute Idee ist“, und sie sagt: „Ich weiß, dass du es kannst, und es wird toll werden.“ Aber es muss nicht unbedingt um meine Karriere gehen, es kann um alles im Leben gehen. Es geht nur um die Frage: „Haben wir uns wirklich angestrengt?“ Das ist ein einfaches Liebeslied, in dem es darum geht, dass man einen Menschen enttäuscht hat und er das nie vergessen wird. Ich glaube nicht, dass das unbedingt auf mich zutrifft. Ich lasse meine Frau manchmal im Stich, das steht fest. Ich liebe den Anfang, weil er mich an Motown erinnert. Manchmal möchte ich einfach einen Song schreiben, zu dem man tanzen und mitsingen kann.

Rick Astley – Are We There Yet? (2023, Natural Coloured Rick Astley – Are We There Yet? (2023, Natural Coloured

My wife does drive me absolutely crazy and vice versa, but she drives me crazy in every sense of the word. There’s a line in the song that says something like, ‘Sometimes I question why we’re here’, and it says, ‘Just holding your hand takes away my fears.’ We have that [kind of] relationship. Like Glastonbury, which I never thought was ever going to happen, I thought that was a dream long gone, but we did that this summer [in 2023]—I was holding hands with my wife as I walked up to the stage.” The lead single "Dippin My Feet" was released on 20 June 2023. Astley said of the song: "It's not Americana, but the tagline at the start of the chorus is: 'Dipping my feet in the Mississippi River...' It's definitely not country, but I've never twanged a guitar as much as I have in the past couple of months." [6] "Dippin My Feet" peaked at number 95 on the UK Singles Sales Chart. [7]Sometimes I’ll write a certain line in a song that may have a slight political undertone and sometimes I just want to write one that’s like, ‘You know what? We’ve just got to fall in love with each other and the answer to that is letting go.’ A friend of mine was asking me about lyrics the other day and I was saying, ‘To be honest, half the time I don’t know what they’re about. It’s just shit that comes out while you’re noodling and playing, and sometimes it just feels right and becomes part of the song.’ But the essence of this is it’s about letting go. It’s quite up and quite light, and it’s not a serious song in any way. There’s a tiny bit of Fleetwood Mac in there, just because I heard tons of Fleetwood Mac when we were in America last summer.”

Rick Astley: Are We There Yet? | Welcome to Bournemouth Rick Astley: Are We There Yet? | Welcome to Bournemouth

A jangling indie riff follows on “Letting Go” and you wonder if he’s going to “go Smiths” after all. Instead, it morphs into a Stax-infused bopper, confirming Astley as an artist happy to lean into his status as kingpin of easy listening Astley is still winning over new fans, whether he’s performing with Foo Fighters, Take That or Blossoms; becoming an unlikely social media sensation; or simply embracing the unending love that greets his era-defining smash ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, featured in the hit series Ted Lasso and reaching over 1 billion views on YouTube. Alongside the album announcement, Astley has launched the first single from the upcoming project ‘Dippin’ My Feet’. The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 23 October 2023". The ARIA Report. No.1755. Australian Recording Industry Association. 23 October 2023. p.10.Are We There Yet? was announced on 20 June 2023 alongside the release of the album's lead single "Dippin My Feet". [2] This came ahead of Astley performing on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival 2023, where he also performed "Dippin My Feet". Astley had previously been asked to perform there in 2020, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [3] Being the youngest, I used to watch things that I should not have been watching. I remember watching the news and being absolutely freaking terrified. I was born in ’66, so it was the early ’70s and stuff, the IRA was a massive thing. There were always bombings, you grew up watching things and thinking, ‘Wow, man, it’s terrifying.’ This is a little bit about seeing things through the eyes of a kid and being terrified. Also, I wanted to rescue it a little bit and have it be a chorus that people could sing along with.” My wife does drive me absolutely crazy and vice versa, but she drives me crazy in every sense of the word. There’s a line in the song that says something like, ‘Sometimes I question why we’re here,’ and it says, ‘Just holding your hand takes away my fears.’ We have that [kind of] relationship. Like Glastonbury, which I never thought was ever going to happen, I thought that was a dream long gone, but we did that this summer [in 2023]—I was holding hands with my wife as I walked up to the stage.” It’s been the journey of a lifetime, yet the road ahead of him remains open for further exploration - the next stop being the release of his long awaited ninth studio album Are We There Yet? in October 2023. The album was inspired by the soul music of Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Bill Withers, [1] and recorded at the Astley's home studio in London. [4] Astley stated that he believed "spending five months in America" on tour there in 2022 "retuned [his] ear a little bit" in regards to his guitar playing. [5] Singles [ edit ]

Are We There Yet? (Rick Astley album) - Wikipedia

Do we all dream enough? Do we search for that bar that’s a bit further up? Did you reach high enough? Again, it’s reflective of my own life a little bit. As my manager and also as my wife, my wife is more confident about my stuff than me and probably pushes it more than I do. We’ll get an offer to do something and I’ll go, ‘I don’t know about that,’ and she’ll say, ‘I know you can and it’s going to work out, it’ll be great.’ But it doesn’t have to be about my career, it can be about anything in life. It’s just that thing: ‘Did we actually really go for it?’” This is simple, love song writing, about when you let someone down and they’re never going to forget it. I don’t think that’s relatable to me, necessarily. I do let my wife down sometimes, that’s for sure. I love the opening because it reminds me of Motown. Sometimes I just want to write a song somebody can dance to and sing along to.” We went to Nashville and there was music on every corner—Nashville just seems to live and breathe it a little more. ‘Golden Hour’ isn’t country exactly, but it’s definitely leaning on that and on that songwriting thing of trying to be as simple as possible. Some of the lyrics refer to my wife and I. We’ve known each other since 1987 and she manages me, so we work together. We traveled on buses around America for three months, and we realized that we are in a golden hour in the sense of age as well. You can be in a golden hour when you’re 20, but we also feel we’re getting on a bit and we have to enjoy this, because I don’t know how long anybody’s going to let me in a venue and sing anymore. We’re in a golden hour together as well because we’re still together after all these years. It’s pretty special.” Meine Frau treibt mich in den Wahnsinn und umgekehrt, aber sie treibt mich in buchstäblich jeder Hinsicht in den Wahnsinn. In dem Song gibt es eine Zeile, die in etwa lautet: „Manchmal frage ich mich, warum wir hier sind“, und es heißt: „Just holding your hand takes away my fears.“ („Nur deine Hand zu halten, nimmt mir meine Ängste.“) Wir haben diese [Art von] Beziehung. So wie Glastonbury, von dem ich nie dachte, dass es jemals stattfinden würde, ich dachte, das wäre ein längst vergangener Traum, aber wir haben es diesen Sommer [2023] geschafft– ich hielt die Hand meiner Frau, als ich auf die Bühne ging. I feel like life is a bit of a waterfall and I’m under it—and sometimes it feels lovely and it’s great and I’m having a lovely shower in it, it’s nature, and it’s wonderful. And sometimes I’m drowning and I’m really struggling. I feel I see that in a lot of my friends, and you see it in the wider world. It’s about the fact that life is amazing and great, but it’s also really tough sometimes, and we’re all under that waterfall and we do all need a little bit of healing sometimes. The hope is we’ll get through it and I think music sometimes gets me through it.”Ich habe das Gefühl, dass das Leben wie ein Wasserfall [waterfall] ist, unter dem ich stehe. Manchmal fühlt es sich schön an und ist großartig, und ich genieße eine herrliche Dusche, es ist die Natur und es ist wunderbar. Und manchmal ertrinke ich und habe wirklich zu kämpfen. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass ich das bei vielen aus meinem Freundeskreis sehe, und man sieht es in der ganzen Welt. Es geht um die Tatsache, dass das Leben erstaunlich und großartig ist, aber manchmal auch wirklich hart, und wir alle stehen unter diesem Wasserfall und brauchen manchmal ein wenig Heilung. Die Hoffnung besteht darin, dass wir es schaffen, und ich glaube, dass die Musik mir manchmal dabei hilft. We went to Nashville and there was music on every corner—Nashville just seems to live and breathe it a little more. ‘Golden Hour’ isn’t country exactly, but it’s definitely leaning on that and on that songwriting thing of trying to be as simple as possible. Some of the lyrics refer to my wife and I. We’ve known each other since 1987 and she manages me, so we work together. We travelled on buses around America for three months, and we realised that we are in a golden hour in the sense of age as well. You can be in a golden hour when you’re 20, but we also feel we’re getting on a bit and we have to enjoy this, because I don’t know how long anybody’s going to let me in a venue and sing anymore. We’re in a golden hour together as well because we’re still together after all these years. It’s pretty special.” Do we all dream enough? Do we search for that bar that’s a bit further up? Did you reach high enough? Again, it’s reflective of my own life a little bit. As my manager and also as my wife, my wife is more confident about my stuff than me and probably pushes it more than I do. We’ll get an offer to do something and I’ll go, ‘I don’t know about that’, and she’ll say, ‘I know you can and it’s going to work out, it’ll be great.’ But it doesn’t have to be about my career, it can be about anything in life. It’s just that thing: ‘Did we actually really go for it?’.” Matt Collar of AllMusic wrote that the album "feels like a love letter to the earthy, blues-influenced work of artists like Bill Withers and Otis Redding" and found that "all of the rootsy soulfulness Astley embraces on Are We There Yet? is far removed from the studio sophistication of his early hits. That said, it feels genuine and hard-won by age and experience." [4] Retropop called it "some of his finest work since the 1980s" and felt that the "direction [...] perfectly compliments Astley's distinctive vocals, be it on mid tempo guitar-led numbers like 'Letting Go' and 'Golden Hour', or more R&B-leaning tunes in the vein of 'Never Gonna Stop' and 'Waterfall'". [12]