''Shapes and Patterns'' is the fifth studio album by British pop group

Swing Out Sister Swing Out Sister are a British pop group best known worldwide for the 1986 song " Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", " Twilight World", " Waiting Game", and a remake of the Eugene Record soul composition "Am I the Same Girl?" Histor ...

. It was first released in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in March 1997 on

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, and in Europe and the United States the following year. Producer

Paul Staveley O'Duffy Paul O'Duffy (born 31 December 1963, in London) is an English record producer, composer and mixer. He is best known for producing Swing Out Sister's Grammy-nominated multi-platinum debut album ''It's Better to Travel'', for his BMI nomination as ...

, who co-wrote half of the songs on the album, was back at the helm. As an orchestra was once again employed (led by

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, Oasis, ...

), the lush arrangements characteristic of '' Kaleidoscope World'' (1989) resurfaced. The album features the track " Now You're Not Here" which was used as the theme to the Japanese programme ''Mahiru No Tsuki'', as well as a reworked version of "Better Make It Better" which had featured on their previous studio album, ''

The Living Return ''The Living Return'' is the title of the fourth studio album by the British pop group Swing Out Sister. It was released in September 1994 on Fontana Records. Charts Although this was the first studio album by the group that failed to reach the ...

'' (1994). The album was promoted with the singles "Somewhere in the World" and "We Could Make It Happen." This album would also mark the beginning of the group's collaborations with Japanese musicians in their studio sessions. The liner notes, written by composer/singer-songwriter Mary Edwards, points out that the influences of Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, and John Barry are perceptible in the string arrangements and Latin rhythms, as well as Minnie Riperton, Rotary Connection and The 5th Dimension. In an interview with Paul Sexton of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine, a marketing executive from Mercury described the challenge associated with promoting the album in the U.S. due to the evolution of the group's music: "When you have a band like Swing Out Sister, you'd have a tough time pinpointing their sound. It's pop, it's urban, it's adult, it's jazz. Europe and Japan don't adhere to those rules as much as America does. It crosses over so many lines, and that's where Swing Out's strength is."

Track listing

# "Somewhere in the World" - 3:45 (

Andy Connell Andrew John Connell (born 26 July 1961) is an English musician and composer. Along with Corinne Drewery, he is part of the duo that makes up Swing Out Sister. Born in Manchester, England, Connell played in the Manchester post-punk band The Im ...

Corinne Drewery Corinne Drewery (born 21 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter and fashion designer, best known for being the lead vocalist of the band Swing Out Sister. Early life Drewery was born and grew up in Nottingham. She later moved to the Li ...

) # "Here and Now" - 5:06 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # "We Could Make It Happen" - 5:13 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # "Shapes and Patterns" - 0:52 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # "Better Make It Better" - 5:23 (A. Connell/C. Drewery) # "Something Out of This World" - 5:02 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # "Joe Meek's Cat" - 0:23 (C. Drewery/A. Connell/P. S. O'Duffy) # " Stoned Soul Picnic" - 5:08 (

Laura Nyro Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968 ...

) # "You Already Know" - 4:34 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # "Always" - 5:05 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # " Now You're Not Here" - 4:36 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # "Icy Cold as Winter" - 5:13 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy) # "Shapes and Patterns" (Reprise) - 1:23 (A. Connell/C. Drewery/P. S. O'Duffy)

Personnel

Swing Out Sister *

– keyboards *

– lead vocals Additional musicians * Tim Cansfield – guitars *

Luís Jardim Luís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim (born 4 July 1950) is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn. Family Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim (former president of the ...

– bass guitar, percussion * Andrew Small – drums (1, 2, 5) *

Gota Yashiki is a Japanese musician, both an independent acid jazz artist and drum/bass player, as a member of the band Simply Red. Biography He was born in Kyoto, Japan, on 26 February 1962, where at a young age he learned how to play traditional Japan ...

– drums (3, 4, 6-13), rhythm programming (3, 8, 9) * Steve Sidelnyk – rhythm programming (4, 6, 9, 13) *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

– saxophones (1, 4, 9, 13) * Snake Davis – saxophones (3, 6),

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(3, 6), horn arrangements (3, 6) * Hideyo Takakuwa – flute (11) * Osamu Koike – saxophones (11) * Takuo Yamamoto – saxophones (11) * Bill Reichenbach, Jr. – trombone (1, 4, 9, 13) * Fayyaz Virji – trombone (3, 6) * Yoichi Murata – trombone (11), bass trombone (11), horn arrangements (11) * Gary Grant – trumpet (1, 4, 9, 13), flugelhorn (1, 4, 9, 13) *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', ''Rock with You'', ...

– trumpet (1, 4, 9, 13), flugelhorn (1, 4, 9, 13), horn arrangements (1, 4, 9, 13) * Steve Sidwell – trumpet (3, 6), flugelhorn (3, 6) * Toshio Araki – trumpet (11), flugelhorn (11) * Masahiko Sugasaka – trumpet (11), flugelhorn (11) * Robin Smith – string arrangements (1, 2, 8), string conductor (1, 2, 8) *

– string conductor (1, 2, 8) *

The London Session Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

– strings (1, 2, 8) * George Chandler – backing vocals * Leon Daniels – backing vocals * Derek Green – backing vocals * Stevie Lange – backing vocals * Sylvia Mason-James – backing vocals * Melodie Sexton – backing vocals * Beverley Skeete – backing vocals * Lance Ellington – backing vocals (7) *

Miriam Stockley Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a British singer. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her work is influenced by the African music of her home country. Her distinctive ''vocal warm up#Vocalise, vocalise'' style gained in ...

– backing vocals (7) * Frank Campbell – vocal arrangements (7)

Production

* Bas Hartong – A&R * Paul Staveley O'Duffy – producer, mixing * Ben Darlow – engineer * Jon Bailey – assistant engineer * Steve Cook – assistant engineer * Ben Georgiades – assistant engineer * Scott Howland – assistant engineer * Valerie Jaquot – assistant engineer * Tatsuya Shimokawa – assistant engineer * Yutaka Shimoyama – assistant engineer * Ibi Tijani – assistant engineer * Yutaka Uematsu – assistant engineer *

P. R. Brown Paul R. Brown is an American graphic designer, photographer, and music video and commercial director. Biography Brown's early career in graphic design started at Pentagram in London with Peter Saville and Brett Wickens, followed by Frankfurt B ...

– design, digital illustration * Dah Len – photographyAlbum details
SwingOutSister.com. Retrieved 19 May 2009. * Paul E. Swanson – additional photography * Bennett Freed – management

Sales and certifications

References

{{Authority control 1997 albums Swing Out Sister albums Mercury Records albums Albums produced by Paul Staveley O'Duffy