{"id":530,"date":"2019-12-11T16:19:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T16:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ebow.ie\/extras\/umusic\/backend\/?post_type=features&p=530"},"modified":"2021-03-08T14:11:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T14:11:23","slug":"westlife-are-back-at-number-one","status":"publish","type":"music-features","link":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/music-features\/westlife-are-back-at-number-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Westlife are Back at Number One"},"author":3,"template":"","tags":[279],"category_post":[13],"acf":{"intro_copy":"After Westlife split in 2012, no one expected to hear new material from the Irish pop group on the airwaves again. And yet, as 2019 draws to a close, their brand-new album, Spectrum, has claimed the title of Ireland\u2019s Fastest Selling Album of the year. ","smudge":false,"section_news":[{"acf_fc_layout":"copy","copy":"

After Westlife split in 2012, no one expected to hear new material from the Irish pop group on the airwaves again. And yet, as 2019 draws to a close, their brand-new album, <\/span>Spectrum<\/span><\/i>, has claimed the title of Ireland\u2019s Fastest Selling Album of the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody in Ireland, thank you so much for making our brand-new album Spectrum Number 1,\u201d said the group. \u201cIt\u2019s our 11th Number 1 album so thank you so much guys, it means an awful lot to us. We\u2019ll see you next summer for loads of concerts \u2013 Pairc Ui Chaoimh, see you there!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Enlisting the collaboration of Ed Sheeran, James Arthur, James Bay, and Steve Mac, <\/span>Spectrum<\/span><\/i> takes a more contemporary and mature tune, marking an evolution in the group\u2019s talent and interest. Edwin McFee from <\/span>hotpress.com<\/span><\/a> holds that \u201c’Dynamite’ – a spiritual cousin of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ – is possibly the best number they’ve put their name to. ‘Take Me There’, meanwhile, sounds stadium-ready thanks to a catchy “woah-oh-oh” refrain.\u201d Still, the album feels very much like the Westlife that took Ireland by storm in the late 90s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2019 was a huge year for the group, who announced plans to reunite in October of last year. \u201cHello My Love,\u201d their first single since 2011, debuted on January 10th, and charted in over 50 countries just minutes after release. The following day, the group appeared for their first performance in over seven years on <\/span>The Graham Norton Show<\/span><\/i>, and anticipation only spiraled from there.<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"video","video_platform":"youtube","video":"bEPLT-nY-qU","facebook_video":"","video_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"copy","copy":"

A successful summer generated even more interest, rekindling the fans\u2019 appreciation and excitement for the band. Dates and locations are still being added to a 2020 tour, with appearances at Wembley, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, and even at locations in Denmark. \u201cWe will get to everyone eventually,” said band-member Kian Egan. “Every country that wants to see Westlife will see us at some point. We won\u2019t step away from this until we\u2019ve managed to tour the world.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The group appeared on <\/span>The Late Late Show<\/span><\/i> recently to discuss their comeback and their future plans, alongside Christy Moore, Joe Schmidt, Trevor McDonald, and Mario Rosenstock. Catch the interview <\/span>here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

In the meantime, you <\/span>Spectrum<\/span><\/i> now and join the millions of others who have fallen in love with the new release!<\/span><\/p>\n

Have a Westlife fan on your Christmas shopping list this year? <\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"cta","copy":"Get tickets for their 2020 summer tour now!","link":"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.co.uk\/westlife-tickets\/artist\/711587?irgwc=1&utm_source=1318436-westlifeweb&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=1318436&awtrc=&clickId=QrMTai0LfxyORV9wUx0Mo34BUkn3jXxFUQmMyQ0","cta_copy_color":"#ffffff","alignment":"center"}],"block_type":"video-content","thumbnail_size":"height-1","mobile_image":{"ID":267,"id":267,"title":"Westlife on Dancing with the Stars Ireland","filename":"Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland.jpg","filesize":53900,"url":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland.jpg","link":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/music-features\/westlife-perform-on-dancing-with-the-stars\/westlife-on-dancing-with-the-stars-ireland\/","alt":"Westlife on Dancing with the Stars Ireland","author":"2","description":"","caption":"","name":"westlife-on-dancing-with-the-stars-ireland","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":266,"date":"2019-11-27 12:37:21","modified":"2019-11-27 12:37:26","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":640,"height":484,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland-300x227.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":227,"medium_large":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland.jpg","medium_large-width":525,"medium_large-height":397,"large":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland.jpg","large-width":525,"large-height":397,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland.jpg","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":484,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland.jpg","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":484,"twentyseventeen-featured-image":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland.jpg","twentyseventeen-featured-image-width":640,"twentyseventeen-featured-image-height":484,"twentyseventeen-thumbnail-avatar":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Westlife-on-Dancing-with-the-Stars-Ireland-100x100.jpg","twentyseventeen-thumbnail-avatar-width":100,"twentyseventeen-thumbnail-avatar-height":100}},"video_id":"bEPLT-nY-qU","display_tag":true,"related":[{"post":false}],"tag_color":"","meta_description":"","social_share_image":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/music-features\/530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/music-features"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/music-features"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"category_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umusic.ie\/backend\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_post?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}