2022 sees legendary pop band Bananarama celebrate 40 sensational years of releasing music, chalking up an astonishing 30 chart hits and 30 million record sales. To mark this momentous occasion the band will release brand new album MASQUERADE.
Sara & Keren reunite with producer Ian Masterson and the result is a tremendously entertaining electro-dance album that sounds both fresh and quintessentially Bananarama.
They originally conceived this latest project as an EP, but when the pandemic wiped out their live schedule in 2020, they carried on writing and MASQUERADE grew into a sleek and cohesive 11-track album. "I love writing songs it’s probably my favourite part. Shutting myself away and coming up with ideas and then telling a story in less than 4 minutes, it really is quite an art , says Sara.
"Arranging the music, vocals and harmonies really is our forte", Keren adds.
The album is released on 22nd July and is available for
pre-order now.
To mark the album's announcement a new song Favourite is released now as a treat for fans.
Listen here.
The track was written by Sara's daughter, singer songwriter Alice Dallin-Walker (Alice D) and Oscar Scheller, and originally appeared on Alice's 2018 album Narcissus. Alice also collaborated with Sara on several other tracks on the album.
"It's just a brilliant pop song," Keren says. "We've done a different take on it but with Alice on backing vocals because we couldn't not use her ad libs, they're just too good." Bananarama have always had a way with a remake but Keren says it was especially gratifying to cover a song that "is just so personal to us".
40 years after they released their debut single AIE a Mwana, Dallin and Woodward's friendship still underpins everything that Bananarama do and above all, makes it fun. "From the age of 18 or 19, to be able to travel the world and write and perform music, it really has been incredible," Dallin says. "Yes,
there's a lot of hard work involved and certain things we'd rather not have to do (
), but we have achieved so much and we’ve had some hilarious moments along the way. And they never seem to stop!" Woodward says their band members always know when they have arrived at the airport "because they can hear the laughter coming".
And long may it continue: as MASQUERADE shows, Bananarama's creative flame is burning brighter than ever.
