New Wave Outpost Forum

I was just curious what Bananarama were up to the other day and was surprised to find out they had released a brand new album titled "Masquerade" that very day LOL!

https://www.bananarama.co.uk/masquerade ... m-out-now/

Ordered the CD, the snippets sound pretty good! Really enjoyed their last 3 albums so looking forward to this one as well. They seem to have found the perfect-match producer/writing companion in Ian Masterson, glad to see he is still part of the team for this album (I believe this is the 3rd consecutive album he has produced and co-written).

It didn't grab me massively but it sounded OK... but 'Forever Young' is VERY catchy. They've obviously been listening to The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights'!

Been a loyal Bananarama devotee since the beginning & have to say that I agree with the favorable assessment of their last 3 albums. Their last album, In Stereo, however, sounded so good to me that I was actually a little surprised by how much I dug it & by how much I spun it. Masquerade is a good album, but I'm not quite captured by it. In Stereo had sound & hooks like legacy artists who never lost it. Masquerade sounds like a legacy artist who's attempting to play a bit of catch-up.

Not being jerky here at all...I swear! I just saw this post and chuckled to myself man this MUST be the only site on the web that gets excited about a new Bananarama album! LOL!

Lol which is why I still love New Wave Outpost after all these years!

I totally agree about "In Stereo"! While I enjoyed "Drama" and "Viva" very much, "In Stereo" easily and immediately rose above both of those for me. I played it at home and in my car A LOT for several months after it's release. 10years separated the "Viva" and "In Stereo" albums, so I was not anticipating the emergence of "Masquerade" so soon (a mere 3 years). Its kind of nice, given the age of the internet and information overload, to not spend months EXPECTING and WAITING for a new release and instead to be surprised out of the blue lol! Kinda like the old old days of walking into a record store, only to find a brand new album by a favorite artist on display. In the few days since posting this, I have learned that the songs "Masquerade" and "Favourite" were made available prior to the album, but somehow both missed my radar (which I'm actually glad about).

I haven't received the new album yet so all I have to go on are the online audition bits, but what I've heard, I like. I think what stands out most for me when it comes to Bananarama, beyond catchy pop tunes, is their harmonies and the way they blend their voices with the vocal arrangements. As long as those elements are there, I'm along for the ride, and what I've heard of the new material does seem to meet that "basic bananarama standard" for me, personally. Looking forward to hearing all the tracks in their entirety!

I also think the decades long, deep and sincere friendship between Sara and Keren has been shining through in their music from 2005 to the present. They are clearly still having fun and enjoying collaborating with each other. Good for them!

The new "Masquerade" CD arrived today and I have to say, I'm extremely happy with all of the new songs! This album seems a little more varied style-wise to me. I found myself thinking, well THIS is something they haven't really done LIKE THIS before, several times throughout the first listen.

I have a busy evening ahead, so can't gush for too long, but I wanted to share my first impressions. Loving the new melodies, the production, the harmonies. The songs co-written by Sara's daughter Alice inject a refreshing twist to the usual (but always satisfying) Bananarama formula, yet compliment them perfectly.

For some reason "Need A Little More Time" is really standing out for me right at this moment. It's the closest thing to a ballad, but it has sort of a Daft Punk chilled funk to it and I just love it. Their sexy, sleek vocal delivery melds seamlessly with the backing music. As someone who always loves a good dance floor anthem, I'm surprised that this is instantly one of my favorite tracks on the album. I've already returned to it twice more since my initial run-through of the whole album. I'm just REALLY digging the variety yet, as whole, there is a genuine cohesiveness that weaves all 11 tracks together that I'm not sure their last several albums had, good as they all have been.

I loved 2019's "In Stereo" and I can already tell "Masquerade" will be my soundtrack for the rest of Summer 2022. I think it's every bit as good as "In Stereo" and maybe even better (in my option of course)! I wish I was as happy with the last two Erasure albums as I am with this Bananarama release! Well done, ladies!