Xenomania
Xenomania | |
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Origin | Sony |
Members |
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Past members | see Former members |
Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by
The team has been referred to as "a
Xenomania started a "record label" of the same name in 2008, developing artists and working on material before looking for major label deals. Artists include
History
Brian Higgins found early success after producing Australian singer
Higgins met Miranda Cooper at the
2002–2004: Commercial breakthrough
We first met them [the Sugababes] in October 2001 and we'd spent the previous twelve months working on our own musical direction. We were getting quite desperate as we were struggling to connect with the predominantly R&B artists we'd get sent. Our ideas seemed a bit out of place, and for that reason we connected with the Sugababes as I felt they too were a little out on a limb from the pop mainstream at the time.[10]
Brian Higgins, Popjustice, 2004.
Higgins says, "We developed this sound of electronics and guitars fusing together but this was in the late Nineties when R'n'B lite dominated pop music and we had to wait for our opening."[2] When British girl group Sugababes were dropped by London Records, they recorded "Round Round" with Xenomania, which Higgins says was "fusing electronics and guitars and tempo changes and melody shifts, so that the chorus was the only repetitive melody whereas traditional pop structure repeats verse melodies."[2] The song would later become a UK number-one single for Sugababes in 2002.[11] Higgins praised Sugababes for the "crucial role" in Xenomania's subsequent success—"To me they represented something superior to what was out there. As a result, the Sugababes undoubtedly brought the best out of us as we always felt under pressure to produce results that would do justice to their voices and overall talent."[10]
Xenomania were approached to create the debut single for a girl group formed through the television talent show
In 2003, Xenomania wrote and produced "
Following the success of Girls Aloud's first four singles, Xenomania was enlisted to produce Girls Aloud's second album, What Will the Neighbours Say?, in its entirety. Higgins said, "The pressure to come up with singles was, as always, immense. But [...] we were able to have a lot of fun working on ideas that were maybe a little too odd to be on the radio."[8] The Guardian hailed Neighbours as "a great album: funny, clever, immediate, richly inventive."[22] Stylus Magazine declared, "There is no pop in the world like Girls Aloud today."[23] All four of the album's singles ("The Show", "Love Machine", "I'll Stand by You" and "Wake Me Up") were top five.
Xenomania were approached to work with Australian pop singer
2005–2007: Critical acclaim
On paper, Girls Aloud shouldn't still be around, so we go into the making of every record with a view that they have to do something exceptional to warrant even existing. It means their records have to try and be as competitive as anyone else's, whether it's the hottest hip-hop producer from LA, or the hottest guitar band from Sheffield. That's been the driving force of our relationship with the group—to defy expectations.[13]
Brian Higgins,
Higgins and Xenomania were once again given free rein for Girls Aloud's third album,
Xenomania worked with other British artists such as
In 2006, Girls Aloud released their first greatest hits collection,
2008–present
In 2008, Xenomania's success continued. Australian singer-songwriter
While at work on Girls Aloud's fifth studio album,
Pop duo
Xenomania worked with another X Factor alumnus (and Xenomania Records signee), Amelia Lily, producing and writing an album that was subsequently shelved. Lily's debut single, "
Xenomania contributed two new tracks—including the single "Something New"—to Girls Aloud's second compilation album, Ten, the group's first album since announcing a hiatus after Out of Control (2008). BBC Music hailed Ten as "incredible proof of how perfect pop can be in the right hands" and wrote that "Alongside the Xenomania hit machine, at their best Girls Aloud create a universe entirely of their own, standing as one of the greatest pop acts of this century".[57] Cooper later said of Xenomania's relationship with the group, who split up in 2013, "We kind of thought of ourselves as a bit of the band, so the essence of Xeno was Girls Aloud. They were our creative muses and, therefore, a lot of the stuff was written by ourselves. They got more involved in the writing as time went on, but we were probably all a little bit guilty of having an inner pop star desperate to get out of Xeno".[21]
In 2014, Xenomania produced "
On 23 January 2019, Xenomania launched a four-member girl group called unperfect,[59] releasing their debut single "Gots To Give The Girl" on the following day.[60] However, unperfect did not stay together for very long, with Xenomania moving on to produce a five-piece girl group called CuteBad by 2022.[61]
Failed collaborations
Xenomania worked with American pop singer Britney Spears in 2003 during sessions for her fourth album In the Zone. The song submitted, "Graffiti My Soul", was not chosen for the album. While the record company loved the song, Spears felt that it needed more of a chorus. Higgins said that they wanted "essentially 'Sound of the Underground 2'."[5] It later appeared on Girls Aloud's What Will the Neighbours Say?.
The production team were due to work with rock bands New Order and Franz Ferdinand, but both sessions proved fruitless. Xenomania was due to produce for New Order's Waiting for the Sirens' Call, but Peter Hook said they "scrapped the Brian Higgins stuff because we didn't like it. I thought he did quite a good job on Girls Aloud but he didn't do a good job on us."[62] Franz Ferdinand's drummer Paul Thomson said, "We wrote with Higgins for a while and initially we thought we'd work more with him but it didn't really work out. We just realized that we're not really a pop group."[63]
Higgins spoke of bad experiences with bigger artists to Literally magazine in 2009:
"Everything about us is about enormous enthusiasm for something. And therefore big artists can come in and they think "they're the flavour of the whatever, let's take their thing and then we'll do what we want with it..." Well, no, that's not acceptable anyway. I've had that experience happen where the big artists were fine until they got into the mix room and then they basically pulled the record to pieces. So I took my name off the record and the writing credits off the record. Because they're assholes. And they sold about 20,000 copies, and they've never been seen since. So big artists are often jerks of the biggest order. And often people say don't meet your heroes because you'll be let down, and I sort of understand why people would say that."[64]
Members
Current members
- Brian Higgins
- Miranda Cooper
- Carla Marie (2007–present)
- Florrie (2010–present)
Former members
- Tim Powell (1997–2010)
- Niara Scarlett (2000–2004)
Artist development
Xenomania spent two years looking for talent worldwide, establishing Xenomania Records.[6] Higgins said, "It's very difficult to get in. Everyone's hand-picked."[64] They write, produce, and rehearse music before they "sell record companies the artists they've discovered and developed."[6] He also noted, "We'd love to be a modern day version of RAK, where the artists are signed and developed here."[2] The goal is to establish an "entertainment company, with Higgins [...] presiding over a pool of talent, retaining key rights to the artists they develop." Higgins also says, "I object to the word 'manufactured' cause I think it's invariably said with a vague sneer. The real phrase is 'producer driven'."[7] The Guardian described the Xenomania audition process as "find keen, dreamy singers they like and nurture them into fresh, distinctive shape over many months, patiently creating a soundtrack specifically tailored to the energy, background and character of the performers".[65]
In 2009, Xenomania held a "mini festival" entitled Xenofest in which they showcased their artists to journalists, record label representatives, and
In 2012, Xenomania Records became an imprint of
Work ethic
Higgins told The Telegraph in August 2009, "Pop is where the cutting edge of music is but it needs to be done with total sincerity and an incredible amount of skill, otherwise it doesn't warrant its own existence. There is a science to it, but there's magic too. You have to find the space where art and commerce truly meet in the middle, with genuine feeling and sentiment."[7] He has also said, "pop music is maths."[71]
A lot of the songs have come out of a tiny place, a seed of an idea. Round Round was a beat. Biology, that was just the little piano hook at the beginning, but I remember it probably took two years to work out how to come out of that intro, what it would go into. The Promise, that track was ready to go. Brian was so sure it was going to be a huge hit that we literally planned the day that we would be writing this 'number one'. I think that was obviously when we'd had a lot of success and we were very confident. With Something Kinda Ooh he was thinking of doing a bit like a Too Funky George Michael vibe, which was actually how it started off, but then it ended up something very different. He always has a vision, he knows exactly what he's doing before we do.[21]
Miranda Cooper, Songwriting Magazine, April 2015.
Xenomania are notable for their abnormal writing process. According to an article in Q magazine's October 2009 issue, "they each work on backing tracks, chords or beats, Higgins choosing the best bits and building up songs like jigsaws."[6] The various pieces of music are discussed at daily meetings and the best become the basis of songs. Higgins "separate[s] music, melody, lyric" and strives to preserve "high level of originality, excitement and dynamism in the writing."[7][21] Higgins has "the final say on everything [and establishes] the creative direction projects will take". If a piece of music "sounds enticing before a vocal has gone anywhere near it", Higgins and Cooper will "sketch out" the melody and lyrics.[2] Xenomania may also create multiple melodies over the same backing track and then select the best.[72] Higgins said "we're just not interested in the way other people do things. [...] I've trained not just me but myself, Miranda, Tim, we've trained our minds to think that way".[64]
Higgins also insists that artists are involved to an extent.
On Xenomania's relatively low output (compared to a group like
Xenomania work from a large English country house located in Kent, where Higgins also lives, and a flat in Shoreditch.[82] They have also been known to write at hotels.[21] The country home formerly belonged to Alice Liddell, the inspiration behind Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[7] It was put up for sale in 2015.[83]
Influences
Of the production group's philosophy and outlook, Higgins says, "What we stand for [...] is everything about the interesting side of music, but with tunes the postman will whistle."[5] There are a number of influences present in Xenomania's productions, including electronic, glam rock, Motown soul, punk, and more traditional pop music.[8] The Observer wrote that Xenomania are "sonically pioneering songs that have combined dance, rock and rave and resulted in the group being championed by NME as often as MTV."[84] Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant noted that Xenomania "never stick to one sound, so they're never boring. They have a big range."[85]
The varied sound of the production house is influenced by Higgin's own wide tastes growing up. Higgins says, "I discovered punk music, then New Romantic music, then dance music, which got me into the music business professionally."[2] Higgins was a fan of punk rock groups such as the Buzzcocks and the Sex Pistols, as well as more electronic groups such as New Order.[8] Additionally, Higgins "was obsessed with synthesisers [...] Duran Duran and the way they utilised synths, which I thought was amazingly clever, and Japan, and Depeche Mode."[64]
To stay relevant, Higgins said the team avoids "listening to the radio [or] following contemporary fashions", noting that Girls Aloud's "Call the Shots" "started as a piece of music in 2005, was written as a song in 2006 and came out [...] in November 2007."[2] However, Paul Thomson of Franz Ferdinand said, "He has a team in the kitchen listening to Radio 1 all day, monitoring what's being played. And he has somebody watching fashion TV all day making notes on what kind of beats they're using."[63] Cooper has mentioned that one of Xenomania's policies is to recruit young people "as Brian and I aren't out in the clubs raving it up anymore".[21]
Critical response and recognition
Since their inception, Xenomania has garnered praise from all areas of the international media[
Xenomania has been given various accolades and recognition. British music industry trade magazine
The Observer placed Higgins at number thirteen in a 2008 list of the twenty most powerful "celebrity makers." The article labelled Xenomania "not only UK pop's most successful songwriting and production team, they're also its most cutting edge."[84] Miranda Cooper was in Harper's Bazaar Power List 2007 as one of the thirty "women who shape our lives today". They wrote of Cooper, "If it's a hit you want, you'd better talk to Cooper. For the rest of us, Cooper has the power to get a tune inside our heads."[citation needed]
List of artists with songs produced by Brian Higgins/Xenomania
- Abs
- Alesha Dixon
- Alex Gardner
- Annie
- Bananarama
- Cher
- Chicane
- Dannii Minogue
- Frank
- Florrie
- Gabriella Cilmi
- Girls Aloud
- The Gossip
- Jem
- Jessie Malakouti
- Kaiser Chiefs
- Kevin McHale
- Kylie Minogue
- Lene Nystrøm Rasted
- Little Mix
- Mania
- Melanie Blatt
- Mini Viva
- Mollie King
- Moonbaby
- Nadine Coyle
- Natacha Atlas
- Pet Shop Boys
- Rachel Stevens
- Rebecca Ferguson
- Saint Etienne
- The Saturdays
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor
- Sugababes
- Texas
- V
- Vanilla
- Vagabond
- The Wanted
Artists signed to Xenomania
- Amelia Lily[90] (2012–2014)
- CuteBad (2022–present)[91]
- Mini Viva (2008–2010)
- Nadine Coyle (2019–present)[92]
Brian Higgins/Xenomania production credits
References
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