Speculation about a New Album in 2017
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:10 am
While there is no information, at least to my knowledge, on when a new album is to be released, I have been wondering as to whether 2017 will be a year they do in fact release a new, full album. There has been no full studio album since 2011's The Christmas Album and the last full, non-studio album was the live recording Libera in America released in 2015. It seems highly unlikely that anything will be released before the end of 2016 so I wanted to focus attention on discussions of 2017
While there have been a few singles ("What a Wonderful World", "America", and "Angel") and mini-albums (The Holiday EP, Jupiter, and the longer Angel album), across all of these only three previously unrecorded songs were featured: "Angel", "Home", and "Santa Will Find You". I underline this not to disparage any of these albums or songs, but to emphasize that, in my opinion, they are definitely coming due to release some new music!
However, someone looking at it from another angle , may see the scarcity of original songs, or never before recorded songs, as being indicative that a new album is not likely because new material is lacking. In fact, of the three completely brand new songs released that I listed, two of three were composed by Takatsugu Muramatsu and the third song was a pop song by Mindy Smith; all three arranged for Libera by Robert Prizeman. Of course these are not bad developments as several of the Muramatsu songs, as arranged for Libera, have been very popular among fans, and certainly the re-recordings of some earlier songs were fantastic to hear, but there just may not be enough material for a new album. Therefore, although they may seem to be due for a new full album, there may not be enough new music to justify such an album, and they will continue releasing singles and mini-albums in 2017.
So depending upon your perspective....
While there have been a few singles ("What a Wonderful World", "America", and "Angel") and mini-albums (The Holiday EP, Jupiter, and the longer Angel album), across all of these only three previously unrecorded songs were featured: "Angel", "Home", and "Santa Will Find You". I underline this not to disparage any of these albums or songs, but to emphasize that, in my opinion, they are definitely coming due to release some new music!
However, someone looking at it from another angle , may see the scarcity of original songs, or never before recorded songs, as being indicative that a new album is not likely because new material is lacking. In fact, of the three completely brand new songs released that I listed, two of three were composed by Takatsugu Muramatsu and the third song was a pop song by Mindy Smith; all three arranged for Libera by Robert Prizeman. Of course these are not bad developments as several of the Muramatsu songs, as arranged for Libera, have been very popular among fans, and certainly the re-recordings of some earlier songs were fantastic to hear, but there just may not be enough material for a new album. Therefore, although they may seem to be due for a new full album, there may not be enough new music to justify such an album, and they will continue releasing singles and mini-albums in 2017.
So depending upon your perspective....
- A new, full album may be extremely likely.
or perhaps - There will be no album in 2017 and they will release another mini-album or single.
or maybe - They will skip 2017 with regards to new music and focus instead on a release in 2018.