Europa (Holly Johnson album)
| Europa | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Holly Johnson | ||||||||||
| Released | 29 September 2014 | |||||||||
| Genre | Synthpop | |||||||||
| Length | 47:36 (original album) 56:00 (deluxe edition) 48:07 (bonus remix CD) |
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| Label | Pleasuredome | |||||||||
| Producer |
Holly Johnson Mark Ralph (co-producer) |
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| Holly Johnson chronology | ||||||||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Q | |
| Record Collector | |
| musicOMH | |
| Mojo | |
Europa is the fourth studio album from English singer-songwriter Holly Johnson, released in 2014.
As Johnson's first album in 15 years, the last being 1999's Soulstream, Europa was announced in mid-2014, to be released on Johnson's own label Pleasuredome. Over the last few years Johnson had announced plans for an album of new material, particularly when speaking to Absolute Radio at the Q Awards in 2009. Since 2011 Johnson began to perform live at the occasional summer festival, mainly in the UK, and in May 2014 Johnson announced his first UK solo tour in October, named after what Johnson described as "the most upbeat song on the Europa album"; "Dancing with No Fear". The album was to precede the seven date tour, set for release on 15 September, but was later pushed back to 29 September. The tour, which was Johnson's first since the final Frankie Goes to Hollywood shows in 1987, marked the 30th anniversary of the release of the band's debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Speaking of the tour, Johnson revealed: "Since performing at festivals each summer here in the UK, I realised how enjoyable it is to sing the songs that I have written, and look forward to performing material from my new album. I'm really excited to be able to play songs that written throughout my career. Being able to tour as a solo artist in the 21st Century with a back catalogue and new material is a very privileged position to be in."
The album was described in an official press release as "a euphoric, often-electronic-led return, celebrating love, dance... and chronicling exactly what Holly Johnson has been up to these last fifteen years." Europa initially had the working title of "Do Me a Lemon" - a Cockney rhyming slang for "Do me a favour". The title track, "Europa", had originally been written by Johnson with Vangelis in Paris around 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. During this collaboration Johnson teamed up with the composer in an underground studio, which had been converted from a concrete bunker on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, originally designed for Hitler's occupation. Twenty-four years later and Johnson and Vangelis, along with long-time collaborator Mark Ralph, decided to finish the album, which was done by May 2014, near the home of Vangelis in Paris. Between the occasional live performances, Johnson realised "that I'd forgotten how much physical pleasure I got from singing my own sings. This is my teenage dream come true. I started to think, why did I ever stop?" In 2012, he met the producer Mark Ralph when recording with Raf from The 2 Bears. The pair agreed to work together and set about finessing the songs that would form Johnson's new album. Johnson revealed "I'd pile my vintage synths into the back of the car, head over to Mark's place, and we'd be up half the night making this record."Europa also features contributions from Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera, Vini Reilly of Durutti Column, Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper.
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