Westlife’s new single ‘Lighthouse’: First listen
By Robert Copsey
Earlier today, your trusty Digital Spy music scribes were played the new Westlife single, ‘Lighthouse’, in full, three times over, and at a perfectly respectable volume.
So, how does the band’s 31st single shape up? Here’s what we jotted down.
• First things first, it was penned by Gary Barlow, produced by John Shanks (Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi) and clocks in at 3 minutes and 57 seconds.
• The song is about how their partners have stuck by them through the difficult times and now they want to settle down with them for good.
• It’s probably the most grown-up sounding single Westlife have ever released.
• “This kind of love is more than a lifeline/ For a man as weak as me,” Shane Filan admits on the openings bars over a soul-funk piano riff, before asking: “How did the sea get so rough?/ I would have drowned/ If you hadn’t given me your love.”
• Lyrics to the chorus include: “You’re the light in the dark/ You’re the seat in the park/ You’re the lighthouse that I need.”
• The song’s highlight is easily the middle eight around the 2:55 mark, where a slew of thrashing drums clash together as they sing: “I owe it all to you/ Everything I have right now.”
• Despite being their first release away from Syco, it would soundtrack a tearful X Factor moment rather nicely.
• Better yet, listen to a 90-second clip of the track and judge for yourselves below:
http://soundcloud.com/westlifegreatesthits...ghthouse-90-secdigital spy
