Shakespears Sister’s “Ride Again” EP is definitely worth listening to!
Click here to purchase Shakespears Sister – Ride Again on Amazon
BAND: Shakespears Sister
ALBUM: Ride Again
DURATION: 6 Songs (20 Minutes)
RELEASE DATE: October 25, 2019
- Time to Say Goodbye
- When She Finds You (Single Mix)
- C U Next Tuesday (Perfect Mix)
- Dangerous Game
- All the Queen’s Horses (Video Mix)
- All the Queen’s Horses (Instrumental)
When Siobhan Fahey left Bananarama back in 1988 due to her wanting to follow a different musical path and also frustrated with the direction that the group was heading, Fahey was already going through life changes.
In 1987, she married Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and wanted to pursue her own solo music career. And through the suggestion of Stewart and producer Richard Feldman, they invited Marcella Detroit to collaborate as a songwriter and both suggested to Fahey that she and Detroit should become a duo.
Detroit had previously co-wrote “Lay Down Sally” for Eric Clapton and had worked with musical talents such as Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin, Belinda Carlisle, Chaka Khan to name a few. And had a solo career back in 1982, which didn’t work out. And tried again under the name Marcy Levy.
Needless to say, things went well for the duo, with numerous hit songs including the enormously popular “Stay” in 1991 which was No. 1 on the UK Charts for eight consecutive weeks.
But in 1993, Fahey’s personal life was in a bit of turmoil as she had divorced Stewart and admitted herself to a psychiatric unit with severe depression. And there were rumored tensions between Fahey and Detroit. Detroit would focus on working on her own solo album, while Fahey dedicated herself to getting better and be with her family.
But perhaps the most shocking was at the 1993 Ivor Novello Awards that Fahey would end their partnership.
While Fahey would continue with Shakespears Sister as a solo act, problems arised between Fahey and London Records prompting Fahey to leave the label and fight for the rights to release a Shakespears Sister album independently through her website in 2004. But it would be the last.
Both Fahey and Detroit would focus on their own solo career, not seeing or speaking to each other for 25 years.
While Fahey would use the name “Shakespears Sister” for the album “Songs from the Red Room” and include her solo songs and the album released by her own record label, SF Records, Detroit would be featured on the celebrity reality TV show “Popstar to Operastar” (in which she came in third place).
But while the two embarked on their own individual projects, for Fahey, 2017 would be a year of new beginnings.
For one, she was asked by her Bananarama members to reunite for their 35th anniversary tour and if anything, it was a new beginning as the ladies were able to work together but also showing they have matured over the years.
That maturity and Siobhan Fahey ditching her dark stylish nature and wanting to live a happy life and She and Detroit were able to repair some of that hurt from the past and announced in May 2019 that they would be reuniting as Shakespears Sister on stage.
The two reunited with fanfare and played at 13 gigs across the UK. Releasing a single “All the Queen’s Horses” and even performing on “The Graham Norton Show” and announced that they would release an EP by November 19, titled “Ride Again” (which would be released by London Records).
While 25 years had passed since the two would deliver music again, it was a long awaited reunion. And while the duo reunited in 2019 primarily for the tour, a best album release and also to release the EP, with the novel coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc in the music industry for the last few years, hopefully the two can return to releasing great music as they always have.
“Ride Again” features the duo in western style, the EP was produced by Nicolas Launay, best known for producing Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Anna Calvi, IDLES, Arcade Fire, to name a few. But also working with big names such as Kate Bush, Talking Heads, INXS, Midnight Oil to name a few.
But I loved how their vocals really compliment each other 25 years later and the electric guitar playing by Marcella Detroit is also awesome!
The first track “Time to Say Goodbye”, is a rock track and it was great to hear the group perform together once again.
The second track sounds like a ’50s Orbison classic as Siobhan Fahey duets with Richard Hawley (a singer/songwriter and guitarist for the Britpop band Longgpigs and later joining Pulp). But I love the duet by the two, but hearing Fahey contributing her operatic vocals towards the songs making it even more mesmerizing.
The third track “C U Next Tuesday (Perfect Mix)” is a track that has a ’60s vibe but with the memorable electric guitar playing throughout the song. But another wonderful track with Fahey/Detroit complimenting each other with their vocals.
The fourth track “Dangerous Game” almost sounds like an ’80s rock track. But for the most part, a very good rock track.
The fifth track “All the Queen’s Horses (Video Mix)” is a wonderful track and similar to how this band attracted me back in the ’90s, hearing both women in the top of their game 25-years later is wonderful. Just an awesome song!
The sixth and final track is the instrumental version of “All the Queen’s Horses”.
Overall, the reunion of Shakespears Sister was so fantastic. But if anything, as a longtime supporter of this band, it’s the fact they were able to meet and speak to each other and bury the hatchet and tour and perform with each other once again.
For me, for such a wonderful rock duo, it saddened me that they split up and I know there was a lot of pain going on back in the early ’90s. But nothing makes me more happy than to see them together again, in a more happier place and burying the hatchet and moving forward.
Both Siobahn Fahey and Marcela Detroit still sound magnificent for this EP as they did back in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Shakespears Sister’s “Ride Again” EP is definitely worth listening to!
Click here to purchase Shakespears Sister – Ride Again on Amazon
