The Scissor Sisters have revealed they scrapped an album they had been working on for 18 months. Singer Jake Shears said they ditched songs destined for their third album last summer and started from scratch. Shears explains: "If it wasn't something we could fully get behind and believe in, I think the band was going to be over. If we put out anything sub-standard it was curtains for Scissor Sisters." They have written a completely new album, Night Shift, which is out in June. Their new single, Fire With Fire, a slow-building, 70s-style pop anthem, premiered on Radio One on Friday morning in the UK. Shears said: "We worked on a record for about a year and a half but we shelved it. We shelved it about a year ago. I ended up moving to Berlin for a couple of months and we decided to start a new record from scratch, and we started it last June. So this record was written very quickly."
NEW Interview with Jake Shears, Scissor Sisters: Back From the Brink
Flamboyant disco-pop stars The Scissor Sisters have spoken about their struggle to write a new album, four years after their last outing. Their first two albums sold a total of three million copies in the UK and their third, Night Work, is out at the end of June. Singer and songwriter Jake Shears explains how they came back from the brink of splitting up, why they felt "neutered" by their last album, and lifts the lid on working with Sir Ian McKellen, Kylie Minogue and Mark Ronson.
Did you take a break after the last album [Ta-Dah in 2006]?
Jake Shears: We kind of went straight into it. We probably should have taken a longer break. We worked on a record for about a year and a half but we shelved it. We shelved it about a year ago. We decided to start a new record from scratch last June. So this record was written very quickly.
Why did you ditch the other one?
Jake Shears: In my heart I knew it wasn't right. I didn't really know what it was trying to say. It left me a little bit cold.
When did you find the right direction?
Jake Shears: I just ran away - I left for Berlin and was there for a couple of months. I just forgot about songwriting and had a good time and let go a bit. That was the impetus for this album. It was more about feeling like a kid again, enjoying a certain sense of anonymity and not having to answer to anyone. I was by myself, I had a fantastic time and I think the record really reflects that.
Was there pressure to start with?
Jake Shears: Yeah, but it was pressure on ourselves. I knew this record was really important, it had to be great. If it wasn't great, if it wasn't something we could fully get behind and believe in, I think the band was going to be over. If we put out anything sub-standard, it was curtains for Scissor Sisters. We ended in a weird spot with the last one, I felt very neutered and sexless. I felt like the band had been a bit watered down by the time we finished the last campaign and it was really important to me to get our sexiness back.
Does that mean you felt the last album was neutered?
Jake Shears: Yeah, totally. I felt like we'd packaged ourselves. I felt like we were stuffed animals, a bit. I felt kind of old. And we weren't going to make good music again until that youthful energy came back into our personalities, especially with me.
There's an impressive pair of buttocks on the front cover - are they yours?
Jake Shears: No, no, no. I wish. It's a ballet dancer named Peter Reed, who died in 1986. It's a Robert Mapplethorpe photograph. He represents a time period that we're drawing a lot of inspiration from on this album - the light and the darkness, the hedonism and liberation and tragedy of the 80s.
Was it a battle to get that on the cover?
Jake Shears: Oh my God yeah, nobody wanted it. Management, band, label - everybody thought I was out of my mind. But I knew the moment I saw it that that was the album over. There's a sense of unabashed in-your-face sexuality. It's got a sense of humour, it's playful, and it looks like someone who's just been dancing their ass off. And that's what this record's about.
READ FULL INTERVIEW
WATCH: Scissor Sisters new single "Fire With Fire"
