Belinda Carlisle is releasing new music, and I’m not happy.
Not because she’s still recording. I’m a diehard Belinda fan and own everything she’s ever released, including non-English-language obscurities Voila (2007) and Wilder Shores (2017) which are her most recent albums.
And not because I don’t like the new material. Belinda has teamed up once again with Diane Warren, who wrote her 1988 hit ‘I Get Weak’. The first single from the collaboration is ‘Big Big Love’, which sounds exactly like you’d expect Belinda Carlisle singing Diane Warren in 2023 to sound. I’m here for it.
This will be followed by an EP, Kismet. All five tracks will be Diane Warren compositions. So far, so pop.
The problem? As far as I can see, there are no plans whatsoever for a CD release.
The EP gets released digitally on all the usual suspects (Spotify, Apple Music etc) on 12 May. A vinyl version will follow in August for the US and September for Europe (subject, of course, to the usual pressing plant delays). And that’s it.
This doesn’t make sense to me given the age of Belinda’s fanbase. We are the CD generation. Produce it and we will buy it. And unlike vinyl, there’s no issue finding a pressing plant. Why not milk the extra sales? Frankly, I’m here to be milked.
Annoyingly, Belinda has form in this area. In 2019 the 30th anniversary reissue of Runaway Horses included 3 new bonus tracks. But you could only get them in a combined CD/vinyl box. That was annoying, but at least they were there on CD. This time we don’t even get that. Ah well.
Final weird observation? Almost every single one of the tracks on the new EP has a title which echoes an earlier Belinda song. Deliberate? Who knows, but it’s hard to miss.
- Big Big Love – Big Scary Animal
- If You Go – Goodbye Just Go
- Deeper Into You – Deep Deep Ocean
- I Couldn’t Do That To Me – OK, no obvious match here
- Sanity – I Plead Insanity
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