Bingkai Karya – The Stylistics announce their first new album in almost two decades titled “FALLING IN LOVE WITH MY GIRL,” which will be released worldwide on February 21, 2025. The soul legends known for their iconic hits, “Stop, Look, Listen,” “You Are Everything,” “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” and more, earning them 5 Gold singles and 3 Gold albums, will bring audiences their first new single from the 21-track album “Yes, I Will,” featuring Shania Twain, on February 14.
“FALLING IN LOVE WITH MY GIRL,” produced by Tom Cridland and Executive Produced by Deborah Cridland, will feature a who’s who of legendary and noted artists who collaborated on the album alongside Twain: Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones, Gene Simmons of KISS, The Elton John Band (including Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone), Bill Champlin of Chicago, Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top, Steve Lukather of Toto, Tower of Power, Ray Parker, Jr., Jay Graydon, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, The Real Thing, Nathan East and Carly Paoli.
For “Yes, I Will,” Twain had been invited to sing on one of the tracks already written, but she had in mind the perfect song for the album that she had co-written with Nathan East, (in which Tom Cridland contributed to), that was a soulful fit for The Stylistics. Ray Parker Jr. and Steve Lukather performed on the track that was last song recorded for the collection, and is the first new track in 17 years to be released by the legendary group.
Says Shania, “I’m so happy that this song I wrote ‘Yes, I Will’ has found a home on The Stylistics album. That is just so exciting. It’s a special song that came together on one special day at my home where I was hanging out with some friends and musicians. So I think it turned out great and I’m just really excited to share it with the whole world.”
Airrion Love from The Stylistics adds, “I fell in love with Shania Twain the first time I heard ‘You’re Still the One’ – a great song that I still love. When we heard there might be a chance to do something with her we said, “Hell yeah!””
The Stylistics, original members Airrion Love and Herb Murrell; together with Jason Sharp, who joined the group in 2011; recorded their vocals at Spice House Sound in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and at Wright Way Studios in Baltimore, Maryland. Tom Cridland arranged and recorded the background vocals in the Scottish Highlands and at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The Elton John Band including Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone laid down the instrumental tracks at the Record Plant in Hollywood, California. “FALLING IN LOVE WITH MY GIRL” was the last album ever made at the legendary recording studio. Most of the songs were written by Tom Cridland together with Anthony King of Blackpool and Anthony’s wife, Fiona Shaw. Two tracks were written by Airrion Love, “Sad Tomorrows” and “I Get A Feeling.”
The track listing for “FALLING IN LOVE WITH MY GIRL” is as follows:
Who Am I
Leave So Soon
Sad Tomorrows
Infatuation
Yes, I Will (with Shania Twain)
Jealousy
Whatever Happened to Our Love
You’ll Live Forever
Endless Days
Take Me Back to Rainbows
Lost and Alone
Don’t Leave Me Here
Holy Water
Rock and a Heartbeat
I Could Never Leave Her
Debbie
Sonnet 18
I Get a Feeling
If I Fail
Take Me Back to Rainbows (Operatic Version ft. Carly Paoli)
About The Stylistics:
The Stylistics were formed in Philadelphia in 1968. After touring local clubs in the tri-state vicinity, the group impressed Bill Perry, a local record executive, who asked if they would be interested in studio time. In 1970, the resulting recording, “You’re a Big Girl Now,” became a #1 hit in several cities up and down the East coast.
Perry signed them to Avco Records and producer Thom Bell was hired for the group’s eponymous debut, The Stylistics. This boasted six hits including classic showstoppers, “Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)”, “You Are Everything” and “Betcha By Golly, Wow.”
Bell also masterminded the next two albums by The Stylistics, Round 2 and Rockin’ Roll Baby, which included more hits such as “I’m Stone In Love with You” and “Break Up to Make Up”. The songs from the group’s first three LPs, all written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, continue to form the cornerstone of their discography, live set and musical legacy.
What has become the best-selling and arguably signature song for The Stylistics, “You Make Me Feel Brand New”, first appeared on the Rockin’ Roll Baby album. It was, however, the second version, released on follow up LP, Let’s Put It All Together, that got to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. “You Make Me Feel Brand New” has been streamed over 100m times and was also a hit single for British group, Simply Red, in 2003.
Working with producers Hugo & Luigi and arranger Van McCoy in the mid seventies, the group’s popularity soared in Europe and the United Kingdom. The year 1975 saw their Greatest Hits compilation become the biggest selling album by any band or artist in Britain. By this time, their hit records included UK chart topper, “Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)” and “Sing Baby Sing”.
In 1980 The Stylistics triumphantly reunited with Bell on Philadelphia International Records for the Hurry Up This Way Again album. The title track became one of their biggest hits. “Hurry Up This Way Again” was sampled by rapper, Jay Z, on “Politics as Usual”.
Herb Murrell and Airrion Love, the original members of The Stylistics, have remained friends since junior high school. The group’s indelible influence on popular music has been made evident by the countless remakes of their songs by other artists, including Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye’s 1973 version of “Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)” and Prince’s “Betcha By Golly, Wow”. Many stars have also sampled the original recordings by The Stylistics, especially the track, “You Are Everything”, used, for example, by Mary J. Blige on her own “Everything”, by Jennifer Lopez on “The One” and by Usher, Beyoncé & Lil Wayne on “Love In This Club Part II”.
Working with Anglo-Portuguese record producer, Tom Cridland, The Stylistics were in the studio throughout 2024 with Shania Twain, the Elton John Band including Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone, Bill Champlin, Jay Graydon, Justin Hawkins, Tower of Power, Billy F Gibbons, Gene Simmons, and Ronnie Wood.
Falling In Love With My Girl is the first album by The Stylistics in seventeen years. The lead single, “Yes, I Will”, is a duet with Shania Twain.
