Summer News

We are gearing up for a very exciting summer…

To kick us off, we have our performance at the BBC Proms on the 30th of July, where we will be debuting a brand new work by Anna Clyne entitled The Gorgeous Nothings, alongside the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Collon. This new work, commissioned jointly by the BBC and The Swingles, and setting the text of Emily Dickinson’s “envelope poems”, uses an innovative new approach to composition called “The Augmented Orchestra” where selected instruments of the orchestra and the amplified singers are recorded/sampled in real time and immediately played back with augmentation (changes to either timbre or pitch, or simply with added acoustic effects (e.g. distortion)). We have been using live-looping technology in our a cappella shows for a while now, so the technique of incorporating “The Augmented Orchestra” in the performance has felt very natural for us. It has been a real privilege for us to work alongside Anna and Jody Elff (co-designers of the AO) in several workshops testing the technology in the run-up to the Proms premiere. Read more about the AO and The Gorgeous Nothings here (International Arts Manager Magazine).

Exactly a month later on August 30th, we will be releasing our long-awaited new album Theatreland: an epic anthology of some of our most beloved songs from the world of musical theatre!

To celebrate this release, we are thrilled to be hosting an official album launch concert at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London on 2nd September, where we will be performing the songs from the album, as well as some old favourites and Swingle classics. Tickets are on sale now: click here to join the party and reserve your spot!

For the latest details on all Swingles performances, see our “shows” page or bandsintown page.

More news will follow soon on the Theatreland project…

You Don't Speak for Me - New Single!

You Don't Speak for Me – new single out today!

The Swingles are proud to present our new single You Don't Speak for Me, the first track released from our all-original EP The View From In Here (out 12 November).

Written by Ed with lead vocals by Jon, the message of the song is that we can't know what someone else may have experienced or what it might be like to walk in their shoes, and that sometimes it's best just to listen and try to learn.
It's a clapback at the people who insist that misogyny isn't a problem, that racism doesn't exist, or that discrimination isn't real.
For the visuals we decided to enlist the help of several friends and colleagues of different ages, religions, sexual orientations, nationalities, races and genders. We were so grateful that they were willing to help us out. You can find all their names at the end of the video.

New Release! - Life on Mars?

Our brand new single Life On Mars? is out today on all streaming services! This David Bowie classic is the first release in a mini-series of our favourite covers from pop and rock icons.

50 years ago this month, Bowie was in the studio recording his Hunky Dory album, including the symphonic pop masterpiece that is Life On Mars? We adore this song, and you may have heard us singing it at the London A Cappella Festival (with our pals Naturally 7) and on The West Wing Weekly podcast. However, this is the first time we’ve recorded it properly.

We shot the video during one of our first rehearsals after lockdown earlier this year, with Federica beamed in from Italy. After months apart we wanted to celebrate the joy of (almost) all singing in the same room again with some nostalgic Super 8-style visuals. Thanks as always to our supporters on Patreon for making the recording and video possible.

Listen now HERE