''Where We Are'' is the ninth studio album by Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

. It was released on 27 November 2009 in Ireland and on 30 November 2009 in the UK through S Records,

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, the band's tenth album under them. ''Where We Are'' is the group's first album following a break from music in 2008. It was also the band's fifth album to be released as a four-piece. This album was preceded by the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

" What About Now" (a cover of the Daughtry song) and it was released on 23 October 2009 as a digital download a day later as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

. The group collaborated with numerous notable producers for the album, notably

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

of the

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...

Jim Jonsin James Gregory Scheffer (born June 8, 1970), professionally known as Jim Jonsin, is an American record producer, songwriter, businessman and DJ from South Florida. Jonsin has collaborated with numerous artists, including Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, ...

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

and

Sam Watters Samuel Joshua Watters (born July 23, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. Watters was a member of the multi-platinum selling 1990s R&B group Color Me Badd and co-authored many of their hits including "I ...

, among others. ''Where We Are'' is also notably the first Westlife album not to have Steve Mac and

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of O ...

produce or write any of the songs. The album was met with mixed reviews, although it was still commercially successful, debuting at number two at the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and got 2× Platinum Certification in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

which sold more than 600 000 records. Despite the high peak, it was the first Westlife album not to peak at number one since their 2004 album ''

Allow Us to Be Frank ''...Allow Us to Be Frank'', a Rat Pack tribute, is the fifth studio album, sixth major album release under Sony BMG and first cover album by Irish boy band Westlife; it is also the first album since the departure of Brian McFadden and as a f ...

'' peaked at number three. This is the 7th top-selling album of 2009 in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Background

Before Christmas 2008, they wrote a letter to their website saying that 2009 was going to be the most exciting year yet for Westlife. The recording process of their tenth album started on 1 July 2009. Byrne said that there will be many first-time producers and writers for the upcoming album. He also wanted to have collaboration works with

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

who happens to be a big Westlife fan. Westlife worked with

JC Chasez Joshua Scott "JC" Chasez (; born August 8, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and occasional actor. He started out his career as a cast member on '' The Mickey Mouse Club'' before rising to stardom with NSYNC, and ...

Darren Hayes Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the frontman and singer of the pop duo Savage Garden until their disbandment. Their 1997 album ''Savage Garden (Savage Garden album), Savage Garden'' peaked a ...

Ben Adams Benjamin “Ben” Edward Stephen Adams (born 22 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter from Ascot, England, best known as a member of the British-Norwegian boy band A1. Early life Born in Ascot, Adams attended Westminster Under ...

, Adrian Bradford, and

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...

for the album but all did not make the cut. Filan talks about the content of the album and stated:

A different direction might be a bit wrong. I think it's still pop music, but there's a different variation on it. One massive thing is we worked with different producers, who we've never worked with before, and new song writers. There are thirteen songs on the album and twelve of them are originals. There's more tempo, more rocky songs, some more American songs, some darker songs on there with darker lyrics. It's the best production we've had on any other album. The strings, the music is just on another level. Even if you're not a Westlife fan but you're a music fan, you will recognise the quality on this album.

On their new biography posted on their official website, it has been added that the recording sessions began in LA, with a completely fresh team of producers and songwriters. The first song they recorded was the ballad, "I’ll See You Again", described as "haunting bereavement". "I'll See You Again" was recorded by Ross at Metropolis Studios. For their first single "What About Now" Feehily told ''

The Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', "We wanted the first single from our new album to be somewhere between the Westlife sound our fans know and love, and the new direction we're heading in. We've been experimenting with a fresh vibe on this record. After 11 years we see this as phase two of the Westlife story." The song "Shadows" which has been confirmed to be included on the album was written by

and AJ McLean for the

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gr ...

' seventh album ''

This Is Us ''This Is Us'' is an American family drama television series that aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to May 24, 2022. The series follows the lives and families of two parents, and their three children, in several different time frames. It s ...

'' but was not selected for inclusion. It was subsequently purchased by record label boss

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

for

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

's second album ''

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

'' but it was later decided that the song was more suited to a boyband and thus given Westlife to record. The album also contains an "in memory of" section to Nikky Byrne and Kevin Egan, the fathers of Westlife members

Nicky Byrne Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne Jr. (born 9 October 1978) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter, best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; he is the band's oldest member. Westlife has since rele ...

and

Kian Egan Kian John Francis Egan (born 29 April 1980) is an Irish Pop music, pop singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a member of pop group Westlife. Westlife has released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours, and won numerous awards ...

. The last song from the standard track listing of the album, "I'll See You Again", was included in the concert tour set list of the album. The song is established as the tribute song to their deceased fathers by putting their pictures at the background of the stage each time they performed it. The song is also the band's twelfth most streamed song in the

as of January 2019.

Promotion

On 25 October 2009, during the

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

results show, Westlife performed "What About Now". It was released online the same day. On 26 October they performed on

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

and were interviewed in addition to hosting a webchat, with a further interview on ''The One Show'' on 30 October 2009. They will also perform at BBC Children in Need on 20 November and be interviewed on 26 November and 4 December on ''Alan Carr's Chatty Man'' and ''The Friday Show'' respectively. They are also doing radio promos in major cities of UK and Ireland from 24 October–November including an interview on

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. TV dates were announced later. Following a Swedish promotional tour with performance on ''Swedish Idol''. On 27 November 2009, Westlife performed on infamous UK television shows like ''Paul O' Grady Show'' and ''

The Late Late Toy Show ''The Late Late Toy Show'' is an annual, special edition of the Irish chat show '' The Late Late Show''. Airing annually on RTÉ One near the end of November or early December to coincide with the holiday shopping season, the ''Toy Show'' showc ...

''. On 1 February 2010, their official website was revised. They called it as a first phase of 2010 assault. On 10 February 2010, they are invited to Jonathan Ross show for an interview to be televised on 12 February 2010. First week of February, they embarked on a promotional tour of Germany and guested on the ''Oliver Pocher Show'' on the third week of February. "How to Break a Heart" was released as a promotional single on 10 March 2010 in some countries. They got the chance to perform with

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

for a track on the ''

Stephen Gately Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 197610 October 2009) was an Irish singer, who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone; all of Boyzone's studio albums during Gately's lifetime hit number one in the United Kingdo ...

Show'' in Ireland. They were invited to perform on Sun City Super Bowl Show on

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

to be held on 19 March and Fashion Kicks 2010 on 13 April.

Supporting tour

Critical reception

''Where We Are'' received mostly unfavorable reviews, with most reviewers criticizing the album's similar music style, as well as the fact that there is little difference from their previous material. Robert Spellman of ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' gave the album two stars out of five, saying that "all the songs sound alike and deal with heartbreak." Lauren Murphy of ''Entertainment Ireland'' gave a similar score, stating that "as maudlin and one-dimensional as any of their recent material", although she praised Feehily's vocals. Rick Pearson of ''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' called the album's songs "bland" and "uninspiring", concluding that "''Where We Are'' finds Westlife exactly where they were at the beginning of the decade." Ben Chalk of ''

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

UK'' stated that the album is "aimed squarely at the sort of person who buys one album a year, usually at Christmas, to listen to in the car." Hugh Montgomery of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' criticized the album's "usual...over-production, ersatz yearning and (anti-)climactic key changes." Alex Fletcher of ''

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

'' panned ''Where We Are'', saying that "there isn't a drop of passion, genuine emotion or soul to be found anywhere." Ian Gittins of ''

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...

'' gave the album one star out of five, saying that "The only emotion...is a sinking sense of déjà vu." Jason Birchmeier of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and '' Rovi Music'' gave the album three and a half stars out of five, noting the group's usual musical structure, although he praised the album for containing "many first-rate songs...and the production is polished to perfection." Mike Diver of ''

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

'' gave ''Where We Are'' a favorable review, referring to many "surprises" contained within the album, although he notes that "their style has barely changed."

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer * "Leaving" is also referred to as "You're Leaving".https://www.ascap.com/repertory#ace/performer/WESTLIFE * "The Difference" is also referred to as "Difference". * "Reach Out" is also referred to as "Reach Out for Me" and "Sanctuary - Cues" according to the ACE ASCAP repertoire. * "I'll See You Again" is also referred to as "Could Be Already" according to the ACE ASCAP repertoire. * "What About Now" was not included on the Czech and Slovak track listing.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Credits

*Vanessa Addo-Yeboah - Vocals *Ian Agate - Engineer *Joel Anderson - Cover Photo *Steve Anderson - Arranger, Engineer, Mixing, Producer, String Arrangements *David Angell - Violin *Jesse Astin - Egg Shaker *Paul Beard - Piano *Louis Biancaniello - Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Programming *Chris Blade - Arranger, Producer *Steve Booker - Bass, Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming *Jeff Bova - String Arrangements, Strings *Chris Braide - Composer, Producer *Karl Brazil - Drums *John Catchings - Cello *Nikolaj Juel Christiansen - Guitar *Bryan Christopher - Composer *Bryn Christopher - Producer *Scott Cutler - Composer, Egg Shaker, Guitar, Producer, Programming *David Davidson - Orchestration, String Transcription, Violin *Sophie Delila - Composer, Piano, Producer *Alessandro Destefanis - Assistant *Althea Edwards - Vocals *Carl Falk - Composer, Producer *Mark Feehily - Composer, Producer, Vocals *Richard Flack - Engineer *John Garrison - Bass *Dyre Gormsen - Engineer *Simon Hale - Arranger, Strings *Joshua Hartzler - Composer *Heard But Not Seen Choir - Choir, Chorus *Andy Hill - Additional Production, Producer *Iain Hill - Engineer *David Hodges - Composer *Christian Howes - Strings *

Henrik Janson Henrik Janson (born 11 March 1961) is a Swedish music arranger, guitarist, record producer and songwriter. Founding a band at thirteen, in 1974, Janson today works with both domestic and international artists. Career Early years Janson was born ...

- String Arrangements *Candace Johnson - Vocals *Lawrence Johnson - Vocal Arrangement *Bryon Jones - Vocals *Priscilla Jones - Vocals *Jim Jonsin - Keyboards, Producer, Programming *Jon Kelly - Engineer *Brian Kennedy - Guitar, Producer, Programming *Emanuel Kiriakou - Composer, Engineer, Instrumentation, Producer, Programming *Savan Kotecha - Composer, Producer *Larossi - Additional Production, Engineer *Josef Larossi - Instrumentation, Programming *Damien Lewis - Engineer *Shaznay Lewis - Composer, Producer *Peter Ljung - Piano *The London Session Orchestra - Strings *The Love Sponge Strings - Strings *Will Malone - Keyboards, Programming, String Arrangements, Synthesizer *Rob Marks - Engineer *Subrina McCalla - Vocals *Kevin McDaid - Photography *Alexander McLean - Composer, Producer *Vlado Meller - Mastering *Millennia Strings - Strings *Candice Mimi-Appiah - Vocals *Ben Moody - Composer *Esbjörn Öhrwall - Guitar *Steven Lee Olsen - Composer, Producer *Andreas Olsson - Keyboards, Programming *Ross 'Dights' Parkin - Engineer *John Parricelli - Guitar *Doug Petty - Bass, Drum Programming, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, *Percussion, Piano *Simon Petty - Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Producer *Ian Pitter - Vocals *Shelly Poole - Producer *Luke Potashnick - Guitar *Anne Preven - Composer, Producer *Quiz - Engineer, Mixing *Quiz - Additional Production *Zac Rae - Guitar, Programming *Conner Reeves - Composer, Producer *John Reid - Composer *Jon Reid - Producer *Carol Riley - Vocals *Lindy Robbins - Composer, Producer *Steve Robson - Producer *Andreas "Quiz" Romdhane - Instrumentation, Programming *Jeff Rothschild - Mixing *Mark Santangelo - Assistant *James Scheffer - Composer, Producer *Brian Kennedy Seals - Composer *Edward Shearmur - Strings *Bobby Shin - Strings *Jonathan Shorten - Composer, Producer *Kristoffer Sonne - Drums *Steve Stacey - Design *Xavier Stephenson - Assistant *Stockholm Session Strings - Strings *Phil Tan - Mixing *Ryan Tedder - Arranger, Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Piano, Producer, Programming, Strings *Martin Terefe - Bass, Producer *Pat Thrall - Editing *Nikolaj Torplarsen - Arranger, Keyboards, Piano *Luke Tozour - Engineer *Neil Tucker - Engineer *Sam Watters - Composer, Engineer, Producer *Greg Wells - Instrumentation, Producer *Jeremy Wheatley - Mixing, String Arrangements *Wayne Wilkins - Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming *Kris Wilkinson - Viola, Violin *Neal Wilkinson - Drums *Noel Zancanella - Engineer Source: Allmusic.com

References

{{Authority control Westlife albums 2009 albums Albums produced by Brian Kennedy (record producer) Albums produced by Steve Robson Albums produced by Jim Jonsin Albums produced by Greg Wells Albums produced by Ryan Tedder Albums produced by Emanuel Kiriakou Sony Music albums RCA Records albums