''These Ties'' is the second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n singer Amiel, released in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Sony Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

on 19 October 2005 (see

2005 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2005. Specific locations *2005 in British music *2005 in Irish music *2005 in Norwegian music *2005 in South Korean music *2005 in Swiss music Specific genres *2005 in cla ...

). The album is a mix between a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

songs – written by Stephen Lironi and Amiel herself . It was due to be released in Australia in 2005 but was shelved due to the label break-up of

Warner Music Australia Warner Music Australia (WMA) is an Australian division of the Warner Music Group. Warner Music Australia distributes in Australia, and also covers distribution in New Zealand. History In 1969, Warner Bros. Records split and WEA was formed. ...

and

Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...

. Only one single was released from the album, "Round and Round", which was not a major hit failing to enter the top fifty on the Australian

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. The album was released in Japan due to high sales of her debut album. ''These Ties'' made its debut on the Japan Albums Chart at one hundred and forty-one with 1,320 copies sold. The next week also showed not much success falling down to number two hundred and eighty.

Background and production

After the extreme promoting Amiel did for her previous album, '' Audio Out'', she returned to Australia and retreated into the subtropical rainforests of Australia's mid north-eastern coast."Amiel Biography from her official website"
. ''amiel.com.au''. Retrieved 1 November 2008. In these rainforests, Amiel had three weeks of solitude composing, she states "I found a small, secluded hut nestled deep in the valley by a stream. My bed was a loft surrounded by trees. Deep into the night I wrote and wrote." Amiel would also drive down the back roads of the rainforests listening to her favorite

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

records when she felt restless. Amiel then went to look for a new producer for the album, she ended up in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and was introduced to ex

Altered Images Altered Images is a Scottish New wave music, new wave/post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums ...

band member Stephen Lironi. Lironi had previously worked other bands such as

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

Black Grape Black Grape are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1993, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples. History Forma ...

and

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler) or Ivar (born 1984), American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English ...

, but Amiel states that none of that really mattered to her when she met him. She states "All that mattered was that I felt comfortable with him straight away- I felt like he got what I was trying to do creatively." Working with Lironi saw Amiel exploring a more organic sound, while still sticking to her electronic roots. She explains "I’ve never seen myself as tied to a particular genre and been happy that my taste tends to lead me right across the musical spectrum."

Track listing

All songs written by Amiel Daemion and Stephen Lironi unless noted. #"Expectations" – 3:49 #"Be Your Girl" (Daemion) – 3:57 #"Moving On" – 4:40 #"Round and Round" – 3:33 #"On the Outside" – 3:37 #"Under Your Spell" (Daemion) – 4:05 #"These Ties" (Daemion) – 3:59 #"Trouble" – 3:55 #"Storm Blew Over" – 3:26 #"Stars" – 3:55 #"Following the Sun" – 3:40 #"Easier to Lie" – 4:10

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums