Belinda Carlisle has shared she’s got a new album on the way, and it’s a collection of songs that encapsulate her youth in California.
The first single from the new covers album arrived today, a faithful rendition of Albert Hammond’s The Air That I Breathe.
The classic song was written by Hammond and British songwriter Mike Hazelwood. It first appeared on Hammond’s 1972 debut album It Never Rains in Southern California, and was later a hit for British band The Hollies. Over the years it’s been recorded by many artists including Olivia Newton-John, Simply Red, k.d. lang, and Judy Collins.
Also included in the new collection are songs made famous by Dionne Warwick, Gordon Lightfoot, Harry Nilsson, Carpenters and many others.
The collection will be Carlisle’s first collection of English pop in 29 years! While she topped the charts in the 1980s and 1990s, for the last few decades the singer has focused on genre records that fall outside the pop-world.
After finding Success in The Go-Gos, Carlisle found success as solo artist releasing a string of albums including Belinda (1986), Heaven on Earth (1987), Runaway Horses (1989), and Live your Life Be Free (1991). She delivered an indie driven sound on 1993’s Real and returned to the charts in 1996 with A Man and a Woman.
In 2007 she put out Voila, a collection of classic French songs, and 2017’s Wider Shorts was a selection of Sikh chants performed in Punjabi. In 2023 she returned to the pop realm with the EP Kismet.
Speaking about the new album Carlisle said it drew upon her youth.
“I was born and raised in California at a time when music was an important part of Californian culture. I lived and breathed music, it was my great escape – a refuge of fantasy and imagination. Every day after school and when it was summer vacation, I would listen and sing along to the music on the radio for the entire day. Always fantasizing about being a singer myself, one day.
“This collection of songs is the best representation of what I loved back then that I could think of – listening to it brings back so many memories of a time and a California that doesn’t really exist anymore. That’s not meant to sound like a bad thing, it’s just different – there was an innocence and energy back then that was unique and magical. Things I doubt will ever be felt in quite the same way again. Here’s to the California of my dreams.” Carlisle said.
The tracks on the albums are Anyone Who Had A Heart, If You Could Read My Mind, One, Never My Love, The Air That I Breathe, Time In A Bottle, Superstar, Everybody’s Talkin’, Get Together and Reflections Of My Life.
The album is slated for release on 29 August 2025. Check out our 2012 chat with Belinda Carlisle where she chatted about her career and how she’s the ultimate PFLAG mum!
