Australia's premier male vocal group, Human Nature, take it to the best on the world stage with their self-titled third album. A stunningly confident collection of pop and r&b gems perfectly showcases the undeniable vocal talents of Andrew and Michael Tierney, Phil Burton and Toby Allen.
Announcing their arrival to a truly international level is the first single 'He Don't Love You', written and produced in London by Steve Mac (Westlife, Billie Piper). It sets the tone for Human Nature's exploration of new musical territories. The group's partners on their third album also include the UK Steelworks smash hit production team, headed by Elliot Kennedy, who have worked with everyone from the Spice Girls to Celine Dion and 5ive.
Andrew said the four members went to Kennedy's Sheffield headquarters with something to prove and ended up with a handful of songs and some new mates. And a newfound love of ten-pin bowling. "There's nothing else to do in Sheffield - we had a football competition going against Steelworks as well," Toby laughed. Andrew added: "We didn't know what to expect when we first went to the UK and it was great that this chemistry just happened from the very first sessions. We hung out for two weeks getting to know Elliot and the team and it seemed they enjoyed working with us as well."
Andrew and Michael also wrote with former Take That singer and now solo artist, Gary Barlow. The songwriting session was so successful they plan to return to the UK to work with Barlow. "It was really interesting working with him seeing he had come out of the whole Take That experience," Andrew said. "He still has a huge love of the pop genre and I think he enjoyed using us as a vehicle to explore that further."
During another phase of recording for their third album, Human Nature headed to Sweden to write and record with two leading songwriting and production teams. Their association with Jorgen Elofsson and LaCarr studios began after he heard their first two albums, 'Telling Everybody' and 'Counting Down'. Elofsson wrote the song, 'Love Is A Fire' and sent it to the Sydney quartet. 'When Human Nature heard the song as they wound down from Counting Down, they knew they had to work with the Swedish producer.
In the middle of recording 'Angel Of Your Heart' in Stockholm (which Andrew wrote with Eloffson), Max Martin, David Krueger and Per Magnusson from the famous Cheiron Studios dropped by. Liking the sound of their voices, the crew responsible for stellar hits by Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys, immediately threw out their schedules to work with Human Nature on 'Whisper Your Name (The Only One). "These guys know how to keep pop really simple but sounding great which is a lot harder to do than it sounds," Andrew said. "Working with them was very different for us, using our more intricate harmonies with a very definite sound."
Human Nature recorded the last song for the new album in New York with producers Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers (Anastacia and Jessica Simpson). The last minute recording session for House Of Cards came after they saw the group perform their faultless rendition of the national anthem at the Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony in September. Andrew believes the song is the album's anchor. "We really wanted to work with these guys but it didn't look good because they were so busy," Andrew said. "They had our song and then saw us perform at the Olympics and the next thing we are in New York and recording the song."
The sound is not the only thing which has progressed on their third album. Andrew, Michael, Toby and Phil's voices blend perfectly on every song, their harmonies filling out the lush instrumental backdrops. It is remarkable the vocal mix was achieved by recording their parts separately for the first time. "We did approach our vocals a little differently this time around," Andrew said. "One of the reasons the songs on this album sound different is we recorded our vocal parts separately for the first time. The harmonies are still as tight as they have ever been but working with different producers meant they treated the vocals in their own unique way."
The Tierney brothers contributed to the songwriting challenge once again and share credits on six songs with Andrew teaming up with Jorgen Elofsson on Angel Of Your Heart. Matching it with the best songwriters in the world gave them a huge boost in confidence.
"Michael and I did a lot more writing this time around at home and had worked really hard with Paul Begaud before we headed overseas and we had something to show them. The demos were good enough for the Steelworks guys to actually question why we were going to the UK. "We thought our songs were great but we knew we could write better songs simply because of the calibre of the people we were working with. The chemistry we have with Paul is really strong and we will definitely be working with Gary Barlow again."
Broadening their repertoire into urban, r&b territory has also allowed Human Nature to reproduce the high energy and edge of their acclaimed live performances. 'He Don't Love You', 'Trash' and 'Don't Come Back' capture the group's live intensity. Human Nature's legion of fans will be pleased to know the group has also reached new heights with their ballads. 'Everytime' and 'Angel Of Your Heart' are destined to become new favourites. And the classic pop of 'When We Were Young' and 'It's Gonna Be A Long Night' will sound sensational on the international airwaves.
The school friends have come a long way in the short time since their amazing debut with Telling Everybody in 1997. It was one of the biggest Australian debut albums, selling four times platinum. In the whirlwind that followed, Human Nature landed support slots with the major tours of the year - Michael Jackson, Celine Dion and Eternal. Performing at 50 arena shows in 18 countries to more than two million people honed their performance skills and provided the opportunities of a lifetime. The experience and wisdom drawn from sharing a stage with the world's best, bore fruit with their second album – 'Counting Down'.
A No 1 debut for an album recorded over 18 months in Sydney, London and LA reclaimed Human Nature their position as Australia's favourite male vocal group. A sell-out Australian tour with their No 1 fan, John Farnham and more success in southeast Asia followed.
Already in 2000, Human Nature have wowed their fans with one of the most successful pop tours to ever grace Australian stages. And now they raise the bar some more notches with their third album, 'Human Nature'.
