LOS ANGELES, CA – May 5, 2014 – Electric Fairytale Recordings presents Stephen Emmer’s new album, International Blue, due out on July 8, 2014. The album pays tribute to the lost art and elegance of pop-crooning. As an accolade to this genre of elegance within the pop realm, International Blue injects a modern twist to the style with a myriad of contemporary sounds and beats, studio techniques, musical insights and lyrical meaning in ten new and original compositions. A celebration of the epic chamber music pop of Burt Bacharach, Scott Walker, Nick Cave and David Bowie, it features four of the great baritone singers in the UK today: Midge Ure (Ultravox), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Liam McKahey (Cousteau) and Neil Crossley (Furlined). The album was mixed and produced by the legendary Tony Visconti at Abbey Road Studios in London. For more information on Emmer, a European composer and Amsterdam, Holland-based artist, please visit http://www.stephenemmer.com.

For those in the UK, on June 10, 2014 this collective of music heavy weights will be performing tracks from International Blue at 6:00pm on Abbey Road Studio 2. The showcase will be recorded live on Vintage TV (Sky 369, Virgin 343, and Freesat 515).

Emmer’s previous release, Recitement, a unique spoken word album, inspiring and critically revered, was created from seventeen compositions based on literary text-fragments narrated by Lou Reed, Allen Ginsberg, Yoko Ono, Jorge Luis Borges, Richard Burton, and others, with music by Emmer and a host of collaborators such as Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino, jazz musician Benjamin Herman, legendary pianist Mike Garson, and more. The album was warmly received in the U.S. with coverage from NPR, Pitchfork, KCRW, and more.

“Stephen Emmer is one of those musicians & composers who knows the musical rules best and therefore also how to break them.” Tony Visconti

Midge Ure –
The man behind the iconic ‘80s band Ultravox, co-creator of Live Aid/Band Aid/Live 8 with Bob Geldolf, and currently hailed in the echelons of musical history as one of the men responsible for “Vienna,” now officially the most popular and respected record of the ‘80s in the UK (as voted by Absolute Radio listeners). His atmospheric and glittering career has spanned over three decades as a former member of Thin Lizzy, Visage, and as a solo artist, Ure has also been a tireless campaigner for ‘Save the Children,’ has an OBE, multiple Brit Awards and Ivor Novello awards. The multi-platinum selling artist is also the producer and co-writer of “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” the biggest selling single in the history of the British Charts.

Glenn Gregory –
Front man of synth pop pioneers Heaven 17, the band came out of the Sheffield electronic music scene in the early ‘80s, and has accrued 7 top 40 hit singles and 4 top 40 albums reaching Platinum status throughout their career. Their first top 40 hit single, “Temptation” in 1983, shot the band into the charts at number 2 as they fast became one of the most respected, stylish and celebrated bands of that era. Lead singer Glenn Gregory also appeared on the original Band Aid album alongside Sting and Midge Ure, but despite their commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic, the band always managed to maintain a credible and underground heritage.

Liam McKahey –
McKahey was the vocalist for the London-based band Cousteau, who tipped commercial success, spinning off the back of the Brit Pop movement in the UK. Their best-known song, “The Last Good Day Of The Year” (1999), has been used for countless film soundtracks and advertising campaigns across the world. Touring with contemporary bands such as The Dandy Warhols and Goldfrapp, Cousteau always remained the critic’s choice. Now living in Australia, McKahey is the embodiment of the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll, originally hailing from Ireland, his unique, poignant voice is like a swirl of smoke catching the light in a dark room.

Neil Crossley –
Crossley has one of those winning, strong yet gentle baritones that do rare male vulnerability so beautifully. He’s the singer/songwriter with Bristol-based band Furlined, a cello-fuelled four-piece with dark, honey melodies and a distinct aural charm.

Michael Dempsey –
Joining the parade, Dempsey is a former bassist with The Cure (Boys Don’t Cry), Roxy Music (Avalon) The Associates, and The Lotus Eaters.

Tony Visconti –
Visconti’s production credits would fill an entire ream of paper, with more number 1 hits and albums than most chart-topping artists. This legend from behind the scenes has produced Bowie, T Rex, Thin Lizzy, Iggy Pop, The Stranglers, Morrissey, Manic Street Preachers, and Kaiser Chiefs to name only a few. Along with producing International Blue at Abbey Road in London and Avatar Studios New York, Visconti will be joining the band for live performances.

International Blue Track List:
Stephen Emmer featuring Midge Ure, Glenn Gregory, Liam McKahey, Neil Crossley

1. Let the silence hold you
2. Taking back my time
3. Blown away
4. Sleep for England
5. Untouchable
6. Song for a deserted wife
7. Seachange
8. Break in the weather
9. Mama’s mad
10. In the mirror reflected

All music composed and arranged by Stephen Emmer.

Stephen Emmer
Photo by Carin Verbruggen

Stephen Emmer –
Stephen Emmer had what some would call a hedonistic, misspent youth and others would regard as simply magical. Born in Holland, he grew up in an Indian ashram learning to play local wind instruments during the ‘60s, before leaving for the heady Caribbean and learning their wild voodoo infused percussion. Back in Amsterdam in the ‘70s, he got involved in various bands such as an experimental free jazz group, a symphonic rock group, and an avant garde new wave electro-noise group called Minny Pops, who would be signed by the UK’s Factory Records alongside Joy Division and has enjoyed considerable cult status ever since, including touring with New Order throughout Europe.

Emmer’s musical idealism led him to create and produce a solo mini-album in the early ‘80s called Vogue Estate, on which he was joined by several guest artists from the UK and USA such as the late Billy MacKenzie, Martha Ladley, and The Cure’s Michael Dempsey. The album was one of the first intentional European soundtracks without a film and was produced by Flood.

After having briefly joined several UK bands such as The Lotus Eaters, and The Associates, Emmer got involved with media music for most of the ‘90s, becoming the first in-house composer for both the main public and commercial TV broadcasters in the Netherlands and composing for several European TV documentaries, short films, art installations and feature films. He won several awards for artistic excellence such as the prestigious Prix de Rome.

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For more information, photos, to request an album preview, or schedule an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.