Xenomania
Encyclopedia
Xenomania is a British songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins
and based in Kent
, England
. Formed after Higgins met Miranda Cooper
, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher
, Kylie Minogue
, Dannii Minogue
, Pet Shop Boys
, and Sugababes
. In particular, all of Girls Aloud
's albums (excluding their debut, Sound of the Underground) have been entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Sugababes' "Round Round
" and Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground
" have been credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me
" and Girls Aloud's "The Promise
" were named Best Single at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009
and the 2009 BRIT Awards
, respectively.
The team has been referred to as "a Phil Spector
" and "a Motown of the 21st-century". Higgins himself has said that Xenomania aspires to be a modern-day version of RAK Records
. Of Higgins and Xenomania, Girls Aloud's former manager Louis Walsh
says, "He just makes great songs for radio. They just jump out at you and stay in your brain." There are wide influences present in their productions, including electronic
, glam rock
, Motown soul
, punk
, and more traditional pop music
. The name "Xenomania" means, according to Higgins, "the exact opposite of Xenophobia
[...] a love of everything, of all cultures." Current members of the Xenomania writing and production team include Higgins, Cooper, Tim Powell and Nick Coler. There is also a Xenomania house band
who work on potential backing tracks; members include Florrie Arnold
, Kieran Jones, and Jason Resch. Parisian remixer Fred Falke
also frequently works with Xenomania.
Xenomania started a "record label" of the same name in 2008, developing artists and working on material before looking for major label deals. Artists include Alex Gardner
, Jessie Malakouti
, Mini Viva
, and Vagabond
.
's third studio album, Girl, which gained favorable reviews at the time but failed to enter the British Top 40
. However, the success of the lead single, "All I Wanna Do
", led to a collaboration with Cher
and Higgins co-writing her international #1 hit single "Believe
." Although the song outperformed all expectations and won him three Ivor Novello
awards, Higgins found himself without a label when London Records
was sold in 2000. After eighteen months, he decided to found Xenomania as an independent production company based in Westerham
in Kent
, outside of London, because it is "somewhere where concentration would be easy [and] no one 'pops' in." He met Miranda Cooper at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest when she was a backing dancer for Gina G
, while Matt Gray had started his musical career in the 1980s, writing music for the Commodore 64
home computer. Nick Coler programmed The KLF
's singles and Tim Powell started out in 1989 "doing hardcore rave stuff". Higgins attempted to launch Cooper as a solo artist under the stage name Moonbaby but failed to find success. "That's when we started writing for other people," according to Cooper. "I'd had writer's block for myself, but as soon as it was for somebody else all these songs popped out." Moonbaby's "Here We Go
" would later be recorded by both Lene Nystrøm Rasted
and Girls Aloud
.
dominated pop music and we had to wait for our opening." When Sugababes
were dropped by London Records, they recorded "Round Round
" with Xenomania, which Higgins says was "fusing electronics and guitars and tempo changes and melody shifts, so that the chorus was the only repetitive melody whereas traditional pop structure repeats verse melodies." The song would later become a number one single for Sugababes in 2002. Xenomania were approached to create the debut single for a girl group formed through Popstars: The Rivals. The eventual winners, Girls Aloud
, recorded "Sound of the Underground
", one of sixty songs that Higgins and Cooper had written with the aim of launching their own girl group. The song received critical acclaim, with The Guardian
exclaiming it "proved a first: it was a reality pop record that didn't make you want to do physical harm to everyone involved in its manufacture." The song was the Christmas number one of 2002, selling just over 213,000 copies in its first week of release. The single spent four consecutive weeks at number one, achieving a platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry
. "Round Round" and "Sound of the Underground" have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. The Telegraph
placed the song at number 15 on a list of 100 songs that defined the noughties, while NME
included it at number 39.
In 2003, Xenomania went on to write and produce "No Good Advice
" for Girls Aloud
, which reflected his general mood of failure after the deal between Xenomania and London Records fell through. It was said that "Higgins injects an element of instant-catchy-cool to the songs without going overboard in trying to shape uber-chic dance floor hits." Sugababes' "Hole in the Head
", another number one, was also co-written and produced by the production team.
Following the success of Girls Aloud's first four singles, Xenomania was enlisted to produce Girls Aloud's entire second album What Will the Neighbours Say?
in its entirety. Higgins said, "The pressure to come up with singles was, as always, immense. But [...] we were able to have a lot of fun working on ideas that were maybe a little too odd to be on the radio." The Guardian
hailed Neighbours as "a great album: funny, clever, immediate, richly inventive." Stylus Magazine
declared, "There is no pop in the world like Girls Aloud today." All four of the album's singles ("The Show", "Love Machine
", "I'll Stand by You
" and "Wake Me Up") were top five. Xenomania were approached to work with Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue
on new tracks for her greatest hits collection Ultimate Kylie
, including the single "Giving You Up
". Other Xenomania productions proved less successful. Mania
was a joint venture between Higgins and BMG
. The duo, consisting of Xenomania songwriters Giselle Sommerville and Niara Scarlett
, released one single before being dropped. The boy band V
, whose single "Hip to Hip" was produced by Xenomania, was short lived.
" was critically acclaimed, being called "the best pop single of the last decade". Despite their near total obscurity in the United States, the song was listed at number 245 on Pitchfork Media
's "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" list. It was also listed at number 23 on The Observer Music Monthlys 75 best singles of the decade. Chemistry was praised by critic
s upon its release. BBC Music
decided that the album was "quirky, modern and dripping with attitude" and "holds no disappointments." Virgin Media
gave the album five stars, saying it was "bursting [...] with invention, quirky lyrics, tongue-in-cheek sauciness and [...] appeals to grown-up pop fans and music critics as well as to the teenyboppers." In 2008, Slant Magazine
said that "Chemistry is probably still their crowning glory". Xenomania also worked with other British artists such as Bananarama
, Rachel Stevens
, and Texas
. They continued their work with both Saint Etienne and Sugababes, producing the single "Red Dress
". Xenomania also produced Totally Frank
stars Frank
's debut album; the group was dropped after their album failed to perform well.
In 2006, Girls Aloud released their first greatest hits collection The Sound of Girls Aloud
which featured their singles to date, all produced by Xenomania, including "Something Kinda Ooooh
". The song was referred to as "another head-spinningly innovative number from the Xenomania team." The Sound of Girls Aloud has been recognised by the IFPI
as a million-seller. Their fourth studio album, 2007's Tangled Up
, was labelled "yet another unrelenting pop masterpiece." The Times
included it at number 62 on a list of the decade's best pop albums. The single "Call the Shots
" was critically acclaimed, with pop music journalist Peter Robinson
calling it the "greatest pop song of the 21st century." Xenomania also worked with Alesha Dixon
(on the cancelled album Fired Up), Sophie Ellis-Bextor
, and produced two songs for Sugababes' fifth studio album Change
.
released her Xenomania-produced debut album Lessons to Be Learned
. "Sweet About Me
", the debut single, was an international success. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009
, Cilmi won six awards including Single of the Year for "Sweet About Me". In the United Kingdom, Alesha Dixon
's "The Boy Does Nothing" was her first solo top five single. Higgins likened the song to "bottled happiness". Xenomania produced seven more tracks for the album The Alesha Show
and an additional two for its reissue.
While at work on Girls Aloud's fifth studio album Out of Control
. Two members of the Xenomania house band, Jason Resch and Kieran Jones, composed the backing track for "The Promise
", which they played for Higgins. He and Cooper, afraid they'd "ruin the moment", waited weeks to write the song's lyrics; they wrote the song in seven minutes. Higgins said, "We knew that was the piece of music Girls Aloud needed to announce them as a supergroup in this country, so we knew we couldn’t drop the ball melodically or lyrically." "The Promise" became Girls Aloud's first original number one single since "Sound of the Underground". The single became the fastest selling single of 2008 until "Hero" - a charity single by the finalists on The X Factor
- broke its record the following week. "The Promise" won Best British Single at the 2009 BRIT Awards
, Girls Aloud and Xenomania's first win at the prestigious ceremony. The album Out of Control became Girls Aloud's first number one studio album.
Pet Shop Boys
' tenth studio album Yes
was produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania. Yes reached number four on the UK Albums Chart
on , Pet Shop Boys' highest placing since their 1996 album Bilingual
. The album was nominated in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category at the 52nd Grammy Awards
. Don't Stop
, the much delayed second album by Norwegian singer Annie, was released in November 2009. The album includes the single "My Love Is Better
".
Mini Viva
's now-canceled debut album and its respective singles - "Left My Heart in Tokyo
", "I Wish
", and "One Touch
" - were produced by Xenomania. "Left My Heart in Tokyo", which charted within the top ten, was co-written by Annie and Fred Falke
. The song was critically acclaimed. Xenomania also worked with a number of other newer artists, such as Alex Gardner
, Jessie Malakouti
, and Vagabond
, to varying degrees of success (see artist development). In 2011, Xenomania produced two tracks for The Saturdays
album On Your Radar
, including their hit All Fired Up
, which was co-produced with Space Cowboy
and MNEK
. They also produced a song for British boyband The Wanted
for their second album Battleground
entitled "I'll Be Your Strength".
in 2003 during sessions for her fourth album In the Zone
. The song submitted, "Graffiti My Soul
", was not chosen for the album. While the record company loved the song, Spears felt that it needed more of a chorus. Higgins said that they wanted "essentially 'Sound of the Underground 2'." It later appeared on Girls Aloud's What Will the Neighbours Say?.
The production team were due to work with New Order
and Franz Ferdinand
, but both sessions proved fruitless. Xenomania was due to produce for New Order's Waiting for the Sirens' Call
, but Peter Hook
said they "scrapped the Brian Higgins stuff because we didn't like it. I thought he did quite a good job on Girls Aloud but he didn't do a good job on us." Franz Ferdinand
's drummer Paul Thomson
said, "We wrote with Higgins for a while and initially we thought we'd work more with him but it didn't really work out. We just realized that we're not really a pop group."
Xenomania were reported to have written five songs for Leona Lewis
's second album Echo
, described by Cooper as "tragic songs with a twist." The songs did not make the album.
Higgins spoke of bad experiences with bigger artists to Literally magazine in 2009:
In 2009, Xenomania held a "mini festival" entitled Xenofest in which they showcased their artists to journalists, record label representatives, and PRs
. Vagabond
were formed through the programme. Vagabond's vocalist Alex Vargas said, "It sounds cheesy, but we really are one big family". Mini Viva
, who were formed in 2007, spent two years working with Xenomania before their launch. Other artists discovered and developed through Xenomania Records include Alex Gardner
and Jessie Malakouti
.
Due to the project's lack of success, Higgins abandoned the idea of personally developing artists. However, Xenomania's in-house drummer Florrie Arnold
has found Internet success.
in August 2009, "Pop is where the cutting edge of music is but it needs to be done with total sincerity and an incredible amount of skill, otherwise it doesn't warrant its own existence. There is a science to it, but there's magic too. You have to find the space where art and commerce truly meet in the middle, with genuine feeling and sentiment." He has also said, "pop music is maths."
Xenomania are notable for their abnormal writing process. According to an article in Q
magazine's October 2009 issue, "they each work on backing tracks, chords or beats, Higgins choosing the best bits and building up songs like jigsaws." The various pieces of music are discussed at daily meetings and the best become the basis of songs. Higgins "separate[s] music, melody, lyric" and strives to preserve "high level of originality, excitement and dynamism in the writing." He also has "the final say on everything [and] establish the creative direction projects will take". If a piece of music "sounds enticing before a vocal has gone anywhere near it," then Higgins and Cooper will "sketch out" the melody and lyrics. Xenomania may also create multiple melodies over the same backing track and then select the best. Higgins said "we're just not interested in the way other people do things. [...] I've trained not just me but myself, Miranda, Tim, we've trained our minds to think that way". Neil Tennant
of Pet Shop Boys
said that the process "reminded me of working at Smash Hits
'cos you've got this house full of people and they're all totally into music. [...] They all have comments to make. A truly great atmosphere."
Higgins also insists that artists are involved to an extent. Referring to Girls Aloud
in a 2004 interview with The Observer
, Higgins said, "We don't let them out of the room till they've given every ounce of melodic instinct that they've got in them, [...] at the end, you find they've contributed really well." Neil Tennant noted that Higgins "works you very hard. He's very headmaster-ly." Tennant's partner, Chris Lowe
, said Higgins "puts stars by your work, and comments. It's ruthless. It's fantastic!" Norwegian singer Annie said of Higgins, "he's making music all the time and he's really creative and has a lot of good ideas. Serious and ambitious. It gave me an extra punch to work really hard and that was exactly what I needed."
On Xenomania's relatively low output (compared to a group like Stock, Aitken & Waterman), Higgins says, "If you're a production house, you're supposed to work with anyone and everyone: that's the rule...but if we don't feel excited by the prospect of the artist, then the record's going to be shit." Higgins refuses to work "purely for the fee" for the same reasons. He says, "People are coming to me already with a quality idea in mind, because they've heard it. [...] But people need to understand that when they hear something that we've done on the radio, a process has been followed to achieve that." Xenomania have reportedly turned away Atomic Kitten
and Gareth Gates
.
Xenomania work from a large English country house
located in Kent
, where Higgins also lives, and a flat
in Shoreditch
. The country home formerly belonged to Alice Liddell
, the inspiration behind Lewis Carroll
's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
.
, glam rock
, Motown soul
, punk
, and more traditional pop music
. The Observer
wrote that Xenomania are "sonically pioneering songs that have combined dance, rock and rave and resulted in the group being championed by NME as often as MTV." Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant noted that Xenomania "never stick to one sound, so they're never boring. They have a big range."
The varied sound of the production house is influenced by Higgin's own wide tastes growing up. Higgins says, "I discovered punk music, then New Romantic music, then dance music, which got me into the music business professionally." Higgins was a fan of punk rock
groups such as the Buzzcocks
and the Sex Pistols
, as well as more electronic
groups such as New Order
. Additionally, Higgins "was obsessed with synthesisers [...] Duran Duran
and the way they utilised synths, which I thought was amazingly clever, and Japan
, and Depeche Mode
."
In order to stay relevant, Higgins said the team avoids "listening to the radio [or] following contemporary fashions", noting that Girls Aloud's "Call the Shots
" "started as a piece of music in 2005, was written as a song in 2006 and came out [...] in November 2007." However, Paul Thomson
of Franz Ferdinand
said, "He has a team in the kitchen listening to Radio 1 all day, monitoring what's being played. And he has somebody watching fashion TV all day making notes on what kind of beats they're using."
, which generally focuses on independent music, praised Xenomania for their "deathless hooks and multi-genre pyrotechnics [...] songs stuffed to the gills with one, two, three, sometimes four different choruses, sounding like patchwork assemblages of the best bits of a hundred fantasy pop songs." In 2006, British pop website Popjustice
stated, "This cartel of songwriters and producers are the most talented pop powerhouse since the glory days of Cheiron
, and could easily become the most exciting British hit machine of all time." Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton
consistently praises their work.
Xenomania has been given various accolades and recognition. British music industry trade magazine Music Week
said in an October 2008 piece, "As one of song-writing and production team Xenomania, the publicity shy Brian Higgins has been responsible for some of the most life-affirming and innovative pop songs of the last decade." They were named Music Week's Producer of the Year award for 2009. Higgins won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for his work on Cher
's "Believe
"; it was also awarded the sales-based International Hit Of The Year and Best Selling UK Single. It also won the Grammy Award
for Best Dance Recording
. Xenomania won Best British Single for Girls Aloud
's "The Promise
" at the 2009 BRIT Awards
, while Gabriella Cilmi
's "Sweet About Me
" won Best Single at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009
. Pet Shop Boys
' Yes
was nominated in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category at the 52nd Grammy Awards
.
The Observer
placed Higgins at number thirteen in a 2008 list of the twenty most powerful "celebrity makers." The article labeled Xenomania "not only UK pop's most successful songwriting and production team, they're also its most cutting edge." Miranda Cooper was in Harper's Bazaar
Power List 2007 as one of the thirty "women who shape our lives today". They wrote of Cooper, "If it's a hit you want, you'd better talk to Cooper. For the rest of us, Cooper has the power to get a tune inside our heads."
Brian Higgins (producer)
Brian Thomas Higgins is a British music producer who has written and produced albums and tracks for several highly successful pop music singers and groups, most notably Girls Aloud, through his Xenomania production group...
and based in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Formed after Higgins met Miranda Cooper
Miranda Cooper
Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper has been on the UK charts longer than any other female songwriter in the country. In 2007 Harper's Bazaar wrote of her: ‘If it's a hit you want, you'd better talk to Cooper...
, Xenomania has written and produced for renowned artists such as Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
, Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
, Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
, and Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
. In particular, all of Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
's albums (excluding their debut, Sound of the Underground) have been entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Sugababes' "Round Round
Round Round
"Round Round" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes, released on 12 August 2002 through Island Records. It was written by band members Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, as well as Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa...
" and Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground
Sound of the Underground (song)
"Sound of the Underground" is the debut single by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, later featured on their debut album of the same name. The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, and Niara Scarlett, and produced by Higgins and his production team Xenomania...
" have been credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me
Sweet About Me
"Sweet About Me" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Gabriella Cilmi from her debut album, Lessons to Be Learned . Co-written with and produced by Xenomania, it was released in April 2008 as the album's lead single. The song was used in commercials for Sure and Dove Bodywash in Europe, as...
" and Girls Aloud's "The Promise
The Promise (Girls Aloud song)
"The Promise" is a pop song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania...
" were named Best Single at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009
ARIA Music Awards of 2009
The 23rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 26 November 2009 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. The ceremony was telecast on the Nine Network at 8:30pm that night...
and the 2009 BRIT Awards
2009 BRIT Awards
The 2009 BRIT Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 18 February 2009. It was the 29th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, and was broadcast live on ITV1 on 18 February at 8pm...
, respectively.
The team has been referred to as "a Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
" and "a Motown of the 21st-century". Higgins himself has said that Xenomania aspires to be a modern-day version of RAK Records
RAK Records
Rak Records was a British record label, founded by record producer Mickie Most in 1969. Rak was home of artists like Herman's Hermits, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Kenny, Hot Chocolate, Smokie, Arrows, Span, Racey and Kim Wilde. Rak Records were distributed via a licensing deal with EMI, which bought the...
. Of Higgins and Xenomania, Girls Aloud's former manager Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh
Louis Walsh is an Irish music manager and judge on the British television talent show The X Factor.-Band manager:...
says, "He just makes great songs for radio. They just jump out at you and stay in your brain." There are wide influences present in their productions, including electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, Motown soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, and more traditional pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The name "Xenomania" means, according to Higgins, "the exact opposite of Xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
[...] a love of everything, of all cultures." Current members of the Xenomania writing and production team include Higgins, Cooper, Tim Powell and Nick Coler. There is also a Xenomania house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
who work on potential backing tracks; members include Florrie Arnold
Florrie
Florrie is an English singer-songwriter, drummer and model. Closely associated with the Xenomania production house, since joining as their in-house drummer in 2008 she has played live and on record for popular artists such as Girls Aloud and the Pet Shop Boys. In 2010, she began a solo career...
, Kieran Jones, and Jason Resch. Parisian remixer Fred Falke
Fred Falke
Frédérick "Fred" Falke is a French based house producer and DJ of German origin.Falke started out as a bass player around 1995 before turning his hand to production work in the late 1990s...
also frequently works with Xenomania.
Xenomania started a "record label" of the same name in 2008, developing artists and working on material before looking for major label deals. Artists include Alex Gardner
Alex Gardner (singer)
Alex Gardner is a Scottish pop singer from Edinburgh. His debut album, currently yet untitled, is currently being recorded as is due for a release in or around 2012...
, Jessie Malakouti
Jessie Malakouti
Jessica Eden Malakouti, professionally known as Jessie Malakouti, is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. She is currently a member of Jessie and the Toy Boys and is signed to Prospect Park.-Biography:...
, Mini Viva
Mini Viva
Mini Viva were an English pop duo formed in 2008 by British songwriting and production team Xenomania. They were managed by 19 Entertainment and signed to Geffen and Polydor Records. Consisting of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love, the duo were due to release their debut album in 2010...
, and Vagabond
Vagabond (UK band)
Vagabond are a UK band and signed to the newly reformed Geffen Records UK.The band released their debut album, You Don't Know the Half of It on 17 August 2009. You Don't Know the Half of It was produced by Xenomania, who have previously worked with Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Cher, Gabriella Cilmi and...
.
History
Brian Higgins found early success after producing Dannii MinogueDannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
's third studio album, Girl, which gained favorable reviews at the time but failed to enter the British Top 40
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. However, the success of the lead single, "All I Wanna Do
All I Wanna Do (Dannii Minogue song)
"All I Wanna Do" is a dance-pop song written by Brian Higgins, Stuart McLennan, Tim Powell and Matt Gray for Dannii Minogue's third studio album Girl .The song was produced by Higgins and Gray....
", led to a collaboration with Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
and Higgins co-writing her international #1 hit single "Believe
Believe (Cher song)
"Believe" is a song by American recording artist Cher. It was released on November 24, 1998 as the lead single from her twenty-third studio album of the same name. It was written by Brian Higgins, Stuart McLennen, Paul Barry, Steven Torch, Matthew Gray, and Timothy Powell and produced by Mark...
." Although the song outperformed all expectations and won him three Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello
David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
awards, Higgins found himself without a label when London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
was sold in 2000. After eighteen months, he decided to found Xenomania as an independent production company based in Westerham
Westerham
Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, in South East England with 5,000 people. The parish is south of the North Downs, ten miles west of Sevenoaks. It covers 5800 acres . It is recorded as early as the 9th century, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book in a...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, outside of London, because it is "somewhere where concentration would be easy [and] no one 'pops' in." He met Miranda Cooper at the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest when she was a backing dancer for Gina G
Gina G
-Albums:*1997 Fresh! — #12 UK #40 Norway.*1998 Gina G Remix Album *2005 Get Up & Dance -Singles:...
, while Matt Gray had started his musical career in the 1980s, writing music for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
home computer. Nick Coler programmed The KLF
The KLF
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
's singles and Tim Powell started out in 1989 "doing hardcore rave stuff". Higgins attempted to launch Cooper as a solo artist under the stage name Moonbaby but failed to find success. "That's when we started writing for other people," according to Cooper. "I'd had writer's block for myself, but as soon as it was for somebody else all these songs popped out." Moonbaby's "Here We Go
Here We Go (Moonbaby song)
"Here We Go" is a pop song written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, and Matt Gray.The song was originally released on 14 August 2000 by Cooper under the alias Moonbaby. It was later covered by Aqua singer Lene Nystrøm Rasted in 2003 for her debut solo album Play With Me. It was covered again in...
" would later be recorded by both Lene Nystrøm Rasted
Lene Nystrøm Rasted
Lene Nystrøm Rasted , known professionally as Lene, is a Norwegian-Danish singer-songwriter and occasional actress, who is best known as vocalist for the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua....
and Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
.
2002—2004: Commercial breakthrough
Higgins says, "We developed this sound of electronics and guitars fusing together but this was in the late Nineties when R'n'B liteContemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
dominated pop music and we had to wait for our opening." When Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
were dropped by London Records, they recorded "Round Round
Round Round
"Round Round" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes, released on 12 August 2002 through Island Records. It was written by band members Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, as well as Miranda Cooper, Niara Scarlett, Brian Higgins, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, and Lisa...
" with Xenomania, which Higgins says was "fusing electronics and guitars and tempo changes and melody shifts, so that the chorus was the only repetitive melody whereas traditional pop structure repeats verse melodies." The song would later become a number one single for Sugababes in 2002. Xenomania were approached to create the debut single for a girl group formed through Popstars: The Rivals. The eventual winners, Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
, recorded "Sound of the Underground
Sound of the Underground (song)
"Sound of the Underground" is the debut single by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, later featured on their debut album of the same name. The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, and Niara Scarlett, and produced by Higgins and his production team Xenomania...
", one of sixty songs that Higgins and Cooper had written with the aim of launching their own girl group. The song received critical acclaim, with The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
exclaiming it "proved a first: it was a reality pop record that didn't make you want to do physical harm to everyone involved in its manufacture." The song was the Christmas number one of 2002, selling just over 213,000 copies in its first week of release. The single spent four consecutive weeks at number one, achieving a platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
. "Round Round" and "Sound of the Underground" have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
placed the song at number 15 on a list of 100 songs that defined the noughties, while NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
included it at number 39.
In 2003, Xenomania went on to write and produce "No Good Advice
No Good Advice
"No Good Advice" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their debut album Sound of the Underground . The song was written by Aqua's Lene Nystrøm Rasted, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania...
" for Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
, which reflected his general mood of failure after the deal between Xenomania and London Records fell through. It was said that "Higgins injects an element of instant-catchy-cool to the songs without going overboard in trying to shape uber-chic dance floor hits." Sugababes' "Hole in the Head
Hole in the Head
"Hole in the Head" is a dance-pop song performed by Sugababes, released in October 2003 as the lead single from their third studio album Three...
", another number one, was also co-written and produced by the production team.
Following the success of Girls Aloud's first four singles, Xenomania was enlisted to produce Girls Aloud's entire second album What Will the Neighbours Say?
What Will the Neighbours Say?
What Will the Neighbours Say? is the second album by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 29 November 2004 by Polydor Records. Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania were enlisted to produce the entire album, allowing for more inventive ideas...
in its entirety. Higgins said, "The pressure to come up with singles was, as always, immense. But [...] we were able to have a lot of fun working on ideas that were maybe a little too odd to be on the radio." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
hailed Neighbours as "a great album: funny, clever, immediate, richly inventive." Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
declared, "There is no pop in the world like Girls Aloud today." All four of the album's singles ("The Show", "Love Machine
Love Machine (Girls Aloud song)
"Love Machine" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their second studio album What Will the Neighbours Say? . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania...
", "I'll Stand by You
I'll Stand by You
"I'll Stand by You" is a 1994 song recorded by The Pretenders from their sixth studio album, Last of the Independents. Written by Chrissie Hynde in collaboration with the songwriting team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg , it was the Pretenders' most recent significant hit single, and their last...
" and "Wake Me Up") were top five. Xenomania were approached to work with Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
on new tracks for her greatest hits collection Ultimate Kylie
Ultimate Kylie
Ultimate Kylie is the third compilation album by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue, which was released in November 2004 by Parlophone Records. This collection superseded Kylie's 1992 Greatest Hits compilation and the 2000 compilation Hits+. It was released with the Copy Control...
, including the single "Giving You Up
Giving You Up
UK CD 1# "Giving You Up" - 3:31# "Made of Glass" - 3:12UK CD 2# "Giving You Up" - 3:31...
". Other Xenomania productions proved less successful. Mania
Mania (band)
Mania was a British pop duo, composed of Niara Scarlett and Giselle Sommerville. The two met while contributing songwriting for the British pop production house, Xenomania, and formed Mania in 2004...
was a joint venture between Higgins and BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
. The duo, consisting of Xenomania songwriters Giselle Sommerville and Niara Scarlett
Niara Scarlett
Niara Scarlett is a British born singer-songwriter, perhaps most famous for her work with British production house Xenomania. Scarlett appeared on a number of dub, garage, grime, and house singles in the latter half of the 1990s and the 2000s.-Background:...
, released one single before being dropped. The boy band V
V (band)
V were a UK five-piece boyband made up of Antony Thomas Brant, Aaron Buckingham, Mark Harle, Kevin McDaid and Leon Pisani.-Career:Band member Antony Brant came up with the band name "V" because V is the Roman numeral for five and there were five members in the band...
, whose single "Hip to Hip" was produced by Xenomania, was short lived.
2005—2007: Critical acclaim
Higgins and Xenomania were once again given free rein for Girls Aloud's third studio album Chemistry. The album's lead single "BiologyBiology (song)
"Biology" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their third studio album Chemistry . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. Composed of distinct sections, it avoids the...
" was critically acclaimed, being called "the best pop single of the last decade". Despite their near total obscurity in the United States, the song was listed at number 245 on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" list. It was also listed at number 23 on The Observer Music Monthlys 75 best singles of the decade. Chemistry was praised by critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
s upon its release. BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
decided that the album was "quirky, modern and dripping with attitude" and "holds no disappointments." Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
gave the album five stars, saying it was "bursting [...] with invention, quirky lyrics, tongue-in-cheek sauciness and [...] appeals to grown-up pop fans and music critics as well as to the teenyboppers." In 2008, Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
said that "Chemistry is probably still their crowning glory". Xenomania also worked with other British artists such as Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
, Rachel Stevens
Rachel Stevens
Rachel Lauren Stevens is an English singer-songwriter, actress, presenter, dancer, television personality and model. She is a former member of the successful pop group S Club, and launched a solo recording career in 2003, releasing seven singles and two albums in the UK between 2003 and 2005...
, and Texas
Texas (band)
Texas are a Scottish pop band from Bearsden, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee...
. They continued their work with both Saint Etienne and Sugababes, producing the single "Red Dress
Red Dress (song)
"Red Dress" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes from their fourth studio album, Taller in More Ways. It was written by band members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, Heidi Range, and Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, and Bob Bradley of the...
". Xenomania also produced Totally Frank
Totally Frank
Totally Frank was a comedy drama series with a real life band as its stars on Channel 4. It followed a band, Frank, who were struggling to make it in the music industry.-Frank:...
stars Frank
Frank (band)
Frank was the girl group from Channel 4's comedy drama series Totally Frank. Frank consisted of lead singer Lauren Blake , guitarist Bryony Afferson , keyboard player Helena Dowling and drummer Hayley Angel Wardle...
's debut album; the group was dropped after their album failed to perform well.
In 2006, Girls Aloud released their first greatest hits collection The Sound of Girls Aloud
The Sound of Girls Aloud
The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits anthology by British and Irish all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2006 and entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, making it Girls Aloud's first number one album. As of...
which featured their singles to date, all produced by Xenomania, including "Something Kinda Ooooh
Something Kinda Ooooh
"Something Kinda Ooooh" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their first greatest hits collection The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania...
". The song was referred to as "another head-spinningly innovative number from the Xenomania team." The Sound of Girls Aloud has been recognised by the IFPI
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
as a million-seller. Their fourth studio album, 2007's Tangled Up
Tangled Up
Tangled Up is the fourth studio album by the British all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2007 by Fascination Records. Like their previous albums, Tangled Up was crafted by the production team of Brian Higgins and Xenomania...
, was labelled "yet another unrelenting pop masterpiece." The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
included it at number 62 on a list of the decade's best pop albums. The single "Call the Shots
Call the Shots
"Call the Shots" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fourth studio album Tangled Up . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania...
" was critically acclaimed, with pop music journalist Peter Robinson
Peter Robinson (journalist)
Peter Robinson is a British music journalist. He is the creator of the pop music-based blog Popjustice. Robinson first came to the attention of music fans with his self-published biography/fanzine of The KLF, Justified and Ancient History...
calling it the "greatest pop song of the 21st century." Xenomania also worked with Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
(on the cancelled album Fired Up), Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...
, and produced two songs for Sugababes' fifth studio album Change
Change (Sugababes album)
Change is the fifth studio album by English girl group Sugababes, released through Island Records during October 2007 in most European territories. The album features production by Dr...
.
2008—present
In 2008, Xenomania's success continued. Australian singe-songwriter Gabriella CilmiGabriella Cilmi
Gabriella Lucia Cilmi is an Australian singer-songwriter. In 2008, Cilmi was awarded six ARIA awards including Single of the Year and Best Female Artist....
released her Xenomania-produced debut album Lessons to Be Learned
Lessons to Be Learned
Lessons to Be Learned is the debut album by Australian singer-songwriter Gabriella Cilmi, released in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2008 by Island Records and in Australia on 10 May 2008 by Mushroom Records...
. "Sweet About Me
Sweet About Me
"Sweet About Me" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Gabriella Cilmi from her debut album, Lessons to Be Learned . Co-written with and produced by Xenomania, it was released in April 2008 as the album's lead single. The song was used in commercials for Sure and Dove Bodywash in Europe, as...
", the debut single, was an international success. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009
ARIA Music Awards of 2009
The 23rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 26 November 2009 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. The ceremony was telecast on the Nine Network at 8:30pm that night...
, Cilmi won six awards including Single of the Year for "Sweet About Me". In the United Kingdom, Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
's "The Boy Does Nothing" was her first solo top five single. Higgins likened the song to "bottled happiness". Xenomania produced seven more tracks for the album The Alesha Show
The Alesha Show
The Alesha Show is the second studio album from British R&B recording artist Alesha Dixon, the album is her first album to be released in the United Kingdom. It was released on November 24, 2008 in the UK by Asylum Records...
and an additional two for its reissue.
While at work on Girls Aloud's fifth studio album Out of Control
Out of Control (Girls Aloud album)
Out of Control is the fifth studio album by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It was released in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2008 by Fascination Records. Like their previous albums, Out of Control was crafted by the production team of Brian Higgins and Xenomania...
. Two members of the Xenomania house band, Jason Resch and Kieran Jones, composed the backing track for "The Promise
The Promise (Girls Aloud song)
"The Promise" is a pop song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania...
", which they played for Higgins. He and Cooper, afraid they'd "ruin the moment", waited weeks to write the song's lyrics; they wrote the song in seven minutes. Higgins said, "We knew that was the piece of music Girls Aloud needed to announce them as a supergroup in this country, so we knew we couldn’t drop the ball melodically or lyrically." "The Promise" became Girls Aloud's first original number one single since "Sound of the Underground". The single became the fastest selling single of 2008 until "Hero" - a charity single by the finalists on The X Factor
The X Factor (UK series 5)
The fifth UK series of The X Factor was broadcast on ITV in 2008. The series started on 16 August and was won by Alexandra Burke on 13 December, with new judge Cheryl Cole emerging as the winning mentor. Auditions in front of producers were held in April/May, with callbacks in front of the judges...
- broke its record the following week. "The Promise" won Best British Single at the 2009 BRIT Awards
2009 BRIT Awards
The 2009 BRIT Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 18 February 2009. It was the 29th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, and was broadcast live on ITV1 on 18 February at 8pm...
, Girls Aloud and Xenomania's first win at the prestigious ceremony. The album Out of Control became Girls Aloud's first number one studio album.
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
' tenth studio album Yes
Yes (Pet Shop Boys album)
Yes is the tenth studio album by English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and is produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist Johnny Marr and string arranger Owen Pallett appear as well...
was produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania. Yes reached number four on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
on , Pet Shop Boys' highest placing since their 1996 album Bilingual
Bilingual (album)
Bilingual is the tenth album by the English dance music group Pet Shop Boys. It has sold about 1,000,000 albums world-wide.-Overview:...
. The album was nominated in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category at the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
. Don't Stop
Don't Stop (Annie album)
Don't Stop is the second studio album by Norwegian recording artist Annie. Originally intended for a 2008 release on UK-based Island Records, the planned release date was pushed back...
, the much delayed second album by Norwegian singer Annie, was released in November 2009. The album includes the single "My Love Is Better
My Love Is Better
"My Love Is Better" is a song by Norwegian singer–songwriter Annie from her second studio album, Don't Stop . Released as the album's second single on 9 October 2009, the track originally had featured backing vocals by Girls Aloud....
".
Mini Viva
Mini Viva
Mini Viva were an English pop duo formed in 2008 by British songwriting and production team Xenomania. They were managed by 19 Entertainment and signed to Geffen and Polydor Records. Consisting of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love, the duo were due to release their debut album in 2010...
's now-canceled debut album and its respective singles - "Left My Heart in Tokyo
Left My Heart in Tokyo
"Left My Heart in Tokyo" is a song by British girl group Mini Viva, co-written by Norwegian singer Annie and remixer Fred Falke and produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. The song was released as Mini Viva's debut single in September 2009...
", "I Wish
I Wish
I Wish may refer to:* "I Wish" , 2000* "I Wish" , 2009* "I Wish" , 2000* "I Wish" , 2000* "I Wish" , 1994* "I Wish" , 1995...
", and "One Touch
One Touch (song)
"One Touch" is a song by English female pop duo Mini Viva, written and produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. The song was released as Mini Viva's third and final ever single on 9 May 2010. Remixes from Wideboys, Christian TV and Tom Neville have also been commissioned...
" - were produced by Xenomania. "Left My Heart in Tokyo", which charted within the top ten, was co-written by Annie and Fred Falke
Fred Falke
Frédérick "Fred" Falke is a French based house producer and DJ of German origin.Falke started out as a bass player around 1995 before turning his hand to production work in the late 1990s...
. The song was critically acclaimed. Xenomania also worked with a number of other newer artists, such as Alex Gardner
Alex Gardner (singer)
Alex Gardner is a Scottish pop singer from Edinburgh. His debut album, currently yet untitled, is currently being recorded as is due for a release in or around 2012...
, Jessie Malakouti
Jessie Malakouti
Jessica Eden Malakouti, professionally known as Jessie Malakouti, is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. She is currently a member of Jessie and the Toy Boys and is signed to Prospect Park.-Biography:...
, and Vagabond
Vagabond (UK band)
Vagabond are a UK band and signed to the newly reformed Geffen Records UK.The band released their debut album, You Don't Know the Half of It on 17 August 2009. You Don't Know the Half of It was produced by Xenomania, who have previously worked with Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Cher, Gabriella Cilmi and...
, to varying degrees of success (see artist development). In 2011, Xenomania produced two tracks for The Saturdays
The Saturdays
The Saturdays are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London, United Kingdom. The group consists of five members Una Healy, Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Vanessa White and Rochelle Wiseman. In 2007 the band were formed through Fascination Records which gave them an instant record deal with...
album On Your Radar
On Your Radar (album)
On Your Radar is the third full-length studio album by British-Irish pop girl-group The Saturdays. The album was released 21 November 2011 under Fascination Records...
, including their hit All Fired Up
All Fired Up (song)
"All Fired Up" is the second single released from girl-group The Saturdays's third studio album, On Your Radar. The single is their eleventh single released to date. The single was released on 4 September 2011. The song was written by Xenomania, Tim Deal, Matt Gray, Annie Yuill, Miranda Cooper, and...
, which was co-produced with Space Cowboy
Space Cowboy
Space Cowboy may refer to any of the following:* "Space Cowboy" , from the album Banaroo's World* Space Cowboy, song from the Jonzun Crew album Lost in Space...
and MNEK
MNEK
Uzoechi Osisioma Emenike professionally known as MNEK , is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He is of Nigerian-Igbo descent. He is signed to EMI Music Publishing. He is known for his retro style, colourful glasses, and hi-top fade...
. They also produced a song for British boyband The Wanted
The Wanted
The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band based in London, England. The band consists of Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Their debut single, "All Time Low", was released in July 2010 and reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week...
for their second album Battleground
Battleground (album)
Battleground is the second studio album released by British boyband The Wanted on 4 November 2011 through Island Records. Three singles preceded the album, "Gold Forever" , "Glad You Came" and "Lightning" .The album was released in two different editions, the standard edition features 11 tracks...
entitled "I'll Be Your Strength".
Failed collaborations
Xenomania worked with Britney SpearsBritney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
in 2003 during sessions for her fourth album In the Zone
In the Zone
In the Zone is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released on November 16, 2003, by Jive Records. Following the end of the Dream Within a Dream Tour in July 2002 and her break-up with Justin Timberlake, Spears announced she would take a six-month break from her...
. The song submitted, "Graffiti My Soul
Graffiti My Soul
"Graffiti My Soul" is a song by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, written and produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Originally written for Britney Spears and including a sample of Peplab's "It's Not The Drug", the song appeared on Girls Aloud's second album What Will...
", was not chosen for the album. While the record company loved the song, Spears felt that it needed more of a chorus. Higgins said that they wanted "essentially 'Sound of the Underground 2'." It later appeared on Girls Aloud's What Will the Neighbours Say?.
The production team were due to work with New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
and Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
, but both sessions proved fruitless. Xenomania was due to produce for New Order's Waiting for the Sirens' Call
Waiting for the Sirens' Call
-Singles:* "Krafty" * "Jetstream" * "Waiting for the Sirens' Call" * "Guilt Is a Useless Emotion" -Personnel:* Bernard Sumner – vocals, guitars, synthesisers and programming...
, but Peter Hook
Peter Hook
Peter Hook is an English bass player, musician and author.He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until...
said they "scrapped the Brian Higgins stuff because we didn't like it. I thought he did quite a good job on Girls Aloud but he didn't do a good job on us." Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
's drummer Paul Thomson
Paul Thomson
Paul Thomson is the drummer for the Glasgow based band, Franz Ferdinand....
said, "We wrote with Higgins for a while and initially we thought we'd work more with him but it didn't really work out. We just realized that we're not really a pop group."
Xenomania were reported to have written five songs for Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....
's second album Echo
Echo (Leona Lewis album)
Echo is the second studio album by British pop/R&B singer and songwriter Leona Lewis. It was released from 9 November 2009 including 16 November 2009 in the United Kingdom, and 17 November 2009 in the United States. Its worldwide release was through Sony Music.Lewis worked with Ryan Tedder, Justin...
, described by Cooper as "tragic songs with a twist." The songs did not make the album.
Higgins spoke of bad experiences with bigger artists to Literally magazine in 2009:
"Everything about us is about enormous enthusiasm for something. And therefore big artists can come in and they think "they're the flavour of the whatever, let's take their thing and then we'll do what we want with it..." Well, no, that's not acceptable anyway. I've had that experience happen where the big artists were fine until they got into the mix room and then they basically pulled the record to pieces. So I took my name off the record and the writing credits off the record. Because they're assholes. And they sold about 20,000 copies, and they've never been seen since. So big artists are often jerks of the biggest order. And often people say don't meet your heroes because you'll be let down, and I sort of understand why people would say that."
Artist development
Xenomania spent two years looking for talent worldwide, establishing Xenomania Records. Higgins said, "It's very difficult to get in. Everyone's hand-picked." They write, produce, and rehearse music before they "sell record companies the artists they've discovered and developed." He also noted, "We'd love to be a modern day version of RAK, where the artists are signed and developed here." The goal is to establish an "entertainment company, with Higgins [...] presiding over a pool of talent, retaining key rights to the artists they develop." Higgins also says, "I object to the word 'manufactured' cause I think it's invariably said with a vague sneer. The real phrase is 'producer driven'."In 2009, Xenomania held a "mini festival" entitled Xenofest in which they showcased their artists to journalists, record label representatives, and PRs
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
. Vagabond
Vagabond (UK band)
Vagabond are a UK band and signed to the newly reformed Geffen Records UK.The band released their debut album, You Don't Know the Half of It on 17 August 2009. You Don't Know the Half of It was produced by Xenomania, who have previously worked with Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Cher, Gabriella Cilmi and...
were formed through the programme. Vagabond's vocalist Alex Vargas said, "It sounds cheesy, but we really are one big family". Mini Viva
Mini Viva
Mini Viva were an English pop duo formed in 2008 by British songwriting and production team Xenomania. They were managed by 19 Entertainment and signed to Geffen and Polydor Records. Consisting of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love, the duo were due to release their debut album in 2010...
, who were formed in 2007, spent two years working with Xenomania before their launch. Other artists discovered and developed through Xenomania Records include Alex Gardner
Alex Gardner (singer)
Alex Gardner is a Scottish pop singer from Edinburgh. His debut album, currently yet untitled, is currently being recorded as is due for a release in or around 2012...
and Jessie Malakouti
Jessie Malakouti
Jessica Eden Malakouti, professionally known as Jessie Malakouti, is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. She is currently a member of Jessie and the Toy Boys and is signed to Prospect Park.-Biography:...
.
Due to the project's lack of success, Higgins abandoned the idea of personally developing artists. However, Xenomania's in-house drummer Florrie Arnold
Florrie
Florrie is an English singer-songwriter, drummer and model. Closely associated with the Xenomania production house, since joining as their in-house drummer in 2008 she has played live and on record for popular artists such as Girls Aloud and the Pet Shop Boys. In 2010, she began a solo career...
has found Internet success.
Work ethic
Higgins told The TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
in August 2009, "Pop is where the cutting edge of music is but it needs to be done with total sincerity and an incredible amount of skill, otherwise it doesn't warrant its own existence. There is a science to it, but there's magic too. You have to find the space where art and commerce truly meet in the middle, with genuine feeling and sentiment." He has also said, "pop music is maths."
Xenomania are notable for their abnormal writing process. According to an article in Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine's October 2009 issue, "they each work on backing tracks, chords or beats, Higgins choosing the best bits and building up songs like jigsaws." The various pieces of music are discussed at daily meetings and the best become the basis of songs. Higgins "separate[s] music, melody, lyric" and strives to preserve "high level of originality, excitement and dynamism in the writing." He also has "the final say on everything [and] establish the creative direction projects will take". If a piece of music "sounds enticing before a vocal has gone anywhere near it," then Higgins and Cooper will "sketch out" the melody and lyrics. Xenomania may also create multiple melodies over the same backing track and then select the best. Higgins said "we're just not interested in the way other people do things. [...] I've trained not just me but myself, Miranda, Tim, we've trained our minds to think that way". Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
of Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
said that the process "reminded me of working at Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
'cos you've got this house full of people and they're all totally into music. [...] They all have comments to make. A truly great atmosphere."
Higgins also insists that artists are involved to an extent. Referring to Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
in a 2004 interview with The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, Higgins said, "We don't let them out of the room till they've given every ounce of melodic instinct that they've got in them, [...] at the end, you find they've contributed really well." Neil Tennant noted that Higgins "works you very hard. He's very headmaster-ly." Tennant's partner, Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
, said Higgins "puts stars by your work, and comments. It's ruthless. It's fantastic!" Norwegian singer Annie said of Higgins, "he's making music all the time and he's really creative and has a lot of good ideas. Serious and ambitious. It gave me an extra punch to work really hard and that was exactly what I needed."
On Xenomania's relatively low output (compared to a group like Stock, Aitken & Waterman), Higgins says, "If you're a production house, you're supposed to work with anyone and everyone: that's the rule...but if we don't feel excited by the prospect of the artist, then the record's going to be shit." Higgins refuses to work "purely for the fee" for the same reasons. He says, "People are coming to me already with a quality idea in mind, because they've heard it. [...] But people need to understand that when they hear something that we've done on the radio, a process has been followed to achieve that." Xenomania have reportedly turned away Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten were an English girl group from Liverpool, first established in 1997. Created by Andy McCluskey, the final line-up, and most commercially successful, consisted of Natasha Hamilton, Liz McClarnon, and Jenny Frost...
and Gareth Gates
Gareth Gates
Gareth Paul Gates , is an English singer-songwriter. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol. Gates has sold over 3.5 million records in the UK alone. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly...
.
Xenomania work from a large English country house
English country house
The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...
located in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, where Higgins also lives, and a flat
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
in Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
. The country home formerly belonged to Alice Liddell
Alice Liddell
Alice Pleasance Liddell , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Alice Hargreaves, inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist Alice is said to be named after her.-Biography:...
, the inspiration behind Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
.
Influences
Of the production group's philosophy and outlook, Higgins says, "What we stand for [...] is everything about the interesting side of music, but with tunes the postman will whistle." There are a number of influences present in Xenomania's productions, including electronicElectronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
, glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, Motown soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, and more traditional pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
wrote that Xenomania are "sonically pioneering songs that have combined dance, rock and rave and resulted in the group being championed by NME as often as MTV." Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant noted that Xenomania "never stick to one sound, so they're never boring. They have a big range."
The varied sound of the production house is influenced by Higgin's own wide tastes growing up. Higgins says, "I discovered punk music, then New Romantic music, then dance music, which got me into the music business professionally." Higgins was a fan of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
groups such as the Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley.They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock. They achieved commercial...
and the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
, as well as more electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
groups such as New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
. Additionally, Higgins "was obsessed with synthesisers [...] Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and the way they utilised synths, which I thought was amazingly clever, and Japan
Japan (band)
Japan were a British New Wave group, formed in 1974 in Catford, South London. The band achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they were often associated with the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement .- History :The band began as a group of friends...
, and Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
."
In order to stay relevant, Higgins said the team avoids "listening to the radio [or] following contemporary fashions", noting that Girls Aloud's "Call the Shots
Call the Shots
"Call the Shots" is a song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fourth studio album Tangled Up . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania...
" "started as a piece of music in 2005, was written as a song in 2006 and came out [...] in November 2007." However, Paul Thomson
Paul Thomson
Paul Thomson is the drummer for the Glasgow based band, Franz Ferdinand....
of Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
said, "He has a team in the kitchen listening to Radio 1 all day, monitoring what's being played. And he has somebody watching fashion TV all day making notes on what kind of beats they're using."
Critical response and recognition
Since their inception, Xenomania has garnered praise from all areas of the international media. Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, which generally focuses on independent music, praised Xenomania for their "deathless hooks and multi-genre pyrotechnics [...] songs stuffed to the gills with one, two, three, sometimes four different choruses, sounding like patchwork assemblages of the best bits of a hundred fantasy pop songs." In 2006, British pop website Popjustice
Popjustice
Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 and is the work of UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for NME, The Guardian, Attitude and many others....
stated, "This cartel of songwriters and producers are the most talented pop powerhouse since the glory days of Cheiron
Cheiron Studios
Cheiron Studios was a recording studio located at Kungsholmen, Stockholm, Sweden founded in 1992 by Denniz PoP and Tom Talomaa. Cheiron Studios was apart from being a recording studio, also a label Cheiron Records in affiliation with BMG for a while, and the music publishing service Cheiron Songs...
, and could easily become the most exciting British hit machine of all time." Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. , better known as Perez Hilton , is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com , is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities...
consistently praises their work.
Xenomania has been given various accolades and recognition. British music industry trade magazine Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
said in an October 2008 piece, "As one of song-writing and production team Xenomania, the publicity shy Brian Higgins has been responsible for some of the most life-affirming and innovative pop songs of the last decade." They were named Music Week's Producer of the Year award for 2009. Higgins won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for his work on Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
's "Believe
Believe (Cher song)
"Believe" is a song by American recording artist Cher. It was released on November 24, 1998 as the lead single from her twenty-third studio album of the same name. It was written by Brian Higgins, Stuart McLennen, Paul Barry, Steven Torch, Matthew Gray, and Timothy Powell and produced by Mark...
"; it was also awarded the sales-based International Hit Of The Year and Best Selling UK Single. It also won the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Dance Recording
Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality vocal performances in the dance music genre...
. Xenomania won Best British Single for Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
's "The Promise
The Promise (Girls Aloud song)
"The Promise" is a pop song performed by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud, taken from their fifth studio album Out of Control . The song was written by Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania...
" at the 2009 BRIT Awards
2009 BRIT Awards
The 2009 BRIT Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 18 February 2009. It was the 29th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, and was broadcast live on ITV1 on 18 February at 8pm...
, while Gabriella Cilmi
Gabriella Cilmi
Gabriella Lucia Cilmi is an Australian singer-songwriter. In 2008, Cilmi was awarded six ARIA awards including Single of the Year and Best Female Artist....
's "Sweet About Me
Sweet About Me
"Sweet About Me" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Gabriella Cilmi from her debut album, Lessons to Be Learned . Co-written with and produced by Xenomania, it was released in April 2008 as the album's lead single. The song was used in commercials for Sure and Dove Bodywash in Europe, as...
" won Best Single at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009
ARIA Music Awards of 2009
The 23rd Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 26 November 2009 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. The ceremony was telecast on the Nine Network at 8:30pm that night...
. Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
' Yes
Yes (Pet Shop Boys album)
Yes is the tenth studio album by English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and is produced by Brian Higgins and his production team Xenomania. Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist Johnny Marr and string arranger Owen Pallett appear as well...
was nominated in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category at the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
.
The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
placed Higgins at number thirteen in a 2008 list of the twenty most powerful "celebrity makers." The article labeled Xenomania "not only UK pop's most successful songwriting and production team, they're also its most cutting edge." Miranda Cooper was in Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
Power List 2007 as one of the thirty "women who shape our lives today". They wrote of Cooper, "If it's a hit you want, you'd better talk to Cooper. For the rest of us, Cooper has the power to get a tune inside our heads."
List of acts who have performed Xenomania songs
- Alesha DixonAlesha DixonAlesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
- Alex GardnerAlex Gardner (singer)Alex Gardner is a Scottish pop singer from Edinburgh. His debut album, currently yet untitled, is currently being recorded as is due for a release in or around 2012...
- Alexis StrumAlexis StrumAlexis Rebecca Strum is an English actress, singer-songwriter and comedy writer.After a long career in the music industry , Alexis is currently focusing on her acting career, touring the UK as Eva Cassidy's sister, Margaret in the musical 'Over The Rainbow- The Eva Cassidy Story' , whilst forging...
- Annie
- BananaramaBananaramaBananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
- CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
- ChicaneChicane (recording artist)Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
- Dannii MinogueDannii MinogueDanielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
- FrankFrank (band)Frank was the girl group from Channel 4's comedy drama series Totally Frank. Frank consisted of lead singer Lauren Blake , guitarist Bryony Afferson , keyboard player Helena Dowling and drummer Hayley Angel Wardle...
- Gabriella CilmiGabriella CilmiGabriella Lucia Cilmi is an Australian singer-songwriter. In 2008, Cilmi was awarded six ARIA awards including Single of the Year and Best Female Artist....
- Girls AloudGirls AloudGirls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
- JemJem (singer)Jemma Griffiths , better known as Jem, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Finally Woken, includes elements of rock, new wave-styled electronica and trip-hop...
- Jessie MalakoutiJessie MalakoutiJessica Eden Malakouti, professionally known as Jessie Malakouti, is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. She is currently a member of Jessie and the Toy Boys and is signed to Prospect Park.-Biography:...
- Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
- Lene Nystrøm RastedLene Nystrøm RastedLene Nystrøm Rasted , known professionally as Lene, is a Norwegian-Danish singer-songwriter and occasional actress, who is best known as vocalist for the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua....
- LunaeLunaeLunae was a short-lived Spanish pop group built upon the success of Operación Triunfo a reality show talent contest popular on Spain's TVE network....
- ManiaMania (band)Mania was a British pop duo, composed of Niara Scarlett and Giselle Sommerville. The two met while contributing songwriting for the British pop production house, Xenomania, and formed Mania in 2004...
- Mel Blatt
- Mini VivaMini VivaMini Viva were an English pop duo formed in 2008 by British songwriting and production team Xenomania. They were managed by 19 Entertainment and signed to Geffen and Polydor Records. Consisting of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love, the duo were due to release their debut album in 2010...
- Moonbaby
- Natacha AtlasNatacha AtlasNatacha Atlas is a Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western electronic music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "cha'abi moderne" . Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabic, hip hop, drum 'n' bass and reggae.Atlas began her career as part of...
- Pet Shop BoysPet Shop BoysPet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
- Rachel StevensRachel StevensRachel Lauren Stevens is an English singer-songwriter, actress, presenter, dancer, television personality and model. She is a former member of the successful pop group S Club, and launched a solo recording career in 2003, releasing seven singles and two albums in the UK between 2003 and 2005...
- Saint EtienneSaint Etienne (band)Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
- The SaturdaysThe SaturdaysThe Saturdays are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London, United Kingdom. The group consists of five members Una Healy, Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Vanessa White and Rochelle Wiseman. In 2007 the band were formed through Fascination Records which gave them an instant record deal with...
- Sophie Ellis-BextorSophie Ellis-BextorSophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor is an English singer, songwriter, model and occasional DJ. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s, as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo, achieving widespread success in the early 2000s...
- SugababesSugababesThe Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
- TexasTexas (band)Texas are a Scottish pop band from Bearsden, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone in 1986 and feature Sharleen Spiteri on lead vocals. Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at Scotland's University of Dundee...
- VV (band)V were a UK five-piece boyband made up of Antony Thomas Brant, Aaron Buckingham, Mark Harle, Kevin McDaid and Leon Pisani.-Career:Band member Antony Brant came up with the band name "V" because V is the Roman numeral for five and there were five members in the band...
- VagabondVagabond (UK band)Vagabond are a UK band and signed to the newly reformed Geffen Records UK.The band released their debut album, You Don't Know the Half of It on 17 August 2009. You Don't Know the Half of It was produced by Xenomania, who have previously worked with Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Cher, Gabriella Cilmi and...
- The WantedThe WantedThe Wanted are a British-Irish boy band based in London, England. The band consists of Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Their debut single, "All Time Low", was released in July 2010 and reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week...