With special guest Iona Zajac

How time flies. It’s been 40 years since Alison Moyet stepped out of Yazoo and fired up a solo career with her #1 debut album ‘Alf’ and Top 10 hits ‘Love Resurrection’ and ‘All Cried Out’. That unmistakable voice - big enough to fill a stadium and yet intimate enough to make you feel as though she’s singing just for you - has taken her on quite a journey since, with career highlights including two #1 albums, six Top 10 singles, two BRIT Awards and a Grammy nomination.

Following her recent graduation from Brighton University in 2023 with a first-class degree in Fine Art Printmaking BA (Hons), Alison Moyet has combined both art and music here, creating the album art herself to celebrate her 40th year as a solo artist with the release of ‘Key’ on October 4th - a collection of 16 reworked singles, fan favourites and deep cuts as well as two new songs which combine to present a blazing showcase of the depth and breadth of her artistic creativity and song writing. She launches the album by sharing one of its brand new songs, ‘Such Small Ale’ alongside the reworked classic Moyet single ‘All Cried Out’.

Alison says, “I wanted to take the opportunity to look at the trajectory of the past four decades and explore songs that, in their original form, were never fully realised or have had their relevance to me altered by time.”

The songs that feature on ‘Key’ were all reimagined alongside her producer, arranger and musical director Sean McGhee. Some songs remain closer to the originals, ‘All Cried Out’ and ‘Love Resurrection’ are refreshed rather than reinvented, their ‘80s motifs switched for a more timeless production. And others are cast in a new light, see McGhee’s exquisite arrangements of both Guy Sigsworth co-write ‘Filigree’, and ‘Is This Love?’, now translated as a sweeping, shimmering epic ballad. This album has allowed Alison to revisit some of the song writing highlights of her career including tracks such as ‘Can’t Say It Like I Mean It’ and ‘This House’.

The lavish new single ‘Such Small Ale’ fits naturally alongside the classics, with Alison’s voice seasoned by experience but losing none of its emotion-inspiring grandeur. It’s also a song that’s the perfect fit for how her voice has developed, one that feels both contemporary but with a hint of nostalgic ‘60s flavour. Alison wrote the song with McGhee and Suede guitarist Richard Oakes, the latter of whom performs on several tracks on the album.