Westlife – Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and Shane Filan - are back, with their
brand new RatPack themed album Allow Us To Be Frank. The lp is a collection of the band's favourite classics
from the golden Rat Pack era. Featuring tracks originally performed by legends such as Dean Martin, Sammy Davis jnr
and Mr Frank Sinatra, Allow Us To Be Frank pays homage to those bourbon filled years when the RatPack used
to hang out and perform at The Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. On Allow Us To Be Frank Westlife
fully capture the spirit and image of that unique time; with immaculately tailored suits and their hair smoothed back, the
band couldn't look more authentic…
Produced by long-time collaborator Steve Mac, the album highlights the band's vocal prowess
and ability. Westlife recorded the album with a full 60 piece orchestra at Phoenix Studios in Wembley. Recorded over the Summer
of 2004, the band's first album as a four-piece (5th studio album in total) is their strongest to date.
The album consists of 13 classic tracks, including Fly Me To The Moon, Moon River,
Ain’t That A Kick In The Head, Come Fly With Me and Smile to name a few. Allow
Us To Be Frank also includes an extra special duet - The Way You Look Tonight - featuring the band singing
alongside a fan plucked from obscurity… She was chosen after thousands of hopefuls auditioned in front of Shane,
Mark, Nicky and Kian in a nationwide talent search earlier this year; the auditions will be part of an ITV primetime Westlife
TV special titled 'You're The One', which will be screened in December.
Westlife spent time recording videos in LA and Las Vegas to complete the authentic look. Whilst
in Vegas the band took time to visit some of the legendary Rat Pack locations. They also performed at the World Music Awards
where they were presented with an award for this year's Best Selling Irish Act.
"We had a great time recording this album. We have always loved the whole spirit and style
of the Rat Pack era. They had a strong family vibe going on which is what we have in Westlife. The only problem was
how to choose an album's worth of material with such a strong catalogue to pick from - It was tough but we got there in the
end…" said Kian.
