Roulette (album)

Blue began recording new material in July 2010. They revealed during an interview in March 2011 that they had recorded a collaboration with American R&B superstar Bruno Mars for their upcoming, fourth studio album. Discussing the record with Digital Spy, Lee Ryan said: "We've been writing with Ne-Yo, and I've written at least a couple of songs on my own that will probably make the album. We've also been working with Bruno Mars on a song called 'Black & Blue' – he's sending his parts over from a demo we recorded a while ago. It's got some haunting notes on the chorus." They also revealed that three tracks on the album had been produced by RedOne, and that they felt that the material was "their best work to date".[4] During February 2012, the band embarked on a small tour across Manila, performing with fellow boyband A1 and Jeff Timmons in three special concerts, two of which included the Smart Araneta Coliseum on 25 February 2012, and the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 28 February. The tour was billed as "Boybands: The Greatest Hits Tour".[5]

On 22 June 2012, the band premiered their new single, "Hurt Lovers", during a concert in China. In an interview shortly after the concert, the band claimed that "Hurt Lovers" was one of the first tracks they recorded after re-uniting, and that it was an obvious choice for their comeback single. The track was co-written by the band, along with Jez Ashurst, David Jost, Martin Schmidt and Alexander Zuckowski.[6] It received positive reception across Asia, before being officially premiered in Germany on 6 October 2012. Thus, the creators of the film Schlussmacher approached the band, and asked if the song could be used as the official theme for the film. Thus, the track will receive an early release in Germany on 4 January 2013, before being released across the world later in the year. In promotion of the single, the band performed it live on Vocea României on 4 December 2012,[7] as well as embarking on an acoustic radio tour across six cities in Germany.[8] In October 2012, the group confirmed via their official Facebook page that the title of their fourth studio album would be Roulette. It was also revealed that the album will receive an early release in Germany, being made available from 25 January 2013. The band shot the album's artwork in a deserted casino in November 2012.[9]

"I Can" was released as the band's comeback single. The track was also used as the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, which was held in Düsseldorf, Germany. The song came 11th in the contest, scoring 100 points.[10] The single was released on 1 May 2011 as a digital download, with the physical release the day after.[11] The track peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Blue's lowest-charting single in the United Kingdom to date.[12] The song was written by group members Duncan James and Lee Ryan with Ciaron Bell, Ben Collier, Ian Hope, Liam Keenan, and Norwegian production team StarSign. It was produced by Ronny Svendsen and Hallgeir Rustan, the latter who previously produced several of Blue's hit singles.

"Hurt Lovers" was released as the official lead single from the album on 4 January 2013, in Germany, three weeks prior to the release of the album in the country.[13] The track also serves as the official theme for the German film Schlussmacher. In an interview, the band claimed that "Hurt Lovers" was one of the first tracks they recorded after re-uniting, and that it was an obvious choice for the band's reunion single. The track was co-written by the band, along with Jez Ashurst, David Jost, Martin Schmidt and Alexander Zuckowski.[6] The band first premiered the song during a concert in China on 22 June 2012. It received positive reception across Asia, before being officially premiered in Germany on 6 October 2012. The creators of the film Schluss Macher approached the band, and asked if the song could be used as the official theme for the film. Thus, the track received an early release in Germany on 4 January 2013, before being released across the world later in the year. In promotion of the single, the band performed it live on The Voice of Romania, as well as embarking on an acoustic radio tour across six cities in Germany.[8]

"Without You" was released as the second single from the album on 16 May 2013 only in Germany, Swiss and Austria. The music video premiered the same day.

"Break My Heart" was released as the third single from the album on 29 June for radio premiere and 5 August 2013 for digital download. The single was released as official single only in Germany and promotional radio single on United Kingdom.[14] The music video was premiered on 18 August. The song was released as the third single in the United Kingdom as part of the 'Roulette Summer Edition EP' on 2 September 2013.[15]

"Broken" and "Ayo" was released as the fourth and fifth single in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the same day: 2 February 2014.[16] The music video for "Broken" premiered on 31 January 2013.[17]

Notes

• ^a signifies a co-producer

The Roulette Tour is the fourth headlining concert tour by the English boy band Blue. On 27 March 2013, the group announced live on This Morning that they would be embarking on their first headlining tour after reuniting later on in the year. After one concert in London, the tour kicked off in Germany with nine dates and additional five dates one each in Austria, Switzerland, France and two in Italy all in late May and early June. The second leg will lead the tour through twenty-one dates in United Kingdom.