It’s been 36 years since he first shot to fame, yet Rick Astley is now arguably a more prominent force in popular culture than he ever was. There’s a tiny bit of Fleetwood Mac in there, just because I heard tons of Fleetwood Mac when we were in America last summer. The seed for this breezy, Americana-tinged record was planted during a US tour alongside Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue, and New Kids On the Block in 2022.

Rick Astley, Are We There Yet?, review: Cements the singer as

Es ist ein wenig beängstigend, wie schnell sich die Welt verändert und wie sehr wir von den sozialen Medien abhängig sind, die die Menschen auch in großem Maße manipulieren. Featuring the single ‘Dippin My Feet’, an invigorating twist on his signature style, ‘Are We There Yet? Es geht um die Tatsache, dass das Leben erstaunlich und großartig ist, aber manchmal auch wirklich hart, und wir alle stehen unter diesem Wasserfall und brauchen manchmal ein wenig Heilung. Astley said of the song: "It's not Americana, but the tagline at the start of the chorus is: 'Dipping my feet in the Mississippi River.

This came ahead of Astley performing on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival 2023, where he also performed "Dippin My Feet". Golden Hour’ isn’t country exactly, but it’s definitely leaning on that and on that songwriting thing of trying to be as simple as possible. I noticed things that I hadn’t noticed before, and it just made me think about life, but also that some people aren’t having this experience, some people are literally going through the worst thing possible.

UK: Rick Astley announces new album, releases single - BMG

Das ist wahrscheinlich der umstrittenste Song auf dem Album, weil der Text lautet: „Throw me on the sofa, tie me to a chair, scratch me with your nails and pull my hair. So wie Glastonbury, von dem ich nie dachte, dass es jemals stattfinden würde, ich dachte, das wäre ein längst vergangener Traum, aber wir haben es diesen Sommer [2023] geschafft– ich hielt die Hand meiner Frau, als ich auf die Bühne ging. It’s about somebody saying, ‘Take me back to your place just for one night and let’s just forget everything, I won’t even be here in the morning. Astley had previously been asked to perform there in 2020, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.I said, ‘No, I still love you,’ because there’s a line about not trusting all those guys and girls who wear the same suit every day and do that job.

ARE WE THERE YET – RICK ASTLEY | Official Charts ARE WE THERE YET – RICK ASTLEY | Official Charts

Ich habe das Gefühl, dass ich das bei vielen aus meinem Freundeskreis sehe, und man sieht es in der ganzen Welt.

Die Hoffnung besteht darin, dass wir es schaffen, und ich glaube, dass die Musik mir manchmal dabei hilft. The idea was that it would make for a fun side project to Astley’s hugely enjoyable nostalgia gigs, which mainly draw on the “Never Gonna Give You Up” star’s ’80s catalog (see his ebullient Glastonbury 2023 performance for reference).

‎Are We There Yet? - Album by Rick Astley - Apple Music

You can be in a golden hour when you’re 20, but we also feel we’re getting on a bit and we have to enjoy this, because I don’t know how long anybody’s going to let me in a venue and sing anymore. Ich glaube, die Klänge auf diesem Album, vor allem die Gitarrenparts, wurden von dieser langen Zeit in Amerika inspiriert.Wir sind drei Monate lang in Bussen durch Amerika gereist und haben erkannt, dass wir uns in einem goldenen Moment [golden hour] unseres Lebens befinden. It’s just shit that comes out while you’re noodling and playing, and sometimes it just feels right and becomes part of the song. But he knows that gimmicks can only get you so far, and it is to his credit that he plays it straight on Are We There Yet?