Westlife Open Up On Pandemic Struggles

Westlife have opened up on struggles during the pandemic and how they literally "dreamed" up their new album.

The 'You Raise Me Up' singers - which comprise of Mark Feehilly, 41, Brian McFadden, 41, Shane Filan, 42, Kian Egan, 41, and Keith Duffy, 47 - have released their new album 'Wild Dreams' on 26.11.2021 but it was Mark's 'crazy dreams' that led to not only the album's title but also the boys having a go at penning some tracks themselves, according to Shane.

He said: "'Wild Dreams' is literally a mad idea we had at the start of lockdown. [Mark said] I've been having f***ing mental dreams, I don't know if I'm nervous about the pandemic or what's going on. He said that these crazy dreams were taking over."

Pop star Shane - who along with his bandmates amassed a string of successful singles in the late 1990s and early 2000s - went on to reveal that the year was "personally tough" for him owing to the death of his parents.

Speaking to the Daily Star, he added: "It was personally a tough year for me because I lost both my parents and I felt like singing some songs, which I'd wanted to do my whole life."

He went on to explain that even certain song titles were direct inspiration as to how the boys were feeling at the time of composing the album.

He said: "The music is quite contemporary, more modern, it's definitely very true to how we are feeling. Song titles like 'Alone Again' and 'Alive' were geneuinely how we were feeling. Look to the future, maybe things will start opening up. We can all be happy if we need to be, we just need to get out of the s**t we are in."

The 'Uptown Girl' hitmakers have also collaborated with Ed Sheeran for the new album, who penned the big ballad 'My Hero.'

Shane said: "He had done five songs on the last album, including 'All My Love', which had been a big song for us and helped made us current again. He was happy to help again. This album is an evolution from that album, keeping the positivity."