Watch Blondie’s New Video ‘Sugar on the Side’
Blondie fans can catch a glimpse of the band's new album, 'Ghosts of Download,' through the just-released lyric video for its latest single, 'Sugar on the Side.'
Featuring an appearance by Colombian electronica artist Systema Solar, 'Sugar' serves as the second track -- following 'I Want to Drag You Around' -- to be released from the reworked album, which has been bumped more than once since initially being scheduled for a Nov. 2013 release. Now set to arrive in stores on May 13, the 13-track collection finds Blondie working with a variety of outside collaborators, including Solar, Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto, and the Bay Area hip-hop duo Los Rakas.
Explaining that work on the album has been "ongoing" since Blondie wrapped its last release, 2011's 'Panic of Girls,' guitarist Chris Stein is quoted in the new band bio as saying, "It’s been like two years that I have been working on this. This one is more computer-based than the last record, which was more band-based. A lot of the programmed parts remained on the record, more so than the previous records. I spent a lot of time doing this at home, and then sending things back and forth with our producer Jeff Saltzman. He helped develop melodies with me, and that was really gratifying. And he had this assistant, Natalie Hawkins, who helped with the melodies too. There was a lot of collaboration with this record, more so than previous records, except perhaps for 'Autoamerican,' which had a lot of outside players on it, even an orchestra."
"This album is a little more far-reaching," added singer Deborah Harry in an interview with Hunger TV. "It's a bit more dance-y. We've done a lot more collaboration, with different musicians, singers and writers on this album than ever before."