Mark Ronson will release his new album 'Uptown Special' on January 23rd, with lead single 'Uptown Funk' - co-written by and featuring Bruno Mars - preceding it on January 9th.
Andrew Wyatt (one half of Swedish production team Miike Snow), Hudson Mohawke, James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco and Kevin Parker of Australian psych-rockers Tame Impala all collaborated on the album in some way, as well as 23-year-old newcomer Keyone Starr, whom Ronson and his producer Jeff Bhasker discovered in a Mississippi gospel choir. Most of the album's lyrics - although not those of the lead single - were written by American author Michael Chabon, whom Ronson describes as his 'favourite living author'.
The music is largely influenced by his teenage years spent growing up in New York City.
"No matter how my taste in music and DJ-ing veers over the years, I always find myself coming back to that music I would play out in hip-hop clubs in NY in the late 90s/early 2000s”, he said. "Biggie, Chaka Khan, Amerie, Boz Scaggs, Missy, Earth Wind & Fire, N.O.R.E….Those songs would set alight the dance floor… Before smart phones, bottle service and smoking bans, people came to the club, found their spot and stayed all night, absorbed in the music. With Uptown Special I set out to capture the feeling I remember from those New York nights."
