Move Me (Midge Ure album)

Move Me
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 2000 (2000-09)
StudioEnvironment Studio, Bath; Matrix Studios, London
LabelBMG, Arista, Curb Records
ProducerMidge Ure
Midge Ure chronology
Breathe
(1996)
Move Me
(2000)
Fragile
(2014)

Move Me, released 25 September 2000, is the fifth solo album by former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure. Ure produced, arranged and recorded it almost entirely at home.[1][2] It was released by BMG Records in continental Europe and was not released in the UK until 14 May 2001 by Curb Records.[3] It was also released in the U.S. by Koch Records.[4]

Background

It’s very different to Breathe. It’s a lot more guitar-oriented album. Ure said he has gone back and grabbed his synthesisers again and started making noises and atmospheres. He still writes about things that affect him, things that go on in his life, things that affect him from books, from watching television, from seeing the news. There’s a real wide range of subjects on the record. It’s a series of Ure's thoughts and feelings and it’s like documenting what he has been through over the last five years. The good and the bad, the highs and lows of life.[5] 

Promo-videos were made for the first single "You Move Me" and in June 2001 a remixed version of "Beneath A Spielberg Sky".[6] The remix was made by 2Hype, which Ure wasn't fond of.

Ure said about the album in 2000:

"If Ultravox had carried on I would like to think that this is probably how they would sound now. It's dark, it's interesting, it's melodic, it's got very interesting sounds." The song "You Move Me" sums up what music should do but so often doesn't. "A Spielberg Sky" is something Chris Cross and I would try to recreate in our Ultravox videos. Sadly we failed miserably but the song worked."[7]

Beneath A Spielberg Sky, is an epic track, asking big, fundamental questions about what the establishment is doing on our behalf. [8]

"When the end of the world happens, we will watch it on TV because we just won't recognise it's happening around us, but we probably won't realise it's real, even then we have become immune to things because of the way they are handled."Beneath A Spielberg Sky is about all things in life viewed on a screen like a movie. War, love, past and future."

"The Refugee Song" was inspired by the refugee crisis in Kosovo 1999. Midge said 2000 about the song:

"The song refers to the whole idea of losing your family for a bit, not knowing whether they are alive or dead?."

"The Refugee Song" was re-recorded 2015 and was included as a bonus track on the "Breathe Again Live and Extended" album.

Move Me was re-released 2006, by the German Record label Hypertension, as "Move Me+" with a bonus CD featuring two instrumental tracks called "Higher" and "Fall", plus live tracks recorded in Germany 2000, radio edits and acoustic versions.[9]

Track listing

All tracks written by Midge Ure; except where indicated

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Move Me" 5:37
2."Beneath A Spielberg Sky" 4:53
3."Words" 3:44
4."Strong" 4:45
5."Let Me Go" 4:54
6."Alone" 5:11
7."Monster" (Instrumental) 3:04
8."Absolution Sometime!"Ure, Danny Mitchell4:59
9."The Refugee Song"Ure, Danny Mitchell5:19
10."Four" 4:47
11."Somebody" 5:50

Personnel

  • Midge Ure - Vocals, guitar, keyboards
  • Bass – Dave Williamson
  • Percussion – Russell Field
  • Hammond Organ, Piano – Josh Phillips (tracks: 2, 4, 5)
  • Backing Vocals – Angie Brown, Billie Godfrey, Mary Pearce (tracks: 2, 11)
  • Keyboards, Piano – Martin Badder (tracks: 6, 7, 10)
  • Bass Synthesizer – Bruno Ellingham (track: 7)

References

  1. ^ "Interview 2001".
  2. ^ If I Was... The Autobiography. Virgin Books. 2004.
  3. ^ "Fanzine". 8 August 2018.
  4. ^ "dailylocal Interview".
  5. ^ "Interview: Midge Ure". 6 September 2023.
  6. ^ "discogs".
  7. ^ Liner notes
  8. ^ "Feature: Beneath a Wiltshire sky..." 9 April 2023.
  9. ^ "recordcollector review". 19 February 2018.