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Martin and Shirlie Kemp announce swing collaboration

Martin and Shirlie Kemp have announced their first ever collaborative album.
The loved up couple – who enjoyed success in their own rights with Spandau Ballet and Pepsi and Shirlie respectively and have been married since 1988 – will team up for the first time on new album ‘In The Swing Of It’ as they channel their love for music.
Martin said: "It’s brought us even closer. What they did in the 50s with swing was they made love songs that made you happy.
"The words that we are singing, what we have created, it is an open love letter for everyone to read, that we are going to leave behind us when we are long gone.
"When we sing those love songs together there is a truth behind it. For Shirlie and I the words actually mean something so there is a spark there, which is what got everyone excited."
Tracks include the likes of ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ – which references the former ‘EastEnders’ actor’s roles – while the pair also take on classics like ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ and ‘Ain’t That A Kick in the Head’.
There even teamed up with their daughter Harleymoon – a songwriter based in Nashville – as she penned the songs ‘Like We Used To Do’ and ‘When We’re Apart’.
Shirlie added: "I feel happy when I listen to this music, I hope people dance and sing along to the album when they are in their homes doing the cleaning or cooking the Sunday roast. "Singing is a happy drug. If you are singing at home it makes you feel better, it releases endorphins, which is what we both experienced making this record; singing makes you feel good."
‘In The Swing Of It’ will be released on November 22, and the duo will be performing songs from the collection as part of Big Band Broadway at London’s Royal Festival Hall on January 25.