Fourteen years after their 2001 album Zoom, Electric Light Orchestra is back. Jeff Lynne’s ELO has shared the new single “When I Was a Boy” to announce the upcoming album titled Alone in the Universe. The LP is due out November 13th under Columbia.
The British band, which produced eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986, was left with only one member, Jeff Lynne, by 2000. Accordingly, he chose to maintain the band’s sound under a new name— Jeff Lynne’s ELO. In a statement to Pitchfork, Lynne said:
Music is such a powerful force in our lives. A good song can make people feel much less alone in this universe. And trying to create one of those songs somehow makes me feel less alone too. My whole life—from being that kid with a dream in Birmingham right until today—proves how much music can do.
And like the band’s earlier hits, such as the famous pick-me-up “Mr. Blue Sky,” the new track includes classical piano melodies, amiable acoustic strumming, and dramatic vocals that inspire audiences’ pathos with the lyrics:
“When I was a boy I had a dream Finding out what life really means…”
And it looks as though music has helped to achieve that dream.
