It’s taken 30 years but Gary Barlow finally dragged himself out of his pop comfort zone on his latest solo album. The Take That man is sometimes unrecognisable on No.1 LP, Music Played By Humans, which features big band and Latin arrangements. “It was a change for me to sound different and I really embraced that,” Barlow told the Daily Star. “Your voice is your voice, it’s never going to change. But when you find a song or style that makes you sound a bit different, I think you’re attracted to it because you’ve not heard yourself like that before.
“This is the most sophisticated record I’ve ever made. Because of the way we were using the orchestra, it meant we could include chords that we’ve not used before. It just opened the door to a whole other musical experience that my audience have never seen from me before.”