New Song

What makes the sound of New Song so distinctive is the way Howard Jones crafted his message. He himself explained that he wanted it to be a kind of statement of principles, detailing why he wanted to dedicate himself to music. At the time, he worked in a factory during the day and performed live at night. The central idea of the lyrics is to encourage people to pursue their true passions, to have the courage and determination to do what they are good at, leaving behind fears and mental limitations.

New Song was recorded in 1983 at Chipping Norton Studios in Oxfordshire. The engineer and producer in charge was Colin Thurston, who worked with Howard Jones on this track, which would become his first single. To achieve that characteristic sound, equipment such as the Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, the Memorymoog, and the E-mu Drumulator drum machine were used. The single was released on August 19, 1983, under the WEA Records label. In the United Kingdom, it reached number 3 on the charts, staying among the top 75 best-selling singles for 20 weeks, making it the 28th best-selling single of 1983 in that country. For its release in the United States in early 1984, it climbed to position 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song would later be part of Jones' debut album, Human's Lib, released in 1984. At the time, BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read refused to play it, arguing that it sounded too similar to Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. However, Jones clarified in 2011 that, while he was always a fan of Peter Gabriel, there was no direct conscious influence on the composition of New Song.