Gilbert O’Sullivan will release his 21st studio album, On The Record, on November 6, with the new single Growing Old Disgracefully leading a project recorded in five days with his long-established studio musicians.
by Paul Cashmere
Gilbert O’Sullivan has announced On The Record, his 21st studio album and his latest collection of original songs, for release on November 6 through BMG. The album is led by Growing Old Disgracefully and will form part of O’Sullivan’s 60 Years In Music celebrations, which continue with an extensive UK and Ireland tour across September, October and November 2026.
The new album extends a recording period that has produced two previous collaborations with producer Andy Wright, 2022’s Driven and 2024’s Songbook. O’Sullivan again worked with the same core musicians, using a recording method that places the songs and live performance at the centre of the sessions.
The 13-track On The Record was recorded over five days at Eastcote Studios in London. O’Sullivan says the familiarity between the musicians allowed the sessions to move quickly.
“We have the same musicians. They know how I work. I play the song to them on the piano, we rehearse it a few times, and then we do a take. No rocket science involved. Over five days we did thirteen tracks.”
Among the new songs is Is That You?, a duet featuring Andrea Corr. The album also includes It’s Me, I Suppose, Go The Way I Came, I Must Be Going, Don’t Shout, She Never Ceases To Amaze Me, Our Love Is Gonna Grow, Wait, Minus Is A Plus With You, No Place Like Home and See Us Gone.
For O’Sullivan, the continued importance of songwriting is central to the new material. “Daring to be different was the key for me. The writing has never stopped being the most important thing,” he said.
That philosophy has remained a defining feature of O’Sullivan’s career since the early 1970s, when Nothing Rhymed established him internationally as a distinctive songwriter and performer. Alone Again (Naturally), Clair and Get Down subsequently became major recordings in his catalogue, while his work earned three Grammy Award nominations and three Ivor Novello Awards.
O’Sullivan’s recording career has continued well beyond the period in which his best-known songs first became standards of British and international pop. Driven in 2022 and Songbook in 2024 demonstrated his continuing commitment to recording new material, with Wright producing both albums.
On The Record therefore represents another stage in an unusually long songwriting career rather than a retrospective project. Its title and the accompanying 60 Years In Music programme place the new recordings alongside a catalogue that has remained active across multiple generations of listeners.
O’Sullivan has also identified the influence of other songwriters and composers as an ongoing source of inspiration. “Why are we able to keep doing it? You do it because of your love of music. You love what you’re hearing. You hear the chords of Burt Bacharach? You want that. I’m a rhythm pianist, I can’t tinkle the ivories, but we have the ability to write music because we love what we hear.”
The release also places O’Sullivan’s current work within a broader celebration of his six decades in music. His 2026 tour will combine established material with songs from On The Record, taking the anniversary programme through venues across the UK and Ireland.
The tour includes Dublin’s 3Arena on October 10 and London’s London Palladium on November 8. The concerts provide a live setting for O’Sullivan to revisit a catalogue that began taking shape in the 1960s and to introduce material recorded more than half a century later.
On The Record will be released by BMG on November 6. Growing Old Disgracefully is available now as the first preview of the album, with the full 13-song collection following in November.
On The Record Tracklisting
It’s Me
I Suppose
Growing Old Disgracefully
Go The Way I Came
I Must Be Going
Don’t Shout
She Never Ceases To Amaze Me
Our Love Is Gonna Grow
Is That You?
Wait
Minus Is A Plus With You
No Place Like Home
See Us Gone
Tour Dates
October 10, Dublin, 3Arena
November 8, London, London Palladium.
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first-Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Bluesky
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
