EXCLUSIVE: Mark Ronson on the challenges of making 'New Love' with Diplo and Ellie Goulding
It's the first single from Silk City since 2018!
Last updated 26th Jan 2021
Silk City have released their new single ‘New Love’ featuring Ellie Goulding.
The latest track by Silk City, comprised of epic electronic producers Diplo and Mark Ronson, is the duo’s first offering since ‘Electricity’ featuring Dua Lipa in 2018.
Silk City was formed in January 2018 and the duo released their first single ‘Only Can Get Better’ featuring Daniel Merriweather in May of the same year.
Jordan Lee caught up with Mark Ronson to chat about the brand new track on Hits Radio.
Mark described the process of working with fellow record producer Diplo. He said, “Silk City is really great in the way that I can get to work on this music that is a really joyous thing, that’s what house music, to me, has at its essence.
“The stuff that me and Diplo seem to make always seems to have a really ‘up’ feeling. ‘Electricty’ was really the first thing we wrote together and I think we set the tone there. The songs make me happy and it’s strange to work on something that you’ve heard 100 times that still make you smile.”
Despite launching the Silk City project three years ago, the duo are only just releasing their fifth single. Mark put this down to their crazy schedules. He said, “He’s crazy. He can’t sit still for a moment. Covid-19 has made things a little different, but he’s always on the road and always on tour.”
However, he admitted it was really Ellie Goulding’s vocals that set ‘New Love’ apart. He added, “We got this demo from Ellie. A lot of people made this record great, but her vocal and melody she wrote is really special.”
Mark first met Ellie Goulding before she had even signed to a label. He reminisced, “I met her in the summer of 2009 when I was working on my ‘Record Collection’ album. It’s crazy to say that was 12 years ago! I loved her song ‘Under The Sheets’ and so I flew her out to Brooklyn whilst I was working on the record. We walked across the Williamsburg Bridge on the hottest day of summer and I think she thought this was some sort of test that I put everybody through to see if they could make it! Then I watched her blow up in this crazy way and become a global pop phenomenon.”
The music video, which premiered on 22nd January, features Ellie Goulding playing multiple roles at the fictional New Love Club, including the headliner performer and the club’s bouncer.
2020 has been a challenging year for everyone and Mark admitted the creation of the record was a little different to usual.
“I really thrive off being in the room with people and writing music and having that energy back and forth. I don’t work as well when it’s just me in a room or someone sends the vocal. I love that connection. But at the same time I don’t want to sit still and do nothing so we found different ways. We went in the studio socially distanced with masks on. We worked on a lot of this record when the lockdown kind of eased at the end of summer.”
So, can we expect an album from the DJ duo any time soon? Mark said, “I’d love to do an album together, we always talk about it. If we can find 8 or 10 songs that we really love we’d definitely put it out.
“We have a lot of things we like the same but we also have specific ideas. So when we find something that we both really like and just fits the vibe, that takes a bit of extra effort, but I really hope we do some more stuff this year.”
Check out the biggest collabs from 2020...
Julia Michaels and JP Saxe 'If The World Was Ending'
Boyfriend/girlfriend duo JP Saxe and Julia Michaels teamed up for 'If The World Was Ending' in 2019, however it was in 2020 that the song really became popular. Singers from around the world came together to feature in a special music video to raise money for Doctors Without Borders, the new video features Anne-Marie, Jason Derulo, Niall Horan, Sam Smith and Zara Larsson.
Martin Solveig, RAYE and Jax Jones 'Tequila'
'Tequila' came from Jax Jones teaming up with Martin Solveig and RAYE in February 2020. They even recorded an uncut version of the music video which included a whole section in Spanish.
RAYE and Regard 'Secrets'
RAYE and Regard teamed up for 'Secrets' in April 2020. The song is now a chilled pop banger, but RAYE told us how it was originally a slow R&B song and Regard transformed it.
Sam Smith and Demi Lovato 'I'm Ready'
Sam Smith and Demi Lovato teamed up for 'I'm Ready' in April 2020. The song was co-written by both singers and a group of songwriters, it reached Number 20 in the UK.
Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber 'Stuck With U'
Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber released their charity song 'Stuck With U' in May 2020. The pair encouraged their fans to upload videos of themselves dancing to the song while they were in lockdown.
Lennon Stella and Charlie Puth 'Summer Feeling'
For the ultimate summer vibes, Lennon Stella and Charlie Puth released their hit 'Summer Feeling' in May 2020, from Scoob! The Album.
SZA and Justin Timberlake 'The Other Side'
SZA and Justin Timberlake released 'The Other Side' which was featured on the soundtrack for Trolls World Tour. The film had limited release due to the Coronavirus outbreak and instead was released on Blu-ray and DVD in June 2020.
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande - 'Rain On Me'
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande teamed up for the super successful 'Rain On Me' in June 2020. The song features on Lady Gaga's latest album 'Chromatica' which has become the fastest selling album of the year so far.
Becky Hill and Sigala - 'Heaven On My Mind'
Becky Hill and Sigala dropped 'Heaven On My Mind' in June. The song was a surprise and fans love it. Becky also dropped a music video on the same day the song was released.
Kygo and Tina Turner 'What's Love Got To Do With It'
Norwegian DJ Kygo released a brand new collaboration with sassy soul legend Tina Turner, a remix of Tina's iconic 'What's Love Got To Do With It' in July 2020.
Joel Corry and MNEK 'Head & Heart'
Joel Corry and MNEK teamed up in July 2020 for 'Head & Heart'. The song reached Number 1 in the UK, staying at the peak position for six weeks.
Anne-Marie featuring Doja Cat - 'To Be Young'
Anne-Marie worked with US rapper Doja Cat on 'To Be Young', released in July 2020.
Clean Bandit and Mabel featuring 24kGoldn - 'Tick Tock'
BRIT Award-winner Mabel teamed up with Clean Bandit, who are well-known for their collaborations with other artists! They recorded 'Tick Tock' with rapper 24kGoldn before the pandemic, and filmed a socially distanced music video just ahead of the song's release in August 2020.
Calvin Harris and The Weeknd 'Over Now'
Calvin Harris and The Weeknd released their collab 'Over Now' on 28th August. The music video is a CGI animated video featuring a disco ball-style recreation of The Weeknd in various futuristic locations.
Dua Lipa - 'Club Future Nostalgia'
Dua released 'Club Future Nostalgia' in August 2020 - a remixed version of her second album 'Future Nostalgia', released in March 2020. The new album featured the likes of Madonna, Missy Elliott, Mark Ronson, Gwen Stefani and Blackpink.
Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper - 'Holy'
2020 was a big year for Justin Bieber in musical terms - after releasing his fifth album 'Changes' in February 2020, Justin worked on plenty of collaborations throughout the year, including 'Holy' with Chance the Rapper, released in September 2020. He also worked with Shawn Mendes on 'Monster', 'Lonely' with Benny Blanco and 'Mood (Remix)' with 24kGoldn, J Balvin, and Iann Dior.
Jax Jones and Au/Ra - 'i miss u'
'i miss u' is the latest in a number of fantastic collabs from Jax Jones, being released in October 2020. In the last 12 months alone he has teamed up with RAYE and Martin Solveig on 'Tequila', and Ella Henderson for 'This Is Real'.
MEDUZA - 'Paradise' feat. Dermot Kennedy
Dermot Kennedy teamed up with Italian DJ trio MEDUZA for 'Paradise', released in October 2020, after they remixed his hit song 'Power Over Me'.
Little Mix and Nathan Dawe - 'No Time For Tears'
Little Mix worked with DJ Nathan Dawe on 'No Time For Tears', released on Friday 27th November 2020 - just a few weeks after releasing their sixth album 'Confetti'!