New song by Whitney Houston: Calum Scott comes out of the new duo with the deceased singer

New York (AP) – It seems impossible, but it is the magic of it. Thursday, a new Whitney Houston The song arrives 13 years After his death.

The English singer Calum Scott is responsible. The single is a duo between Scott and Houston, a timeless balladic reinterpretation “I want to dance with someone (who loves me),” Using the original Houston vocal stems. (The stems are the individual musical elements which, when combined, constitute a song.)

“It was not even something that I could have dreamed as a possibility, and the fact that I could do it, Geez, one of the honors of my career,” Scott told the Associated Press. Houston’s voice is the one who hid his childhood – graciousness of his mother – and he refers to Houston as one of the most influential artists in his life and the life of many.

“Timeless”, describes it.

Here’s how the new song was born.

Recording with a giant

Such a company could not be possible without the approval of a certain number of parties. More specifically, he demanded that Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law And the testamentary executor of his succession, and primary, who acquired copyright to strike the songs of Whitney Houston as part of an agreement in 2022.

Pat Houston says that Scott’s idea “I want to dance with someone (who loves me)” actually came from the primary wave. They knew the live cover version of Scott from the song of its passage for Ed Sheeran In 2024. During this tour, Scott stripped the 1987 classic in a ballad, mixing it with Robyn “Dancing by myself.”

After hearing what Scott could do with the song – to remove it from his pop -tempo spirit from a big heart stroll, while taking into account that 2025 Brand The 40th anniversary Houston’s musical career – Pat Houston was on board. It was still another opportunity for celebration. “I said, you know what, it’s obvious. It is Houston’s style. So let’s go,” she said.

“Whitney was a ballader and that is why we all fell in love with her,” she continued. “And Calum transformed the song into a beautiful ballad.”

From hit pop to ballad

First, the Houston estate and the primary wave provided Scott the original vocal stems, produced by its longtime producer Narada Michael Walden. Then Scott recorded the song with producers Jon “Mags” Maguire, Andrew Yeates and Charlie T in the United Kingdom in “About a Week”, he recalls. They were joined by a string section, which gave an additional dimension to their dark version of the song.

“Take a pop song and make it sad,” jokes Scott from his approach.

The recording of the ballad made sense because, as Scott points out, the lyrics of the original song are a bit melancholy. “You want to dance with someone who loved you, you know, you don’t really dance with them,” he said. It is almost desire. But in an early demo, the choir was recorded in a minor agreement – which seemed a little too depressing. The change was made quickly; Even slowed down, the song needed part of this Houston Ebullcience.

Another early decision: the new song would start with Houston’s voice, alone, in the first verse. “Whitney starts the song because it’s his song,” says Scott. “I would never dare stand in front of Whitney for this first verse.”

Fans in the eyes of the eagle (in the ear?) Could notice the sound of a clearing Caisse in his voice on this verse – because he was originally recorded for band, not digitally, and because “we can not change such because they are engraved in the song and in his voice”, explains Scott. “And to remove it, it would take a piece.”

This is one of the reasons why they also kept the emblematic change of key to the song in the last chorus.

“I really had to dig for these high notes,” he said about recording. “It was a fair honor to harmonize with her.”

Obtain blessing

Scott turned to the original authors -composers for approval – the dream team of George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam. They were immediately on board.

“Some people would have entered and they would have added something … to increase their visibility next to Whitney. And he had the audacity to tear everything and have just of the acoustic piano, just Whitney, then to give him the first verse,” said Merrill. “And I mean, it’s his project. For me, it shows such respect. ”

That, and they recognize Scott as a virtuoso singer. “His music really presents his voice, as with Adele or Whitney, and rightly because he can do it,” said Rubicam. “There are not only hundreds of people who can take this with his kind of power.”

“They are a good vocal match together,” she adds. “They both got a lot of emotivity and command from their vocal instrument. … Whitney could dominate many people. But for Calum, he is confident and they had a vision on this subject and they both meet at an emotional level.”

A duo and a collaboration – but not a tribute

“I felt like I was walking slowly alongside Whitney,” said Scott. The song is supposed to feel alive, channeling Houston’s mind – not a tribute, but an active single. This is why their version of “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” will be presented on his new album “Aventoir”, October 10.

“It’s been as much of my story as much as any other song from the album,” he said. “The simple fact of being given the honor of this has been, you know, I could die a very happy man now.”

“Forty years ago, this particular song was hot at the time and it’s hot now,” said Pat Houston. “So why not continue to produce. But it is the right connection, it is the right platform and it is certainly the good artist to collaborate with her on this subject.”