UK pop-rock band Wet Wet Wet return to Australia for the first time since 1995 later this month.
Special guests to Irish Celtic-infused pop icons The Corrs, Wet Wet Wet will perform at an exclusive, one-night affair at Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley (26 November) alongside fellow special guests, Ben Lee and Gaudion."We are completely pumped to be coming over there," one of the group's founding members and bassist, Graeme Clark says.
"I think The Corrs are similar to us in a way [in that] it was the beginning of the '90s for us where every ship you've ever sailed comes in.
"And it seems to me that they shared in that towards the end of the '90s where everything they did turned to gold."
Hailing from Scotland, Wet Wet Wet are one of the most successful bands in British pop history, selling in excess of 15 million singles and albums to date.
With hit albums and singles including 'Sweet Little Mystery', 'Angel Eyes', 'Goodnight Girl', 'Julia Says' and 'Sweet Surrender', the band have featured in the official UK singles and album charts for over 500 weeks.
"To punctuate your career with big hits was a fantastic thing," Graeme says. "We were sort of dropping postcards into people's lives and it became significant for them.
"I meet people who say that they did their first year of university during that album or got married to that song. And that's a musician’s dream I think. To create something that goes out there, grows arms and legs, and goes into people's lives and touches and impacts it in some slight way."
Topping the UK charts for 15 consecutive weeks, the band's cover of The Troggs' 'Love Is All Around' was their biggest hit. Recorded for the soundtrack of one of the most successful UK movies, 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' (1994), the song was a runaway international hit.
"It helps to be a part of a big movie, and to then reap the benefits of the wave that goes along with that. 'Love Is All Around' enabled us to go around the world again and have a ready-made audience."
After the departure of lead vocalist Marti Pellow, in 2017, Kevin Simm (winner of 'The Voice UK' and former member of Liberty X) was announced as his replacement in 2018.
"When somebody steps out who shaped your foundations you think, 'okay, what are we going to do here?'. But Kevin came in like a tornado and breathed fire into these songs that have been played to death over the last 25-30 years," Clark says.
"And that for me was the conduit that made my mind up that I have to keep this going."
The reinvigorated quartet received the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award at the 2020 Scottish Music Awards, held at Glasgow's legendary rock music venue, Barrowland Ballroom.
"Barrowland is one of these iconic gigs in the circuit that most people played the first time they got to Glasgow if they had any kind of following. That's where it started for us so it felt like a full-circle moment.
"To be recognised especially in your own country is a fantastic thing and very humbling, especially when you get to this age. I mean, every band thinks that they're the greatest band in the world. That's just the way they're wired. So it's always lovely to be recognised."
Wet Wet Wet have been touring throughout 2022 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of their debut album 'Popped In Souled Out' and the band's 40th anniversary altogether, and to introduce their first new music in nearly 14 years from their 2021 studio album, 'The Journey'.
"I love what we've created over the years, and to be able to do a new album and put it out there, it is therapy for the conscience of the band. To exercise things, try things and create something out of nothing. That was the beauty," Graeme says.
"What excites me now is getting out and playing, and that's why we're excited about coming to Australia. We're opening for a great band in a fantastic venue in front of thousands of people. What could be more special?"
Wet Wet Wet play 'One Night Only' with The Corrs at Hope Estate (Hunter Valley) 26 November.
