Andy Bell to Duet with Jake Shears on Solo Album

Erasure's Andy Bell & Vince Clark

(Exclusive) I just got off the phone with Andy Bell from synth pop duo Erasure who gave me the full scoop on his upcoming solo album. The singer is currently putting the final touches on the record, which should drop late 2005 or early 2006. Working title for the CD is "Manhattan Clique" and Andy revealed the disc will most likely feature a duet with Scissor Sister Jake Shears. After Jake has worked with Kylie Minogue and Elton John, this is another match made in gay heaven.

"I am good friends with DJ Sammy who is the boyfriend of Kiki of drag act Kiki & Herb," Andy told me. "Sammy was on tour with Scissor Sisters and he invited us to come watch a show. [Scissor Sisters] dedicated one song that night to Erasure, which I thought was really sweet. Jake introduced the song by saying that he saw us live when he was 12 years old. I emailed him later to see if he would be into [a duet] and he loved the idea."

More quotes from the interview with Andy in a few days.(Click here to pre-order Erasure's "Nightbird" from Amazon.)