Night Work is the third studio album by American band Scissor Sisters. It was released on June 28, 2010, and was preceded by the release of the lead single "Fire with Fire" on June 20.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2010)
Night Work is actually the fourth album that the band recorded. In 2008, the band played two secret gigs, billed as Queef Latina and Debbie's Hairy, where they tested some of their newly recorded material for a third album, including "The Other Girls", "Singularity", "Not the Loving Kind", "Uroboros", "Who's There?" and a cover of Roxy Music's single "Do the Strand".[1][2] Other song titles mentioned by Jake Shears include "Who's Your Money", "Thanks for Asking", "Television", "Taking Shape", "Second Heart", "Number 1 in 3rd World", "Hey Now", "Major for You", "Dogs", "Hollywood Wives", "Permanent Wave", "Private Midnight", and "Sadistic". On May 8, 2010, Shears stated that the band had decided to scrap the material the previous year. Shears said of the decision, "If it wasn't something we could fully get behind and believe in, I think the band was going to be over."[3]
"Do the Strand" was recorded and released in 2009 as a part of the War Child charity album War Child Presents Heroes, among several covers performed by Franz Ferdinand, Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and others.
The band teamed up with producer Stuart Price to record completely new material.
Singles
The first single released from the album was "Fire with Fire", which met critical and commercial success, debuting and peaking at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the US BillboardDance Club Songs chart.[4][5] It was followed by "Any Which Way", which features uncredited backing vocals by Kylie Minogue, to moderate success in European charts. "Invisible Light", which features guest vocals by actor Sir Ian McKellen, was released as the third and final single in December. Prior to this release, a promotional EP was made available on Boys Noize Records on August 16, 2010, featuring the original track as well as remixes by Boys Noize, Stuart Price, and Siriusmo. This EP was released on a transparent, yellow vinyl edition in addition to CD and download formats.[6]
According to Metacritic the album was met with generally favorable reviews, reaching a metascore of 72 based on 21 reviews.[17]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number eighteen on the US Billboard 200, selling 18,260 copies in its first week, giving Scissor Sisters their second top-20 album.[18]
In the UK, the album debuted at number two, behind Eminem's album Recovery,[19] selling 46,071 copies.