Robbie Williams has been named National Album Day's Album Icon, with a coloured-vinyl return for Sing When You're Winning attached to the announcement. The celebration takes place on October 17 under the theme Icons. This is a return to his back catalogue, not the announcement of another new studio album.
Source: National Album Day, organised by the BPI and ERA; official campaign artwork adapted to a landscape layout.
Red and blue vinyl for a familiar record
Universal Music Recordings and Island are preparing a limited double-LP edition on red and blue vinyl. The organisers describe it as the album's first vinyl reissue and first coloured-vinyl edition. It will play at 45 RPM, as the original pressing did, and pre-orders are open through participating retailers.
Released in 2000, Sing When You're Winning was Williams' third studio album. Rock DJ, Supreme and the Kylie Minogue duet Kids are the obvious reminders of its hit-making run. They are not the whole record: tracks such as Love Calling Earth give listeners a reason to go beyond a singles playlist.
An album ambassador alongside three other artists
Williams joins PinkPantheress, Max Richter and Melanie C among this year's Album Champions. National Album Day is organised by the BPI and ERA, with support from BBC Radio 2. In the announcement, Williams said that “albums still matter,” a short description of what the event is trying to celebrate.
A back-catalogue moment during the Britpop era
The reissue arrives after the new music covered in our report on Robbie Williams' Britpop release. The two records offer very different entry points: one is the current chapter, the other a chance to revisit the turn-of-the-century album in its original sequence.
Collectors have another release to weigh up alongside projects such as U2's limited-edition Carnaval De Luz vinyl. Coloured discs and limited runs can attract attention, but there is no need to treat every reissue as essential. The attraction here is a specific Williams album returning to vinyl, with its songs intact rather than repackaged as a new greatest-hits set.
National Album Day is still ahead. The ambassador announcement and pre-orders have arrived; the celebration itself has not happened yet.
