Reflections (Blue album)

Last updated

Reflections
Reflections Blue.png
Studio album by
Released9 January 2026 (2026-01-09)
Length40:31
Label
Producer
Blue chronology
Heart & Soul
(2022)
Reflections
(2026)
Singles from Reflections
  1. "One Last Time"
    Released: 4 September 2025
  2. "Waste My Love"
    Released: 30 October 2025
  3. "Beautiful Spiritual"
    Released: 28 November 2025 [1]
  4. "Candlelight Fades"
    Released: 19 December 2025

Reflections is the seventh studio album by English boy band Blue. It was released on 9 January 2026 through Blue Blood International and Cooking Vinyl. [2] [3]

Contents

Promotion

Singles

"One Last Time", co-written by band member Duncan James, was released as the album's first single on 4 September 2025. [4] A music video for the song, directed by Matt Evers, was released on 14 September. [5] "One Last Time" debuted and peaked at number 62 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. [6]

A second single, "Waste My Love", co-written by Simon Webbe, was issued on 30 October 2025, [7] [8] [9] followed by "Beautiful Spiritual", co-written by Lee Ryan, which was released as the album's third single on 27 November 2025. [10] [11] A fourth single to precede Reflections, "Candlelight Fades," co-written by Antony Costa, was released on 19 December 2025. [12]

Tour

The album will be supported by a tour across April and May 2026. [13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]
laut.de Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15]

Jo Forrest from Total Ntertainment found that Reflections "shapes a new future for Blue, one that's shaped by more recent life experiences but still powered by the enthusiasm that they shared from the start. Manifested in 13 glorious songs all written by the band – Blue reflect on their shared history, their partnership, their friendship, their communal triumphs, personal passions, and individual challenges." [13] Prinz editor Else Eberz called Reflections a "versatile body of work the four musicians are clearly proud of. Fans can look forward to a broad sonic palette: from the signature blue R&B sound of "Waste My Love," to heartfelt ballads like "Candlelight Fades," and all the way to the high-energy track "Beautiful Spiritual"." [16]

Writing for The Times , Will Hodgkinson noted that Blue's later work places them alongside groups such as Take That and Westlife, portraying the band as "middle-aged men traversing the rocky road of adulthood while still clinging onto their youthful glory days". He described Reflections as polished and directed at long-standing fans, emphasising familiarity rather than musical reinvention. [17] Smiliarly, Michael Cragg from The Guardian described the album as a "clunkier approximation of their (comparatively) harder-edged hybrid of pop, hip-hop and R&B; think 2002 "low ride" anthem "Fly By II" but on a Megabus budget." He concluded that "the four-piece try to tap into modern pop's deep well of nostalgia but come off like Westlife on a bad day". [14] laut.de 's Emil Dröll wrote: "What Blue deliver are thirteen variations of the same song, carried by a stubborn refusal to finally leave the old days behind. Reflections is an album for enthusiastic radio listeners and for all those for whom anthems can never be anthemic enough." [15]

Track listing

Reflections track listing [2]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Vow"
Goldcrush3:49
2."One Last Time"
Goldcrush3:18
3."You Should Know"
Goldcrush3:19
4."Look What You Started"
  • Ryan
  • Visser
Goldcrush2:49
5."Candlelight Fades"
  • Costa
  • Visser
Goldcrush3:14
6."The Day the Earth Stood Still"
  • Costa
  • Visser
Goldcrush2:56
7."Where I Came From"Goldcrush3:22
8."Waste My Love"
N3RD3:13
9."All About Us"
  • Webbe
  • Visser
N3RD3:08
10."Neon Honey"
  • James
  • Visser
Goldcrush2:40
11."Beautiful Spiritual"
  • Rogers
  • Goldcrush
 
12."Souls of the Underground"
  • Webbe
  • Visser
N3RD2:48
13."Find That Feeling"
Woodcock2:59
Total length:40:31

Release history

Reflections release history
RegionDateLabelFormatRef.
Various9 January 2026
  • CD
  • cassette
  • digital
  • streaming
  • vinyl
[2]

References

  1. "Blue share rousing new single "Beautiful Spiritual"". Celeb Mix. 28 November 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Reflections by Blue". Apple Music . Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  3. Forrest, Jo (4 September 2025). "Blue announce nee album 'Reflections'". Totalntertainment. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  4. "News: Blue Announce New Album Reflections To Be Released On January 9th 2026 & World Tour". Renowned for Sound . Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  5. "Blue - One Last Time (Official Music Video)" . Retrieved 24 November 2025 via YouTube.
  6. "Blue - One Last Time". 25 September 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  7. "Waste My Love by Blue". Spotify . Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  8. Sugg, Aaron (6 November 2025). "Duncan James shows off his hot new boyfriend as they celebrate Blue's latest single 'Waste My Love'". Attitude. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  9. Ellwood-Hughes, Pip (3 November 2025). "Blue release new single 'Waste My Love' – take a listen". Entertainment Focus. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  10. "Blue - Beautiful Spiritual (Official Audio)". 27 November 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025 via YouTube.
  11. Forrest, Jo (28 November 2025). "Blue share new single Beautiful Spiritual". Totalntertainment. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  12. "Candlelight Fades – Single". 19 December 2025. Retrieved 10 January 2026 via Spotify.
  13. 1 2 Forrest, Jo (9 January 2026). "Blue release New Album Reflections". Total Ntertainment. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  14. 1 2 Cragg, Michael (2 January 2026). "Blue: Reflections review – a clunky rehash of their Y2K boyband heyday". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  15. 1 2 Dröll, Emil. "Rückspiegel-Pop: hymnische Hoffnungslosigkeit". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  16. Eberz, Else (5 January 2026). "Blue: Mit frischer Energie und „Reflections" in ein neues Kapitel". prinz.de (in German). Retrieved 10 January 2026.
  17. Hodgkinson, Will (9 January 2026). "The best and worst new music of the week". The Times . Retrieved 10 January 2026.