Westlife in tune with their fans

Feehily says: "My dream is to record a song in Chinese. This time we met some Chinese singers and it's possible that we could collaborate."

He mentions Chen Li-nong, a 19-year-old Taiwan singer-actor, who started his career a year ago by participating in a Chinese reality show, Idol Producer, created by iQiyi, and stood out as a member of the boy group, Nine Percent.

With Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, Feehily, Filan and former member Bryan McFadden, who departed the lineup in 2004, Westlife was formed in 1998 and their self-titled debut album, which was released in the United Kingdom in November 1999, was a smash hit.

With their records selling over 55 million worldwide, the then-boy group achieved 14 UK No 1 singles, including Flying Without Wings and You Raise Me Up, and their version of Phil Collins' Against All Odds, recorded with pop diva Mariah Carey.

On Nov 15, their new album, titled Spectrum, was released, which was their first since the 2010 album, Gravity. The band disbanded in 2012 and reunited in 2018.

Recorded in Dublin, Los Angeles and London, the 11-song new album features collaborations with Ed Sheeran and James Bay, among others.

Byrne says of the ideas behind the album: "We are very picky this time and we want to make sure what we have on this album is still Westlife but also works for the current music industry because it has moved on a lot.

"It was an enjoyable process, recording the album. We even recorded three songs in Macao and we had never recorded in Asia before."

Filan adds: "The album has everything that we love in music, heartfelt emotional songs, which are full of energy and are colorful. We will perform more shows for the overseas fan base to get our music out there."

The four members are all fathers, and Feehily recently welcomed his daughter Layla. They have paid touching tributes to their children as they perform the song titled My Blood from the new album.

Their children are their fans too, says Byrne.

"Our children sing our songs at home and they watch our shows," he says, adding that being good fathers, they "try to find a balance between a normal family life and touring life".