We’re 15 years in... and we haven’t killed each other!

Classical crossover group Il Divo talk to

about creating a new album after parting ways with Simon Cowell, and the secret to their longevity terms of interaction with the music mogul in recent years.

“He was very heavily involved in the first three or four studio albums, but then I don’t know if it’s due to his own career being incredibly busy, but his influence and his involvement became less and less,” Urs recounts.

“And even in the last couple of discs we did with Syco, he was hardly involved. He basically listened to the finished product.”

Urs now describes Cowell as “just an old friend” who they are on “very good terms with”.

The group is bubbling over with excitement ahead of the release of their seventh album, which also tidily represents their 15th anniversary.

They say it is the “album we’ve always wanted to make”, and the foursome are notably ardent when talking about how it was created without external people “having any say or input”.

Timeless, they say, was based on a “concept”, and covers different genres of music from across the decades, right back to the 1930s. The record includes covers of songs such as Love Me Tender, What A Wonderful World and Smile, each of which was handpicked by themselves.

“We’ve taken a song from each decade, the most beautiful song we could find, and we compiled all these together on the new album,” Urs explains.

One of Il Divo’s favourite tracks on the album is Hola, a Spanishlanguage cover of Adele’s mega-hit Hello, complete with a fresh orchestral arrangement.

Carlos points out that, while Adele has not directly aired her views over the track, she did grant them permission to cover it.

“Clearly she was pleased enough with our demo that we sent her, and our intentions with what we wanted to do with it, and she was pleased enough with the Spanish translation,” he adds. And would they ever like the chance to perform Hola with Adele?

Sebastien quips, sharp as a tack: “I’d have to think about that...”

As the four singers fall about in laughter for what feels like the 37th time in a few short minutes, it becomes wonderfully apparent that their humour is the key to their longevity.

Fifteen years in one group is quite the achievement, especially considering the Frankensteinesque manner the already established singers, now aged between 45 and 49, were put together, and that many acts struggle to go the distance.

David is adamant that their “really good sense of humour” is what gets them by when the pressures of travelling the globe wear them down.

“When touring, you spend time on planes, you get dehydrated, you’re always running the risk of getting sick, you have jet lag... it’s just the nature of the beast,” he sighs.

“And I think that the four of us really use our good natures and our senses of humour to try and off-set that as much as we can.

“We try to keep things lighthearted, which is not always easy because, not only do we have the pressures of needing to pull off a show every night or every other night, but we’re now the captains of the ship at this point.

“We are the producers, we are the directors, we are the owners and the people who shape the direction as well.” He jokes: “It kinda works... we’re 15 years in, we’re still alive, and we haven’t killed each other!”

After years of world tours they are as tight as ever. There does not appear to be an end in sight for Il Divo, either, who insist they have at least another 15 years in them as a group – as long as their fans keep on listening.

Sebastien insists: “It would only stop if the fans were to decide that they don’t like our music.”

Here’s to another 15...