Yesterday, the official site reported that t.A.T.u. will cease working together on a "full-time basis" because both Yulia and Lena want to pursue solo projects.
Here's the official statement (I cleaned up the grammar and formatting a bit)
Quote:
t.A.T.u. Forever
I don't know where the yellow press got their news about "Yulia leaves t.A.T.u." from, but this time the news is not totally groundless. Yulia did not leave t.A.T.u. but something did really happen, and this is what it was:
Last December a "staff meeting" attended by Yulia, Lena and Boris took place. Parties had unanimously decided to cease the "operation of t.A.T.u. in full-time mode". This decision was not spontaneous, it was long-grown. For the sake of ethics I will not mention the reasons behind it, I'll just say that these have nothing to do neither with creative nor with economic aspects.
What is going to happen to t.A.T.u.?
First, we will close all our "open items." We'll release the third video as it was promised (at the end of March - beginning of April). The girls will do their part in the promo campaign for "You and I" movie, which is delayed due to circumstances beyond our command, but it will surely be released. We'll also release a special long-play edition of "Happy Smiles", with runtime more than an hour, for selling at t.A.T.u.-Shop only. Especially for Amazon.com we are preparing another edition of "HS" cased in standard jewel-box. This edition will have slightly different artwork and a couple of bonus remixes. Furthermore, the English version of the Beliy Plaschik video is to be launched, and may be released on DVD.
Works on the full-scale international album "HS" and talks with record-labels were stopped at the end of 2008, but English versions of the majority of Russian songs are produced, and we will do our best to provide you with these, in one form or another. Works on the show were suspended last June, and are not being planned. No public concerts are being planned, except some special events like Bacardi.
Production of the new t.A.T.u.'s "goods" - videos, records - is still quite possible in the near future, but no promises can be made about schedule right now.
All t.A.T.u.'s Internet resources are going to stay operational in accordance with your interest and our effort.
What is going to happen to Yulia?
Yulia will deal with her life and career absolutely independently. At least without t.A.T.u.'s management. She traveled to Los Angeles without Lena, who stayed in Moscow those days. On the 4th of March Yulia, Boris and Sven met in LA studio to record English vocals for "220" ("Sparks").
Concerning all other Yulia's businesses in LA, I have not more idea than you do. Yulia is quite free to share the details of evolutions of her solo career via t.A.T.u.'s information services, if she comes to such a wish.
What is going to happen to Lena?
Lena is starting her solo project with t.A.T.u.'s crew. Yes, your arch-friend management in full team will now work not just for t.A.T.u. but for Lena also. At the end of April, Lena, Renski, Sven, Troy, Steve and Domen are to meet in Los Angeles for pre-production. Maybe they'll manage to record a clean copy of something. Pre-production, for those who wasn't aware, means initial preparative procedures before recording. In our case, it's making demos, the base for future final things. The project has already got its working name and Internet domain, but I will not give out this working name before it becomes official. The site of the project is to be opened late in summer 2009. What can I tell about the new project's music, for now: it will not be t.A.T.u., but a touch of "tatuish" spirit will certainly be still intact. The sound will be live, the main language English.
The first single/video is to be released in the second half of 2009 (it's impossible to tell more precisely). The album - at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.
And this is it, for now.
Yours, Insider.
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It's disappointing, but I can't say I'm surprised. In all my years of following bands, I have never seen one as uncoordinated and inefficient as t.A.T.u. has been for the last few years. Amazingly, in spite of this, their latest album was actually really fantastic. They truly wasted some great stuff by refusing to promote it.
Furthermore, the fact that Lena is the one to have her career somewhat in order does not surprise me in the least. She always seemed like the more "rational" one, and I wish her all the best in her future adventures. I hope things work out for her (even though the Russian music business is really volatile, especially for artists that want to cross over into the American market) and that we see her solo album soon. I'll check it out and keep tabs on her career regardless, but I hope her future music keeps the electronic rock style that t.A.T.u. made famous. The fact that she's decided to keep working with t.A.T.u.'s live band is a good sign, though.
However, I feel this is truly the end of the road for Yulia. I strongly suspect that she was the driving force behind this split, because there is plenty of evidence that suggests she is extremely hard to deal with. Her sinister boytoy, Parviz Yasinov (the "businessman") most likely plays a role as well. It is well known in the Russian press that his ex-wife was also a singer who was forced to give up her career when she married him. Even if Yulia wants to start a solo project, she is probably in a situation she has little control over. This is a shame, because I always liked her voice a bit more than Lena's.
Lastly, the new editions of "Veselye Ulybki" sound interesting. I hope there are NEW remixes on the Amazon version ("Snegopady," please!) and that they consider making it a double-disc set with the Russian and English versions together. At the very least, they should put the English songs on iTunes this summer. In my opinion, they should just scrap promotion of "You and I." I watched the trailer a while ago, and I got embarrassed for them.
In all, they lasted longer than I thought they ever would. I first found them in 2002, and I thought they'd be over by 2004 at the latest. Instead, we got two more great projects ("Lyudi Invalidy" being the best) and lots of extras. Now, it's time to wait and see what Lena has planned for us.
