On May 8, 2010, it was reported that a previous version of the record had been "scrapped" in 2009. Singer Jake Shears said, "If it wasn't something we could fully get behind and believe in, I think the band was going to be over." The band then teamed up with producer Stuart Price to create Night Work. Shears fled to Berlin for a few months, where he gained inspiration for the songwriting and tracks on Night Work. Per the album tour programme, over a dozen songs didn't make the cut for the album, including "Who's Your Money", "Thanks For Asking", "Television", "Taking Shape", "Second Heart", "Number 1 In 3rd World", "Hey Now", "Major For You", "Dogs", "Hollywood Wives", "Permanent Wave", "Private Midnight", and "Sadistic". In addition to some of these songs, others were crowd-tested in 2008 at two gigs in New York, where Scissor Sisters were billed as Queef Latina and Debbie's Harry: "The Other Girls", "Singularity", "Not The Loving Kind", "Uroboros", "Who's There?" and a cover of Roxy Music's single "Do The Strand". "Do The Strand" was recorded and released in 2009 as a part of the War Child charity albumWar Child Presents Heroes, among several covers performed by Franz Ferdinand, Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and others. The cover art is a 1980 Robert Mapplethorpe photograph of dancer Peter Reed's butt, which led to controversy among conservative people. When asked about the cover, guitarist/bass player Del Marquis stated that "The way someone reacts to it will tell you a lot about that person. People could view it with reactionary homophobia, or they could view it as camp, or high art, or something beautiful. It reminds me of the back of Sticky Fingers actually - it's a really classic-looking album cover" and added that it was controversial "because people still react in a really strange way to the sexualisation of the male form. We're much more comfortable with the sexualisation of the female form. The cover's been blown up on billboards all over town and it's really exciting for me to be driving through religiously conservative neighbourhoods and seeing this giant gorgeous clenched man's ass!".
Singles
The first single released from the album was "Fire with Fire", which met critical and commercial success, debuting and peaking at N° 11 in the UK Charts and N°1 at Billboard's Dance Club Songs. It was followed by "Any Which Way", which features uncredited backing vocals by Kylie Minogue, to moderate success in European charts. "Invisible Light", which features guest vocals by actor Sir Ian McKellen, was released as the third and final single in an EP format on Boys Noize Records on August 16, 2010, featuring the original track as well as remixes by Boys Noize, Stuart Price, and Siriusmo. This EP was released on a transparent, yellow vinyl edition in addition to CD and download formats.
Track listing
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number eighteen on the US Billboard 200, selling 18,260 copies in its first week, giving Scissor Sisters their second top 20 album. In the UK, the album debuted at number two, behind Eminem's album Recovery, selling 46,071 copies. In its second week, the album fell to number four.
Critical reception
According to Metacritic the album was met with generally favorable reviews, reaching a metascore of 72 based on 21 reviews.
