Georgian/British singer, songwriter and musician Katie Melua today releases her 8th studio album. Simply titled Album No. 8, the record is the 36-year-old’s most personal, and assured, record of her seventeen-year career.
Album No. 8 has been met with strong critical praise, with the Sunday Times describing the opening track, ‘A Love Like That’ as “sinuous, sepulchral pop-noir at its most enveloping.”. Music OMH declared the album as “A compendious set of cinematic, soothing and poignant songs, showcasing a deeper maturity not only in Melua’s voice, but also in her song writing.” “…it is the languid melodies, unhurried rhythms and gentle balance of acoustic instruments with richly orchestrated strings that convey Melua’s self-composure. This is a laid-back album, drawing on the dreamy Seventies milieu of Laurel Canyon with a touch of the easy listening sumptuousness of Burt Bacharach” writes the Daily Telegraph. Sunday Express noted that the album “sees her in control from start to finish.” with Music News calling it “…a gloriously cinematic record.”
Justifiably, Album No. 8 is BBC Radio 2’s Album Of The Week, where the latest single ‘Your Longing Is Gone’ – an autumnal farewell to a fading love – is also on their playlist. Album No. 8 sees Katie taking the role of sole lyricist. The deeply personal lyrics see her attempting to reconcile the knotty complexities of real-life love to its fairytale counterpart. Recorded in London and Georgia, the record features The Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra and a special guest appearance from the Gori Women’s Choir. The record’s producer, classical, ambient guitarist, Leo Abrahams infuses “these chamber-pop confessionals with the crackle and throb of ambient electronica” (Metro) while “his spacious, almost weightless arrangements really hit the sweet spot.” (Daily Telegraph)
Katie Melua is one of Britain's most successful musical artists, with a catalogue that has been certified 56 times platinum around the globe. Originally from Kutaisi, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Melua moved to the UK at the age of eight. Something of a prodigious musical talent she released her debut album Call Off The Search when she was just 19 years old. Since then, Melua has released seven UK Top 10 studio albums: Call Off The Search, Piece By Piece, Pictures, The House, Secret Symphony, Ketevan and, most recently, 2016’s self-produced, critically acclaimed In Winter, which she recorded with the Gori Women's Choir in her native Georgia. She and Kate Bush are the only two British female artists in UK chart history to reach the Top Ten with seven consecutive albums.
Stream/download the new album HERE