Katie Melua - Acoustic Album No. 8

by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 18 / 1 / 2022

Label: BMG
Format: CD

Effective acoustic reworking by Katie Melua of her 2020 eighth album

Review

Whilst she was unable to tour during lockdown, Katie Melua posted acoustic performances online from her London home. These received a very positive reaction - so she decided to rework her 2020 release, 'Album No. 8', in an acoustic version - with greater intimacy. The original recording was made with a philharmonic orchestra and with film composer Leo Abrahams heavily involved. But now Katie has taken it right back to basics. Melua's marriage to Superbike racer James Toseland was ending when she made the 2020 version and the record then featured rich, elegant arrangements to dissect her heartbreak. On the 'Airtime' track she repudiated romantic preconceptions about love whilst on 'Heading Home' and 'Leaving The Mountain' the inspiration was her birthplace in the former Soviet state of Georgia. The new acoustic album is far simpler. The windswept, cinematic style on 'English Manner' is replaced by smooth Spanish guitar whilst violinist Simon Goff accompanies Katie on 'Remind Me To Forget'. The original album was personal yet dispassionate in the grandness of its arrangements and orchestration. The new version feels raw - but it is beautiful.

Track Listing:-

1 Joy
2 English Manner
3 Leaving the Mountain
4 Voices in the Night
5 Maybe I Dreamt It (feat. Simon Goff)
6 Heading Home
7 Your Longing Is Gone
8 Airtime
9 Remind Me to Forget (feat. Simon Goff)
10 No Better Magic
11 A Love Like That