| Lovers Speak | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 March 2003 | |||
| Recorded | G2 Music | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 54:47 | |||
| Label | Denon | |||
| Producer | Joan Armatrading | |||
| Joan Armatrading chronology | ||||
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Lovers Speak is the fifteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released on 25 March 2003. Three tracks from the album ("Lovers Speak", "Love Bug" and "Crazy for You") were released by Telstar on 10 March 2003 as a sampler. [1]
Lovers Speak was the first studio album released by Armatrading in eight years, following the 1995 release of What's Inside . At the time of this album's release she was no longer attached to a major record label – she had spent 18 years with A&M and had then released one album through RCA. All the songs on Lovers Speak were written, arranged and produced by Armatrading, and recorded at G2 Music. The album was released on 25 March 2003 by Denon Music (DEN 17185), part of the Savoy Label Group. Armatrading plays all the instruments on the album apart from drums, and brass on two of the tracks. Containing fourteen songs and running at nearly 51 minutes, the album is the longest studio album Armatrading had yet produced.
During the eight years between this and her previous studio album What's Inside, Armatrading had involved herself in a number of other activities. In December 1998 she released a CD entitled Lullabies with a Difference for a children's charity called PACES, which included contributions from Mark Knopfler, Jools Holland, Midge Ure, Tina Turner, The Cranberries, Melissa Etheridge, Brian May and Lewis Taylor; all artists she admired and whom she asked to contribute. In 1999 she wrote, upon request, a tribute song (The Messenger) for Nelson Mandela and performed it for him. [2] She also studied at the Open University, receiving her BA (Hons) degree in History in 2001.
Armatrading dedicated Lovers Speak to her "good friends" Gus Dudgeon and his wife Sheila Bailey, who had both been killed in a car accident in July 2002. [3] Gus Dudgeon had produced her debut album Whatever's for Us in 1972.
In an interview for The Washington Post in July 2003, Armatrading said of the songs on the album that they "are about people's reactions to love and what happens in love, falling in love and how to survive falling in love". [4]
She later said of the song "Blessed" that it was a "song saying 'Thank you very much for the life I have.' I'm very appreciative and I want to acknowledge it, not just quietly to myself. It's not about fame and money, it's just life and how you feel." [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [6] |
| The Guardian |  [7] |
| Uncut | [8] |
The album received a number of positive reviews and reached number 42 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. [9]
Martin C. Strong, writing in The Great Rock Discography , referred to Lovers Speak as an "acclaimed" album, and "a late blossoming tour de force of emotional examination", and went on to say that the album "outshone almost everything the singer had done since the 70s." [10]
AllMusic's Thom Jurek described the album as "a startling testament of artistic integrity, searing emotional honesty, musical accessibility and sophistication" and said that it is "unmatched by anything on the current musical scene". He praised the album's "gorgeous pop, folk, and jazz forms" and its "eclectic, musical, and lyrical diversity", concluding that it is "poetry … a masterpiece", that "should be a contender for pop album of 2003". The album received 4.5 from 5 stars on that site. [6] In another review, Jurek described Lovers Speak as "among the most searing meditations on love from all sides we have in the pop music canon". [11]
Lydia Vanderloo of Barnes & Noble called Lovers Speak a "confident, understated album that spotlights the depth of [Armatrading's] voice and verse". She drew attention to Armatrading's "soulful vocals" and the "simple but effective arrangements rich with piano, acoustic guitar, and discreet rhythms" going on to single out the tracks "Ocean," "Less Happy More Often", "Let's Talk About Us", "In These Times", "Physical Pain", "Waiting" and "Love Bug" for special mention. [12]
Rashod D. Ollison of the Chicago Tribune referred to the album as "deeper [and] more spiritual … spiced with quirky romantic tales" that "[recall] classic Armatrading but with more simplicity and clearer messages". [13]
David Thomas of The Daily Telegraph called Lovers Speak: "a classic break-up album, written very directly, emotionally and sensually" and described it as "poignant, gorgeous, melodic". [14]
Dave Simpson of The Guardian referred to the song "In These Times" as "harrowing and moving". [7]
"In These Times" appeared on the compilation album Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace which was released in 2008 [15] by The Art Of Peace Foundation. [16]
As was her habit, Armatrading embarked on a tour to promote the album after its release. It was this tour that gave rise to her second live album, Live: All the Way from America , when a concert from the tour was recorded in Saratoga, California in June 2003. The band for the tour featured Armatrading on vocals and all guitars, Gary Foote on reeds, woodwinds and percussion; and Spencer Cozens on keyboards.
All songs written and arranged by Joan Armatrading.
Musicians
| Production Team
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Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her first major commercial success came with her third and fourth albums, Joan Armatrading (1976) and Show Some Emotion (1977), and she continues to play live and record studio albums. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996.
Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, "Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US No. 1 albums, and established John as one of the most successful singles artists of the 1970s.
"Love and Affection" is a song by Kittitian-English singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. Her fourth single, and her third for A&M Records, it was her first chart success. It reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1976. One of her best-known recordings, it has been described as a "deceptively feisty ballad ... an instant classic." It appeared on her eponymous third album. The song has twice been used as the title track of compilation albums, for 1999's Love and Affection: The Best of Joan Armatrading and 2003's Love and Affection: Classics 1975–1983.
"Down to Zero" is a 1976 song by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. It features pedal steel guitar by B. J. Cole and drums by Kenney Jones of the Faces.
Pamela Agatha Nestor is a former singer, songwriter and actress who was active in the entertainment industry in the 1960s and 1970s. She left the music industry in 1979 and in later life took to academic pursuits, gaining a doctorate in 2009 from Birkbeck College, University of London.
Whatever's for Us is the debut album of British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was a collaboration between Armatrading and singer-songwriter Pam Nestor. At the time the two were musical partners and wrote over a hundred songs together. Armatrading sings lead vocals and plays piano and acoustic guitar, while Nestor co-wrote most of the songs.
Back to the Night is the second studio album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was released in April 1975 by A&M Records.
To the Limit is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released in September 1978 by A&M.
Steppin' Out is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The title is taken from her song of the same name which was first released in 1975 on her second studio album Back to the Night. A DVD with the same title, containing concerts recorded by WDR in 1979 and 1980, was released in 2004.
Secret Secrets is the ninth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 4 February 1985 by A&M. The album was recorded and mixed at Battery Studios, in Willesden, London. It reached number 14 on the UK Album Chart and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 60,000 copies. The album peaked at number 18 in Australia. The album had little success with singles, with its only charting hit, "Temptation", stalling at no.65 on the UK Singles Chart.
Sleight of Hand is the tenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 12 May 1986 by A&M Records. It was recorded and produced by Armatrading at Bumpkin Studio, her own purpose built studio in the grounds of her home. The album peaked at No. 34 on the UK Album Charts, No. 70 on the US Billboard 200, and No. 39 in Australia. It was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 60,000 copies.
The Shouting Stage is the 11th studio album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 29 June 1988 by A&M Records. It was written, arranged and produced entirely by Armatrading herself, and recorded at her home studio (Bumpkin), with mixing done at Olympic Studios, London.
Hearts and Flowers is the twelfth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was written, arranged and produced by Armatrading; recorded at Bumpkin Studios, her own studios in the grounds of her home; mixed at The Grey Room in Los Angeles and mastered at Sterling Sound, New York. Armatrading began writing the album in 1989 and finished it in April 1990. It was released on 4 June 1990 by A&M Records.
What's Inside is the fourteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. The album was written, arranged and produced by Armatrading, co-produced by David Tickle and recorded at the A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood. The strings were recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, with the Kronos Quartet's contribution recorded at The Plant Recording Studios, Sausalito, California and The Memphis Horns recorded at Kiva Recording Studio, Memphis, Tennessee. The album was released in 1995 by RCA and was Armatrading's only album for the label. She had left A&M in 1992 after an eighteen-year association with the company.
Into the Blues is the sixteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, released on 1 May 2007. The album was recorded by Armatrading at Bumpkin Studios, her own purpose-built studios. It was released on the 429 label (17625) and on the Hypertension label. The album was released in 2008 as a deluxe edition, with a DVD.
This Charming Life is the seventeenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released on 30 March 2010. The album was recorded during 2009 by Armatrading at Bumpkin Studios, her own purpose-built studios, and mastered at Metropolis Studios. It was released on the 429 label and the Hypertension label. Armatrading's third live album Live at the Royal Albert Hall was recorded as part of the tour that accompanied the release of This Charming Life.
Live: All the Way from America is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. It was Armatrading's second live album, following the 1979 release of Steppin' Out, and was, therefore, the first live album she had released in twenty-five years. Armatrading was on tour following the release of her 2003 studio album Lovers Speak, and a concert from this tour was recorded on 25 June 2003 at the Lillian Fontaine Garden Theatre in Saratoga, California. The album takes its title from her 1980 song "All the Way from America", which originally appeared on the album Me Myself I. It was released in 2004 on digital format, CD and DVD by Savoy Records / SLG, and re-released in 2009 in CD format on the 429 Records label.
Starlight is the eighteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released in 2012 as a digital album on the Hypertension label, and then as a CD in 2013 on the 429 Records and Savoy labels. The album was recorded at Bumpkin Studios, Armatrading's own purpose-built studio.
Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a live album by the British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. It was recorded live on tour in 2010 and 2011, following the release of Armatrading's seventeenth studio album This Charming Life. The album was released as a digital album, CD and DVD by 429 Records / Savoy Jazz (FTN17814).
Not Too Far Away is the nineteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading, and was released on 18 May 2018. Armatrading produced the album herself, arranged the strings and plays and programmes all instruments.
