Made of Bricks

Made of Bricks
Studio album by Kate Nash
Released	6 August 2007
Recorded	2006–2007
Studio	Eastcote, London Miloco, London The Pool, London
Genre	Pop [1]
Length	55:40
Label	Fiction (UK) Cherrytree (US) Universal Music (International)
Producer	Paul Epworth Kate Nash
Kate Nash chronology
Made of Bricks (2007) My Best Friend Is You (2010)
Singles from Made of Bricks
"Foundations" Released: 18 June 2007 "Mouthwash" Released: 1 October 2007 "Pumpkin Soup" Released: 17 December 2007 "Merry Happy" Released: 24 March 2008

Made of Bricks is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Kate Nash, released in the United Kingdom on 6 August 2007 by Fiction Records, Cherrytree Records, and the Universal Music Group. The album was a commercial success, topping the UK Albums Chart and spawning a number-two single in the form of the lead single "Foundations". ^[2] The album was later released in Europe on 10 September and in the United States on 8 January 2008.

Writing and recording

Nash stated in an October 2007 interview for The Village Voice that she wrote all the songs on the album a year and a half before, except for "Skeleton Song", which she had written the same year that the album came out. ^[3]

Release

The album was released five weeks earlier than originally planned due to the popularity of "Foundations". ^{[4] [5]} The album does not contain the track "Caroline's a Victim", which was released as a limited 7" single, double A-Side with "Birds" on Moshi Moshi Records before "Foundations". ^[6] "Birds" was included on the album.

A version that included a "making of" DVD was available at Best Buy on the album's release in the United States. ^[7] In that country, Made of Bricks debuted at number 36 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 16,000. ^[8] As of January 2010, the album has sold 544,000 copies in United Kingdom and it has sold 168,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. ^[9]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100 [10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Drowned in Sound	4/10 [1]
Entertainment Weekly	B [12]
The Guardian	[13]
MusicOMH	[14]
The New York Times	[10] [15]
Pitchfork	5.5/10 [16]
PopMatters	[17]
Robert Christgau	A− [18]
Slant	[19]

Initial critical response to Made of Bricks was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 71, based on 23 reviews. ^[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Kate Nash, except where stated.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Play"		1:11
2.	"Foundations"	Nash, Paul Epworth	4:05
3.	"Mouthwash"		5:01
4.	"Dickhead"		3:43
5.	"Birds"		4:25
6.	"We Get On"		4:34
7.	"Mariella"		4:15
8.	"Shit Song"		3:05
9.	"Pumpkin Soup"	Nash, Epworth	2:59
10.	"Skeleton Song"	Nash, Alejandro Tovar	5:07
11.	"Nicest Thing"	Nash, Jay Malhotra	4:05
12.	"Merry Happy" (some versions include hidden track "Little Red" from 6:08; U.S. versions do not)	Nash, Anuj Khanna	5:27/13:10
Total length:			55:40

Digital download edition

No.	Title	Length
13.	"A Is for Asthma"	2:37
Total length:		58:17

Japanese CD bonus tracks ^{[20] [21]}

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Little Red"	6:56
14.	"Stitching Leggings"	2:16
15.	"Navy Taxi"	5:35
16.	"Habanera"	2:24
Total length:		61:03

Personnel

Musicians

• Kate Nash – vocals, piano, keyboards, acoustic guitar, bass, synthesizers, production (track 1)
• Jay Malhotra – electric guitar (tracks 3–5, 10–12), bass (tracks 3–6, 10–12), acoustic guitar (track 1), percussion (track 7)
• Elliott Andrews – drums (tracks 3–6, 8, 10–12)
• Mei-ling Wong – violin (tracks 10, 11)
• Fiona Brice – strings, brass and woodwind arrangements (tracks 4, 12)
• Leo Taylor – drums (track 9)

Production personnel Paul Epworth – production Mark Rankin – engineering Anna Tjan – additional engineering Oli Wright – additional engineering Steve Fitzmaurice – mixing Daniel Morrison – mixing assistance

Additional personnel Chrissie Macdonald – art direction Richard Robinson – graphic design John Short – photography Clare Nash – additional photography Laura Dockrill – illustrations

Singles

• Nash's debut single, "Foundations", is her most successful single to date. It charted at number #2 in the UK Singles Chart, missing the number one spot to Rihanna's "Umbrella" by less than 200 copies. The song also charted most notably in Canada, Ireland, Germany and Austria.
• The album's second single, "Mouthwash" was performed at T4 on the Beach shortly before its release. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at #54 and two weeks later reached its peak position of #23. It received mixed reviews and did not chart elsewhere.
• The third single release, "Pumpkin Soup", released in October 2007, reached its UK peak position of #23 in January 2008. The song also charted in Austria and Germany. It managed to achieve a number #40 spot in Ireland.
• The fourth and final single released from Made of Bricks was "Merry Happy". The single was predicted to chart well after it was playlisted on BBC Radio 1, however Nash did not release a video for the song. Although it underperformed in the UK, the song did manage to chart in the Top 100 in Canada and was a minor hit in the US.

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (2007) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [22] 67 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [23] 51 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [24] 20 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [25] 41 French Albums (SNEP) [26] 38 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [27] 38 Irish Albums (IRMA) [28] 8 Scottish Albums (OCC) [29] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [30] 39 UK Albums (OCC) [31] 1 US Billboard 200 [32] 36 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [33] 8 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [34] 11 US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard) [35] 8

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position UK Albums (OCC) [36] 38 Chart (2008) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [37] 97 French Albums (SNEP) [38] 174 UK Albums (OCC) [39] 84

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Ireland (IRMA) [40]	Gold	7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI) [41]	2× Platinum	600,000‡
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Adams, Sean. "Kate Nash Made of Bricks review". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
2. "The Official Charts Company - Kate Nash". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 24 July 2009.
3. True, Everett (18 December 2007). "Hugs and Kisses 24: The Kate Nash Interview!". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
4. Play Archived 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
5. NME Archived 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
6. ""Caroline's a Victim" overview". Discogs. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
7. "Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks". Discogs. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
8. Katie Hasty, "Keys Holds Off Radiohead, 'Juno' At No. 1", Billboard.com, 16 January 2008.
9. Harding, Cortney (9 January 2010). "Best Bets 2010". Billboard. p. 32. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
10. "Kate Nash:Made of Bricks (2008): Reviews". Metacritic . CNET Networks, Inc. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
11. Bush, John. "Review: Made of Bricks". AllMusic . Retrieved 1 May 2015.
12. Day, Adrienne. "Article: "Made of Bricks"". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
13. Petridis, Alexis (2 August 2007). "Kate Nash, Made from Bricks". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
14. Murphy, John (5 August 2007). "Album Reviews: Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks". MusicOMH. OMH. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
15. Sanneh, Kelefa (13 August 2007). "New CDs". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
16. Dombal, Ryan. "Kate Nash Made of Bricks review". Pitchfork. Conde Nast. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
17. Sawdey, Evan (19 February 2008). "Kate Nash: Made of Bricks". PopMatters. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
18. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Kate Nash". Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics. Village Voice. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
19. Cinquemani, Sal (2 February 2008). "Kate Nash Made of Bricks review". Slant. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
20. "japanese CD bonus tracks on Amazon Japan" (in Japanese and English). amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
21. "japanese CD bonus tracks on CD japan". cdjapan.co.jp. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
22. "ARIA Top 100 Albums - Week Commencing 25th February 2008" . ARIA Charts. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
23. "Austriancharts.at – Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
24. "Ultratop.be – Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
26. "Lescharts.com – Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
27. "Offiziellecharts.de – Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
28. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Kate Nash". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
29. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
30. "Swisscharts.com – Kate Nash – Made Of Bricks". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
31. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
32. "Kate Nash Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
33. "Kate Nash Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
34. "Kate Nash Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
35. "Kate Nash Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
36. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2007". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
37. "Jaaroverzichten 2008". Ultratop. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
38. "Top de l'année Top Albums 2008" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
39. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2008". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
40. "The Irish Charts - 2007 Certification Awards - Gold". Irish Recorded Music Association.
41. "British album certifications – Kate Nash – Made of Bricks". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 12 February 2022.