Music in a Foreign Language | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 9 June 2003 | |||
Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
Genre | Acoustic folk [1] | |||
Length | 39:05 | |||
Label | Sanctuary | |||
Producer | Lloyd Cole | |||
Lloyd Cole chronology | ||||
|
Music in a Foreign Language is the sixth solo studio album by English musician Lloyd Cole, released on 9 June 2003 through Sanctuary Records. It includes a cover of Nick Cave's track "People Ain't No Good" from his 1997 album The Boatman's Call , [1] as well as contributions from Dave Derby, who worked with Cole in the band the Negatives, and former Commotions member Neil Clark on guitar. [2]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Tim Sendra of AllMusic called the album Cole's "most intimate and low-key yet", with its "acoustic guitars, restrained drums, and subtle instrumentation", writing that it "succeeds in a way that most of his over-produced previous albums fail to do". Sendra also felt that Cole "manages to strip down his sound without falling into the trap that many artists do, that of stripping too much away and becoming boring". [2] Rob Horning of PopMatters opined that Cole had "made the inevitable singer-songwriter move to acoustic folk", finding that the album "has a consolidating, retrenching feel" and its 10 songs are "extremely consistent in melody and mood without being monotonous". Horning went on to call its tracks "hushed, pensive, and more or less percussion-free, with delicately picked guitar quaintly ornamented by steel guitar and gentle string arrangements" and its melodies "familiar and pretty". [1] Dan Tallis, reviewing for the BBC, called it an "unashamedly laid back affair" with "10 simple and beautiful songs". [3]
All tracks are written by Lloyd Cole, except where noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Music in a Foreign Language" | 4:28 |
2. | "My Other Life" | 4:08 |
3. | "Late Night, Early Town" | 4:06 |
4. | "Cutting Out" | 3:24 |
5. | "No More Love Songs" | 3:15 |
6. | "Today I'm Not So Sure" | 3:13 |
7. | "My Alibi" | 3:15 |
8. | "People Ain't No Good" (written by Nick Cave) | 5:03 |
9. | "Brazil" (written by Cole, Dave Derby and Jill Sobule) | 2:58 |
10. | "Shelf Life" | 5:15 |
Total length: | 39:05 |
Musicians
Production
Other
Chart (2003) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Albums (OCC) [4] | 114 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [5] | 18 |
Lloyd Cole is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was lead vocalist of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo.
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions were a British rock and pop band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1982. Between 1984 and 1989, the band scored four Top 20 albums and five Top 40 singles in the UK; it also had success in several other countries including Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand. After they broke up in 1989, Cole embarked on a solo career but the band reformed briefly in 2004 to perform a 20th anniversary mini-tour of the UK and Ireland.
Prairie Wind is the 26th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on September 27, 2005.
Girlfriend is the third studio album by American alternative rock musician Matthew Sweet. It was released on Zoo Entertainment in 1991.
Quiet Lies is the seventh studio album by American country pop artist Juice Newton, released in 1982. It reached number 20 on the Billboard 200, her highest position on the chart, and included three major hits: "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me", "Break It to Me Gently", and "Heart of the Night". Quiet Lies sold more than 900,000 copies in the United States in 1982 and was re-issued on CD in 1990 and 2006.
Neil Clark is a Scottish guitarist, known for his work with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. He has regularly worked and toured with Lloyd Cole post-Commotions including playing on and touring in support of Cole's 2006 album, Antidepressant. He also worked on Cole's albums Bad Vibes, Love Story, Etc, Music in a Foreign Language, and Guesswork. Clark was a member of Bloomsday with Stephen Irvine of the Commotions and Chris Thomson of The Bathers. Clark features on the Bathers' 1993 album, Lagoon Blues. He collaborated with Canadian singer Mae Moore on her album Dragonfly - his guitar playing featured on her single "Genuine", which reached No. 6 on the RPM "Top 100" singles chart in Canada. In 1995 and 1998 he worked on two albums with French singer Axelle Renoir.
Rattlesnakes is the debut studio album by the British rock and pop band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, released on 12 October 1984 by Polydor Records. The album reached number 13 on the UK Albums Chart and included the singles "Perfect Skin", "Forest Fire" and "Rattlesnakes".
Three Chord Opera is the twenty-fifth studio album by Neil Diamond, released in 2001. It marked the first album since 1974's Serenade to consist solely of original material written solely by Diamond, and the first album of any original songs since 1996's country-themed Tennessee Moon where he co-wrote all but one of the songs.
Easy Pieces is the second studio album by the British rock and pop band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. It was released on Polydor Records in the UK on 18 November 1985 and included the hit singles "Brand New Friend", "Lost Weekend" and "Cut Me Down". The title of the album derives from the American drama film Five Easy Pieces (1970), which Cole described as "one of my very favourite films", saying, "I want to write at least five songs out of that film".
"Perfect Skin" is a song by the British rock and pop band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, released in 1984 as the debut single from their debut studio album Rattlesnakes. The song was written by Lloyd Cole and produced by Paul Hardiman. It peaked at number 26 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for ten weeks.
Heartlight is the fifteenth studio album by Neil Diamond. It was released in August 1982 on Columbia Records. The album spent 34 weeks on the charts and peaked at #9. For shipments of a million copies it was certified Platinum by the RIAA.
The Band Perry is the debut studio album by American country music group The Band Perry. The album includes five songs from the band's digital EP The Band Perry EP, which was released in April 2010. The album produced five singles: "Hip to My Heart", "If I Die Young", "You Lie", "All Your Life", and "Postcard from Paris". Of these, "If I Die Young" and "All Your Life" were number one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Mainstream is the third and final studio album by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. It was produced by Ian Stanley and released by Polydor Records in the UK and by Capitol Records in the US on 26 October 1987. It included the singles "My Bag", "Jennifer She Said" and "From the Hip". Although the album reached number nine in the UK, it failed to chart in the US and was not embraced by all critics: Mainstream is the only Lloyd Cole and the Commotions album not to sell at least 100,000 copies in the US.
Everlasting is the eleventh studio album by American singer Natalie Cole, released on June 14, 1987 by Manhattan Records. The album peak to number 8 on Billboards Top R&B Albums chart, and number 42 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Standards is a rock album by English singer, songwriter and musician Lloyd Cole released on 21 June 2013 by Tapete Records. It is Cole's tenth solo album under his own name, although only his second since 1995 to feature a full band of additional musicians.
Primitive is the sixteenth studio album by Neil Diamond. It was released in 1984 on Columbia Records. Its singles "Turn Around", "Sleep With Me Tonight", and "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" reached numbers 4, 24, and 28, respectively on the Billboard Adult Contemporary singles chart, while "Turn Around" also reached number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on October 5, 1984.
Don't Get Weird on Me Babe is the second solo album by the English musician Lloyd Cole, released in 1991. The title comes from a Raymond Carver expression. Unlike the original release, the American version of the album leads with the "rock" half and ends with the orchestral songs.
Beast Epic is the sixth full-length studio album by Iron & Wine, released August 25, 2017 via both Black Cricket Recording Company and Sub Pop.
Love Story is the fourth solo studio album by the English musician Lloyd Cole, released in 1995. Cole supported the album with UK and North American tours.
Antidepressant is the seventh solo studio album by English musician Lloyd Cole, released on 25 September 2006 through Sanctuary Records. It contains a cover of American rock band Moby Grape's "I Am Not Willing" and contributions from Jill Sobule as well as Cole's former Commotions bandmate Neil Clark.