Out of the Woods (Tracey Thorn album)

Out of the Woods
Studio album by Tracey Thorn
Released	5 March 2007 (2007-03-05)
Genre	Pop dance electronica
Length	42:54
Label	Virgin
Producer	Tracey Thorn Ewan Pearson Cagedbaby Charles Webster Martin Wheeler Alex Santos
Tracey Thorn chronology
A Distant Shore (1982) Out of the Woods (2007) Love and Its Opposite (2010)

Out of the Woods is the second solo album by Tracey Thorn. It was released on 5 March 2007 on Virgin Records. The album charted on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 172 on 7 April 2007. ^[1]

The majority of the album's production was by Ewan Pearson who also produced the first single, "It's All True". Other collaborators included Cagedbaby, Charles Webster, Klas Lindblad, Martin Wheeler and Alex Santos.

Background

Out of the Woods marked Thorn's return to the music scene as a solo artist after nearly eight years. It was released on 20 March 2007 in the U.S. on Astralwerks.

Thorn told Billboard magazine about the recording of the album: ^[2]

"When I started this album, I was thinking, 'Well, alright, I want to make a quirky little record, a little bit acoustic, a little bit dance... I also thought I was going to do a lot of covers, because I hadn't written anything in a long time. But once I started, I found myself writing more songs and collaborating with people. When the record was finished, I was quite startled. I thought, 'Wow, I made a pop record without really meaning to.'"

Thorn namechecked post-punk peers and idols Terry Hall (from 2-Tone Records ska-revivalists The Specials, and New Pop trio Fun Boy Three), Edwyn Collins (of Postcard Records' Orange Juice) and Siouxsie Sioux in the song "Hands Up to the Ceiling". The record also includes contributions from Cagedbaby, Ewan Pearson, Charles Webster, Sasse, Darshan Jesrani, Martin Wheeler and Alex Santos.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100 [3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Alternative Press	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	B [6]
The Guardian	[7]
Mojo	[8]
musicOMH	[9]
The Observer	[10]
Pitchfork	5.6/10 [11]
Spin	8/10 [12]
Uncut	8/10 [13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 20 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ^[3]

Singles

The first single from the album, "It's All True", accompanied by remixes from the likes of Kris Menace & Martin Buttrich, was released on 7 February and the second single, "Raise the Roof" was released on 18 June. The third single, "Grand Canyon" was released on 30 October. A fourth single, "King's Cross" (which is a cover version of a Pet Shop Boys song) was released on 12 December.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Here It Comes Again"	Thorn	3:06
2.	"A-Z"	Thorn, Gandey	3:41
3.	"It's All True"	Thorn, Jesrani, Lindblad, Pearson	4:13
4.	"Get Around to It"	Russell	6:00
5.	"Hands Up to the Ceiling"	Thorn	2:58
6.	"Easy"	Thorn, Wheeler	3:58
7.	"Falling off a Log"	Thorn	3:17
8.	"Nowhere Near"	Thorn	3:07
9.	"Grand Canyon"	Thorn, Santos	6:07
10.	"By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down and Wept"	Thorn	2:25
11.	"Raise the Roof"	Thorn, Gandey	4:02

iTunes edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"King's Cross"	Tennant, Lowe	4:28

Charts

Chart performance for Out of the Woods

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [14]	86
Italian Albums (FIMI) [15]	79
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [16]	44
UK Albums (OCC) [17]	38
US Billboard 200 [18]	172
US Top Dance Albums (Billboard) [19]	4
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [20]	5
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [21]	20

References

1. ^[ dead link ]
2. Paoletta, Mike (23 February 2007). "Two Decades On, Thorn Wraps New Solo Album". Billboard magazine. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
3. "Out of the Woods by Tracey Thorn". metacritic.com. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
4. AllMusic review
5. Woods is the best record EBTG never made, a new peak for Thorn in a career full of heights. [May 2007, p.162]
6. A tasteful disco effort. [23 Mar 2007, p.61]
7. Alex Macpherson. "CD: Tracey Thorn, Out of the Woods". the Guardian.
8. The ballads bewitch, reminding us that Tracey is one of the unique British voices, up there with Dusty. [Apr 2007, p.100]
9. "musicOMH.com review". musicomh.com. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
10. Flynn, Paul (18 February 2007). "Tracey Thorn, Out of the Woods". The Observer . Retrieved 29 September 2025.
11. "Pitchfork Media review". pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
12. Wood, Mikael. "Tracey Thorn - 'Out of the Woods'". Spin . Retrieved 29 September 2025.
13. Most of the album sees producers Charles Webster and Ewan Pearson buiilding on the bedsit rave of "Missing" and the beatific drum'n'bass of Walking Wounded. [Apr 2007, p.120]
14. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 279.
15. "Italiancharts.com – Tracey Thorn – Out Of The Woods". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
16. "Swedishcharts.com – Tracey Thorn – Out Of The Woods". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
18. "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
19. "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
20. "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
21. "Tracey Thorn Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2019.

External links

• Out of the Woods at Discogs (list of releases)
• Tracey Thorn surprises herself with pop album
• Q&A: Tracey Thorn
• Tracey Thorn official Myspace