''Behind the Sun'' is the second studio album by British

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

artist

Chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...

. It was released on 27 March 2000 through Xtravaganza Recordings.Paoletta, Michael (2000) "Chicane Delivers Emotional Grooves 'Behind the Sun'", ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', 10 June 2000, p. 38, 40 The album features collaborations with

Tracy Ackerman Tracy Ackerman is a British singer and songwriter. She works with several other British songwriters including Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson of Absolute and Mark Taylor. Ackerman has written for artists including Geri Halliwell, Cher, Boyzone, ...

Máire Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

Justine Suissa Justine Simone Freha Suissa (born 21 March 1970) is a British singer-songwriter, the vocalist of trance group OceanLab. Career and collaborations She has collaborated with Armin van Buuren, Markus Schulz and Robbie Rivera, and has continu ...

, and

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

, including its singles "

Saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

", " Don't Give Up", " No Ordinary Morning" / "Halcyon", and "Autumn Tactics". Upon release, it charted at number 10 in the United Kingdom, 7 in New Zealand, 15 in Australia, and was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in the UK. The album is described by Chicane in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

as a reflection on "a year in the life of Chicane".

Background

On 24 May 1999, the album's lead single, "

", was released to commercial success. The song included a revision of the vocals from

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...

's "

Theme from Harry's Game "Theme from ''Harry's Game''" is a 1982 song by Clannad commissioned as the theme for ''Harry's Game'', a Yorkshire Television miniseries adapted from a 1975 novel set in The Troubles in Northern Ireland. It was released as a single in October 1 ...

" provided by the original and featured singer,

. The single reached number six on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number one on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record s ...

. On 6 March 2000, the album's second single, " Don't Give Up", was released. It features Canadian singer

, and was a commercial success, reaching

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

on the UK Singles Chart, number three in the United States

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart, and certifying silver and gold in the United Kingdom and Australia respectively. It remains Chicane's most commercially successful single to date. The album's other singles include " No Ordinary Morning" / "Halcyon" on 10 July 2000, with the A-side featuring

. The album's final single, "Autumn Tactics", was released on 16 October 2000 and features

Release

On 27 March 2000, the album was released through Xtravaganza Recordings in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it was distributed by

C2 Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the Amer ...

, as part of a then newly signed distribution deal between Xtravaganza and the now defunct imprint of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

.Editorial - Chicane
. (May 2000). Urbnet.com. Accessed 2 April 2006. After its release, the album reached number 10 in the United Kingdom, 7 in New Zealand, 15 in Australia. The album also saw success throughout

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, charting in Germany, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands. On 16 June 2000, the album was certified gold in the United Kingdom. On 22 November 2013, a remastered deluxe edition of the album was released by

Armada Music Armada Music is a Dutch independent record label that specialises in releasing electronic dance music. The name Armada derives from the first two letters of the founders' first names: Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis. Signed a ...

. Upon release, the album charted on the

UK Dance Albums Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, UK garage, garage, synthpop) i ...

, reaching number thirty three.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Behind the Sun'' received mostly positive reviews from critics. William Ruhlmann from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album a positive review rating it three stars out of five. He claimed that " hicane hasa strong pop sense to go with his taste for ambient and trance dance tracks", and praised how "he cleverly hooks up with some established names looking to extend their appeal into the dance field". An issue of ''

'' described the album as "a sublime musical journey". Trance Critic gave the album a mixed to positive review, claiming that the album largely veers away from traditional

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between 135–150 beats per minute ( ...

. They stated that "

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

seems to act in opposition to every convention of trance music ..yet, in bizarre and spectacular style, Chicane has reversed the trend by actually being considerably better on the downtempo works". However, they also wrote that " healbum is far from perfect", but rated it four stars out of five.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behind The Sun (Chicane Album) 2000 albums Chicane (musician) albums