"Down That Road" is a song by British singer-songwriter

Shara Nelson Shara Nelson (born 1965) is an English singer and songwriter. She worked with Massive Attack in the early 1990s, and as a solo artist had five UK top 40 hit singles. Her 1993 debut album, ''What Silence Knows'', was shortlisted for the Mercury ...

, released July 1993 on

Cooltempo Records Cooltempo, the dance music imprint of Chrysalis Records, was revived in May 2018. The label released albums by artists such as Kenny Thomas, Milli Vanilli, Adeva, Shara Nelson, Mica Paris and Innocence. History Cooltempo emerged at the end ...

as the debut single from her first solo album, ''

What Silence Knows ''What Silence Knows'' is the debut solo album by English singer Shara Nelson, released in September 1993 on Cooltempo Records. It includes five singles which reached the UK Singles Chart: " Down That Road", " One Goodbye in Ten", " Inside Out", ...

'' (1993). It peaked at number 19 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 ...

, reached number one on the

European Dance Radio Chart The European Dance Radio Chart (also known as European Dance Radio Top 25) was a weekly chart compiled by pan-European magazine ''Music & Media''. After dance music had played a more dominant role on the magazine's Eurochart Hot 100 in the beginnin ...

, and became a top-20 hit on the US ''

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 ...

Hot Dance Club Play 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.

Critical reception

In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

wrote, "Shara Nelson makes her Top 40 debut with a fairly standard piece of

pop-soul Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes a ...

but with continued airplay may well breach the Top 10 if she is lucky." Andy Beevers from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave it four out of five, describing it as "a classy song that grows in stature the more you hear it." He added, "

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mass ...

and

Steve Osborne Stephen John "Steve" Osborne (born 1963) is a British record producer, living in Bath, England. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, including Suede, the B-52s, A-ha, New Order, Elbow, U2, Happy Mondays, Placebo, Gregory Porter, Do ...

's Perfecto Mix is surprisingly funky while Frankie Foncett opts for the soulful vocals. It has been getting a positive club reaction, but its chart potential will dépend more on radio exposure." Paul Moody from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' named it Single of the Week, saying, "Ah!, the sweet dove of summer has arrived and everywhere people are kissing absolute strangers in broad daylight, throwing in grey day jobs and thumbing funky lifts across a sun-swept Europe. Or at least they would be it "Down That Road" had its way. A delirious debut solo single from Shara Nelson..." Brad Beatnik from the '' RM'' Dance Update wrote, "Strings, horns, funky keys and thumping rhythms are the hallmarks of this classy debut by the former Massive vocalist." He also described it as "poppy". Another editor, James Hamilton, declared it as a "plaintive Massive Attack girl's subtle anti-segregation message".

Track listings

* UK CD single (7243 8 80730 2 8) # "Down That Road" (Radio Edit) — 3:47 # "Down That Road" (Perfecto Edit) — 4:37 # "Down That Road" (Album Mix) — 5:18 # "Down That Road" (Full Length Perfecto Mix) — 6:28 # "Down That Road" (Barkin' Loud Mix) — 6:22 # "Down That Road" (Frankie Foncett Mix) — 5:06 * European CD single (7243 8 80732 2 6) # "Down That Road" (Radio Edit) — 3:47 # "Down That Road" (Perfecto Edit) — 4:37 # "Down That Road" (Barkin' Loud Mix) — 6:22 # "Down That Road" (Frankie Foncett Mix) — 5:06

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control Shara Nelson songs 1993 singles 1993 songs Cooltempo Records singles Songs written by Shara Nelson Songs written by Attrell Cordes