''Humour and the Misfortune of Others'' is the second studio album by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

singer Hollie Smith. It was released on 15 March 2010.

Reception

Russell Baillie of

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

gave the album five stars, praising its "big angry and/or anguished anthems, clearly venting about her life and career's ups and downs". Nick Ward of

The Nelson Mail ''The Nelson Mail'' is a 4-day a week newspaper in Nelson, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It was founded in 1866 as ''The Nelson Evening Mail''; the first edition was published on 5 March 1866. It absorbed another local paper, '' ...

gave the album three-and-a-half stars, saying of it "Smith's voice has picked up a raspy edge that comes and goes, but she begins to loosen the restraints and show more melodic inventiveness".

Track listing

# "Mamma" – 4:06 # "Vs 19:19" – 4:54 # "Let Me Go" – 3:42 # "By My Side" – 4:48 # "Humour" – 4:44 # "Finding Home" – 5:03 # "Hiding" – 3:41 # "Overtime" – 6:42 # "Before This Day Is Done" – 5:11 # "Why Can't We Get Along" – 5:25 # "Brothers, Friends, Lovers" – 4:01 # "Will You Be the One?" – 4:26

Personnel

* Darren Mathiassen – drums * Crete Haami – bass * Tyson Smith –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Mark Vanilau - Keyboards, Grand Piano

Chart performance

''Humour and the Misfortune of Others'' debuted at number one on the RIANZ New Zealand Albums Chart, the week of its release. It follows Smith's previous album, ''

Long Player The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

'''s number-one debut.

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Hollie Smith albums