''Life Love Flesh Blood'' is the fifth studio album by Irish singer-songwriter

Imelda May Imelda Mary Higham (born Imelda Mary Clabby, 10 July 1974), professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Known primarily as a singer, she also plays the bodhrán, guitar, bass guitar and tambou ...

. It was first released in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

on 7 April 2017, through label Decca Records, followed by a worldwide release two weeks later on 21 April 2017. The album, a follow-up to May's previous album ''

Tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

'' (2014), was created in collaboration with American musician

T Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...

. Serving as the primary producer for the record, Burnett was only credited alongside Scottish producer

Cam Blackwood Cameron "Cam" Blackwood is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. He has previously been employed in various London recording studios including Roundhouse Studios in Farringdon, Miloco Studios, and Townhouse Studios in Chiswick, a ...

. Blackwood produced a duet version of the album's lead single "Call Me", recorded with English vocalist Jack Savoretti, included on streaming editions of the album post-release. Throughout the album's creative process, May received guidance from Irish musician Bono, of rock group U2. The album followed May's divorce from guitarist

Darrel Higham Darrel Higham (born 5 January 1970) is an English rockabilly guitarist who performs with Kat Men. He was previously married to Imelda May and performed in her band. Biography Music career Higham started playing lead guitar with British rockab ...

, influencing many lyrical themes on the album. ''Life Love Flesh Blood'' features soft rock and acoustic styles, differing significantly from the

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

genre of previous albums. Commercially, the album peaked at number two on the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

( IRMA), prevented from reaching number one by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

's album '' ÷''. The album reached number one on the UK

americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

chart, where it remained for three weeks, consequently preventing American musician Chris Stapleton from topping the chart with his album '' From A Room: Volume 1''. Three singles were released from the album: "Call Me", "Black Tears", and "Should've Been You". The album also features guest appearances by pianist Jools Holland and guitarist Jeff Beck. In support of the album, May embarked on an international concert tour, beginning May 2017.

Background and development

To critical acclaim, May released her previous album, ''Tribal'', on 25 April 2014. In July 2015, May announced that she had split from her husband, guitarist Darrel Higham. He served as her creative partner and collaborator for most of her previous albums. Following their divorce, Higham also quit May's band. The break-up influenced many of the themes on the album, but also gave May the courage to depart from her previous

genre. In a July 2015 interview with the '' Irish Independent'', May confirmed that she had started working on the album, and that the release was slated for early 2016. After being postponed, the album was finally announced in November 2016, scheduled to be released on 31 March 2017. However, the album was delayed by a week in May's home-country the

, and rescheduled to 21 April 2017 elsewhere. The album was recorded over the course of seven days, in the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Some of the album's songs, such as "Black Tears", were written in the U.S. city of Nashville. Burnett introduced May to a small studio band, which consisted himself and

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

on guitars, Dennis Crouch on bass, Jay Bellerose on drums, and Patrick Warren on keyboards.

Title, package, and artwork

May explains why she named the album ''Life Love Flesh Blood'' in an interview with Irish magazine ''

VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...

'': "There are some heartbreak songs on there but then I fell in love again, and had my heart broken again, I was up and down so I write about love and lust and guilt and joy and my family and my child and getting older or getting younger mentally. I wrote about everything, which is why I called the album ''Life Love Flesh Blood''". Photography and creative design for the album were handled by Roger Deckker and Eddie Otchere-Dhagren. Five different packages of the album exist: standard edition, deluxe CD, deluxe download, HMV.com exclusive edition, and a heavyweight vinyl pressing. The deluxe CD is accompanied by a 36-page hardcover book, and signed copies were available on May's website. The HMV.com exclusive edition features two

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

cover tracks: " It Must Be Love" by

Labi Siffre Claudius Afolabi Siffre (born 25 June 1945) is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums between 1970 and 1975, and four between 1988 and 1998. His best known compositions include " It Must Be Love" which reached number 1 ...

, and " All I Want Is You" by U2.

Promotion

"Call Me" was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

on 18 November 2016. May appeared on the 2016-17 edition of the New Year's Eve program ''

Jools' Annual Hootenanny ''Jools' Annual Hootenanny'' is a TV show presented by Jools Holland and broadcast on New Year's Eve as an end-of-year special edition of his series '' Later... with Jools Holland''. It is generally broadcast between approximately 11pm on 31 ...

'', where she performed the song "Black Tears". On 5 April 2017, May performed the third single from the album, "Should've Been You" on ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

''. On 7 April 2017, May was interviewed by

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973), nicknamed 'Tubs ' is an Irish broadcaster. He presents ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' and '' The Late Late Show''. Tubridy previously presented RTÉ 2fm breakfast radio show ''The Full Irish'', which at its end was ...

on the Irish chat show '' The Late Late Show''.

Critical reception

''Life Love Flesh Blood'' received generally positive reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 73, which indicates "generally favourable reviews". Seven professional reviews were used to calculate the rating. Ben Beaumont-Thomas from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' rated the album 3 out of 5 stars, and commented that "the songwriting is rock solid, and in an age of will-this-do toplines, her melodic touch should not be undervalued; take 6ixth Sense, which has a satisfying direction to its doo-wop tinged meandering". Tony Clayton-Lea from ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' praised May's career reinvention, saying that her "former music stylings have mostly been replaced with elegant, reflective readings from the soul/blues/jazz/pop songbook, and they fit her like a long satin glove". In a positive review, Rick Pearson from the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' praised the "bluesy" ballads on the album - "Call Me" and "Black Tears". He commented that they "throb with emotion", and that her vocals were reminiscent of

Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first album ...

at points. Lee Zimmerman of '' Paste'' lauded the eclectic genres on the album, saying that "it’s little wonder then that May’s come-hither desire becomes the central theme, with the music providing the appropriate cushion to buttress her intents. It’s mostly twilight jazz, but varied enough to wander to an occasional tango ("I Choose Love"),

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

-like balladry ("Call Me") or far more edgier intents ("Leave Me Lonely", "Game Changer")".

Commercial performance

''Life Love Flesh Blood'' debuted at number two on the

on 14 April 2017, as published by the IRMA. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at five on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, as published by the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts in ...

. The album was May's third album to enter the top ten of the chart. The album reached number one on the UK Americana Albums chart. In Scotland, the album debuted at four. The album was prevented from reaching number one, as it fell behind

's third album, '' ÷''. In Belgium, the album charted at 60 and 69 on the Flanders and Wallonia

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

charts, respectively.

Track listing

All tracks produced by

, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Life Love Flesh Blood'' liner notes.

Music

* Jeff Beck – guitar *

Jay Bellerose Jay Bellerose is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session and live performance work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists. Biography Bellerose was born in Maine. A jazz enthusiast, he attended ...

– drums *

– music production * Bono – mentoring and guidance *

– music production , guitar * Billy Centenaro – second engineering * Eli Crews – additional engineering *

Dennis Crouch Dennis David Crouch (born April 30, 1975 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American patent attorney who worked for McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (MBHB) in Chicago, Illinois, until 2007.Dennis Crouch''Thank you MBHB, Hello Missouri! ...

– acoustic bass * Zachary Dawes – electric bass * Jools Holland – piano * Kylie Kempster – production assistance * Curtis Laur – equipment technician *

Darrell Leonard Darrell Leonard is an American, Los Angeles-based, trumpet player, composer and arranger. He recorded and toured with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends from 1970 through 1973. He is a Grammy Award winner for his work with Taj Mahal and the Phantom ...

– horns arrangement , horn * Zach Lizzio – second engineering *

Gavin Lurssen Gavin Lurssen is an American mastering engineer. He owns Lurssen Mastering in Hollywood, California.Imelda May Imelda Mary Higham (born Imelda Mary Clabby, 10 July 1974), professionally known as Imelda May, is an Irish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Known primarily as a singer, she also plays the bodhrán, guitar, bass guitar and tambou ...

– vocals , background vocals , background vocal arrangement * Vanessa Parr – second engineering *

– guitar , ukulele * Jack Savoretti – vocals * Patrick Warren – keyboards , keyboard arrangement , recording arrangement * Chris Wilkinson – additional engineering * Carl Wheeler – Hammond organ * Jason Wormer – mixing , recording

Band

* Ryan Aston * Sean Barry * Oliver Darling * Gavin Fitzjohn * Al Gare * Petur Hallgrimsson * Donny Little * Emma Osei-Lah * Chris Pemberton * Dave Priseman * Steve Ruston * Ulrika Uma

Touring band

* Fran Bemrose * Nidge Dobson * Trevor Gilligan * James O'Neill * Nigel Reavill * Brett Spence * Gerry Wilkes

Business

* T Bone Burnett – executive production * Nigel Hassler – A&R * Ken Levitan – management * Imelda May – executive production * Peter Rudge – management * Ivy Skoff – production coordination * Marsha Vlasic – A&R

Packaging

* Roger Deckker – photography, design * Max Dodson – photography * Lisa Mejuto – make-up * Dee Moran – styling * Eddie Otchere-Dhagren – design * Craig Purves – hair * Steve Stacey – design and art direction

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

''Life Love Flesh Blood''
at AnyDecentMusic? (list of collated international reviews) * * {{Authority control 2017 albums Imelda May albums Decca Records albums Albums produced by T Bone Burnett Albums produced by Cam Blackwood Soft rock albums by Irish artists Indie pop albums by Irish artists