''Melanie C'' is the eighth studio album by English singer
Melanie C
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was ni ...
. It was released on 2 October 2020 by Red Girl Media. The album debuted at number eight 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 C ...
, becoming Melanie C's highest charting album since ''
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
'' (2003). ''Melanie C'' was preceded by the singles "Who I Am", "Blame It on Me", "In and Out of Love" and "Fearless", the latter of which features rapper
Nadia Rose. On 3 September 2021, a digital deluxe version of the album was released.
Background
Melanie Chisholm (Melanie C) started recording the album in 2019 after being inspired by her reunion with the
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
and their
Spice World – 2019 Tour
Spice World – 2019 Tour was the fourth concert tour by English girl-group the Spice Girls. It was the group's first tour as a four-piece without Victoria Beckham, and included performances in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Spice World commen ...
after the year "felt like a real celebration". She said the experience had "actually been quite inspiring for this album" as she "reflected" during her time on stage. Chisholm teamed up with drag collective Sink the Pink to release the single "High Heels" and embark on a world tour of LGBTQ Pride events. Although the single does not feature on ''Melanie C'', it launched a new sound for the singer, with her embarking on a new dance-based route rather than her previous alternative pop recordings. Chisholm elaborated on her inspiration for the album: "I had this song going into the Spice shows where I was nervous about being Sporty again. But singing those songs in rehearsals I realised I am here, she is within me. It made me reflect on my life and inform this album. I wanted to make an album that really acknowledged that. I felt it was time to embrace everything about myself, Melanie, Sporty, girlfriend, cleaner, cook, therapist. And I wanted it to be empowering and fun
..This
lbumis different because I have massive new changes behind the scenes, new management. Not many people survived the cull. Importantly new
A&R, and I was introduced to lots of new artists, songwriters and producers, it really feels like a new chapter."
On 3 August 2020, Chisholm told
BBC Music
BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network.
Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...
: "Obviously, I'm making a pop-dance record and I'm a mature artist, so I have to accept that some radio stations are not going to be playing me anymore. That's something to overcome. But I want people to enjoy this album, I want people to dance to it, I want people to be empowered by it. And when
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
has done one, I want to get out there and perform it live." Speaking with ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', Chisholm spoke on the album's sound and her own self-confidence, stating: "I think some of it comes with age. Being at this point in my life, and being a mum, all of these are little steps that help build your confidence. The Spice Girls tour last year was hugely influential for this record, and beyond that, I also did a world Pride tour; we started in San Paolo and we ended in Australia.
..I spent a lot of my youth feeling like I wasn’t enough, or I wasn’t worthy, or having guilt attached to my success with the girls. But all these experiences made me really appreciate it for the first time."
Promotion
Live performances and tour
On 1 October 2020, Chisholm performed a virtual event, Colour & Light. During the event, she performed songs from the album, as well as previewed her live show. The following day, she appeared on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
, where she performed "In and Out of Love," as well as the Spice Girls' "
Too Much". Chisholm is also set to embark on a tour to support the album. The twenty-date tour will is scheduled to begin 28 April 2021 and conclude on 25 May 2021, visiting cities across Europe and the United Kingdom. In November 2021, due to rising concerns over the
COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...
, Chisholm announced the cancellation of European tour dates.
In February 2022, the United Kingdom leg of the tour began in Glasgow. Reviews for the tour from ''The Guardian'' and ''The Times'' both giving the show 4/5 stars.
Singles
On 19 March 2020, Chisholm released the album's first single, "Who I Am", which saw her exploring self-compassion she had lost during her time in the spotlight. The music video was directed by Sylvie Weber. Chisholm said of the inspiration for the single, "I've talked quite openly about mental health issues I've suffered with. I've had depression over the years and when I was younger I suffered from an eating disorder. So I think when you just finally allow yourself to be proud of some of the difficulties you've overcome then you can kind of find that place to start liking yourself a bit more." Melanie performed the song on ''
The Late Late Show with James Corden
''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...
'' and recorded a second music video showing her at home during the pandemic. "Who I Am" did not enter the Official UK Top 100 Chart, but debuted and peaked at number 27 on the Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100 in its second week of release. The physical 2CD deluxe bonus track Joe Goddard remix was released on 1 April 2020.
The album's second single, "Blame It on Me", was released two months later on 27 May 2020, with the theme of the song "calling out toxicity in a relationship." The music video was directed by Sylvie Weber. Whilst promoting the single on ''
Sunday Brunch
''Sunday Brunch'' is a British television programme presented by Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer. It is broadcast live on Channel 4 on Sunday mornings and features cookery and interviews with celebrity guests.
Format
The programme began on 25 Ma ...
'', Chisholm stated "Because I was nervous about becoming Sporty Spice again, but I realised quickly I don't become her, I am her. It's a huge part of who I am. That's when I just started to embrace everything about myself. This album is really empowering and I have the Spice Girls to thank for feeling that way about myself and everything we achieved." "Blame It on Me" did not enter the Official UK Top 100 Chart, but debuted and peaked at number 66 on the Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100.
To coincide with the album's announcement and pre-order, on 29 July 2020, Chisholm released the album's third single, "In and Out of Love" and premiered the track on BBC Radio 2's ''The
Zoe Ball
Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' and ''The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show ''Live & K ...
Breakfast Show'' on the same day. The choreography-heavy music video was directed by Graham Cruz and filmed, socially-distanced, at
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
. The video features Chisholm's backing dancers from the Spice World 2019 Tour. Chisholm said ahead of the single's release: "It’s so brilliant to release a pure pop, upbeat, positive fun tune. I think it’s exactly what the world needs right now!" "In and Out of Love" did not enter the Official UK Top 100 Chart, but debuted and peaked at number 97 on the Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100 one week after the album's release. "Fearless" was released as the album's fourth single on 16 September 2020. "Into You" was released as the album's fifth single on 1 December 2020. The video, directed by Graham Cruz, was released on 7 January 2021.
Three days before the album release, "Overload" was released as a promotional single.
A
lyric video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "Overload" was released on 5 November 2020. On 20 November, Chisholm released remixes for "Overload" by Karim Naas.
Critical reception
''Melanie C'' received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 76, based on eight reviews.
Album of the Year collected ten reviews and calculated an average of 73 out of 100.
Aggregator
AnyDecentMusic?
AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...
gave the album a 6.9 out of ten, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.
Quentin Harrison of ''Albumism'' cited the album as unique, complimenting its "sense of its creator's personal freedom that suffuses its song stock—this makes the long player a singular body of work within her growing catalog."
Neil Z. Yeung of
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 four-and-a-half-out-of-five rating and called it a "declarative" album. They added: "It's a wonder how it took this long for her to make such an unabashed
pop album and, with the addition of her emotional insight, her catalog is all the better for it."
David Smyth of ''
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 ...
'' gave the album four-out-of-five rating, calling it "fresh and energetic," and complimented Chisholm's use of "contemporary
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
styles without sounding like she’s trying too hard for renewed relevance." Smyth further complimented Chisholm for sounding "confident and empowered."
In a positive review from ''
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
'', Caroline Sullivan was enthusiastic of the album, stating: "If this is the singer's strongest record by some way, it's because she's found the sweet spot between her pop-rock comfort zone and hard club sounds."
Furthering the positive reviews, Ross Horton of ''
MusicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
'' concluded their review, by stating: "''Melanie C'' (the album) is full of great moments that combine to make the one of the strongest albums released by Melanie C (the person) since 1996."
Laura Snapes of ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' complimented Chisholm, stating: "Melanie C honours those fans – and herself – as adults worthy of hearing themselves in vital pop."
Writing for ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'', Jeffrey Davies complimented the album as an "
electro/
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
-infused pop album that does what good pop does best: celebrate our weaknesses, acknowledge our scars, and dance some of the pain away."
In a mixed review, British journalism website ''
The Arts Desk
''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...
'' gave the album a three-out-of-five rating. Editor Joe Muggs concluded: "There's a lot to like here, but a few spoonfuls less sugar and it could have been a significantly bigger achievement."
''
Clash'' noted Chisholm's ability to make songs with songs "that seek to balance resilience with the vulnerabilities," while noting we would also be "looking at an even better record had it allowed the space required for her often unrecognised jaw-on-the-floor vocals."
Helen Brown of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' also gave the album a mixed review writing that it was Chisholm's "best solo record to date," while citing her lack of "originality and super-wattage of a solo megastar."
''
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 ...
'' editor Rhian Daly wrote in their review that the album "serves as its creator’s best work in decades," but has "misfires here and there."
Simon K. of
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
gave a mixed review calling the album "good ol' fun," while citing Chisholm's ability to get "a little too caught up in the contemporary impetus" of musical acts, such as
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...
and
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
.
Commercial performance
''Melanie C'' debuted at number eight 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 C ...
, with sales of 7,265 combined units;
becoming Chisholm's highest charting album since ''
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
'' (2003). The album also appeared on the Australian
ARIA Album Chart, her first to do so since ''Reason''.
Track listing
Track listing adapted from
Apple Music
Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...
.
Credits adapted from
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
metadata
Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
.
Deluxe edition credits adapted from album liner notes and Spotify metadata.
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2020 albums
Albums produced by Richard Stannard (songwriter)
Melanie C albums