''Real Life'' is the third studio album by Scottish singer Emeli Sandé, released on 13 September 2019 by

Virgin EMI Records Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

. Sandé co-wrote all tracks on the album, and the album was produced by Troy Miller. It includes the singles "

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", "Extraordinary Being", "Shine" and "You Are Not Alone".

Background

Sandé's intent is to inspire "hope and confidence" with the album, particularly for those "who have been marginalised, forgotten or kicked down by this invisible oppression that's always there."

Critical reception

Lucy Mapstone from Scottish daily newspaper '' The National'' wrote that "Sande's first two albums hit number one and number two in the charts respectively, so she has a lot to live up to. But, honestly, this may be her best work yet ..Having gone through a period of difficulty in her life, Sandé has come out the other side and, across this new collection, she rises like the proverbial phoenix with tunes that are a new level of epic, all melodic and uplifting and hymn-like with the odd

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

influence thrown in where appropriate."

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 ...

editor Andy Kellman rated ''Real Life'' three and a half stars out of five. He felt that the album "aims to alleviate, uplift, and motivate .Like Sandé's two previous studio albums, it's based in mature

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, but its integration of other genres and styles — a little

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, some

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

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 ...

, and more gospel than ever — is done with more finesse. The seamlessness, combined with full-hearted vocal performances, counteracts all the platitudes and flying-bird-as-freedom metaphors." ''

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

''s Wyndham Wallace felt that "Sandé doesn't appear interested in breaking new ground when she can preserve and revere old territory: ''Real Life'' immerses her in gospel soul traditions, with massed voices integral to its style, so if you're comfortable with formulas, you won't begrudge her being formulaic." In his review for ''

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 ...

'' Jochan Embley found that "''Real Life'' is far from adventurous in terms of its songwriting — too often, the structures seem slightly by-the-numbers. The tense, ascending strings towards the end of "Honest" are the closest we get to experimentation and are compelling enough to make you wish Sandé had taken similar risks elsewhere. That said, by clinging on to her soul-inflected roots, Sandé manages to avoid any modern pop tropes, which at least gives the album a disarming authenticity."

Background

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References