''The Turn'' is the seventh solo studio album by English singer
Alison Moyet
Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist.
Her ...
, released on 15 October 2007 by W14 Music and
Universal Music Catalogue
Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here.
According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...
. The album includes the singles "
One More Time" and "
A Guy Like You", as well as three tracks first written and performed in 2006 for stage play ''Smaller'',
in which Moyet starred with comedian and longtime friend
Dawn French
Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...
. ''The Turn'' was the singer's first release on the W14 Music label and debuted at 21 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 ...
on 22 October 2007, spending four weeks in the chart.
A deluxe edition of ''The Turn'' was released by
Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairman ...
on 2 October 2015.
Background
After the release and promotion of the 2004 covers album ''
Voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
'', Moyet began rehearsals to play a leading role in the stage play ''Smaller'', alongside
Dawn French
Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...
. The play, written by Carmel Morgan and directed by
Kathy Burke
Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...
, was toured across the UK for six weeks before opening at
West End's
Lyric Theatre in April 2006. In addition to her role in the play, Moyet wrote three songs for the play; "World Without End", "Home" and "Smaller".
Following ''Smaller'', Moyet began writing new material with her songwriting partner
Pete Glenister
Pete Glenister is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer, known for his work with Alison Moyet and Kirsty MacColl. He has also worked with a number of other artists including Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bruce Foxton, Terence Trent D'Arby, Bros, ...
before returning to the studio to record ''The Turn'', which included the three songs penned for ''Smaller''.
The album was released in October 2007 and reached No. 21 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 ...
.
Two singles were released from the album; "One More Time" (No. 151 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 ...
) and "A Guy Like You".
Speaking to ''Female First'' in 2007, Moyet said of the album: "''The Turn'' is an album of crafted song. We started building it from a core of Chansons, the shapes of Roy Orbison that grow from a gentle place to an impassioned climax. It is about melody and intelligent lyrics. We let it fray outwards from there. It is in turn progressive and reflective."
She told ''
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 ...
'' in 2008: "One of the things I wanted to do with ''The Turn'' was write a production of songs that could be stripped down to one or two instruments if you chose to do it."
Critical reception
Upon release, Chris Long, writing for the
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 ...
, commented: "''The Turn'' is no blistering return to form to sit proudly alongside the real gems of her career, but it is satisfying nonetheless, and it's a welcome reminder that Moyet still has one of the most emotive and intoxicating British voices ever."
Cheryl Arrighie of ''33rpm.com'' described the album as a "strong collection of songs" and a "marked improvement" over ''Voice'', but was critical of the inclusion of the three songs from ''Smaller''. She added: "You can't help feeling that it's all been done and heard before."
''IndieLondon'' felt the album was an "acquired taste", with a diversity that "creates an uneven experience". They concluded: "''The Turn'' most obvious asset is its voice – but given that it's the first album of new material from Moyet in five years it fails to generate the levels of excitement we'd been anticipating."
John Murphy 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 ...
'' felt the album "certainly delivers substance", with "several of the tracks deserv
ngspecial mention". He concluded: "Quite possibly the red wine album of the year so far."
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
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 ...
felt the material on ''The Turn'' "mixes orchestrated pop/rock with a blue-eyed soul sensibility" and considered it "adult contemporary pop that's far above the usual standards for that genre".
Chuck Taylor of ''
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 ...
'' wrote: "''The Turn'' proffers all sides of the smoky, blues-soaked singer/songwriter's persona."
In a review of the 2015 deluxe edition, Paul Scott-Bates of ''
Louder Than War
''Louder Than War'' is a music and culture website and magazine focusing on mainly alternative arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication that was started by journalist John Robb in 2010 and is now ru ...
'' noted the album's "incredible depth of material" and Moyet's "superb performances".
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
*
Alison Moyet
Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist.
Her ...
– lead vocals (all tracks)
*
London Session Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
(LSO) – performer (tracks 1-3, 7-8)
* David Daniels – cello (LSO) (tracks 1-3, 7-8)
* Bruce White – viola (LSO) (tracks 1-3, 7-8)
* Warren Zielinski – viola (LSO) (tracks 1-2, 7), violin (tracks 3, 8)
* Boguslan Kostecki, Patrick Kiernan – violin (LSO) (tracks 1-3, 7-8)
* Perry Montague-Mason – violin and leader (LSO) (tracks 1-3, 7-8)
*
Simon Hale
Simon Hale is a British composer, arranger, and keyboardist.
Life
Hale was born in Birmingham, England in 1964, being dually raised there and in South Manchester before moving to London, where he studied popular music at Goldsmiths College, Uni ...
– conductor (LSO), arrangement and direction (tracks 1-3, 7-8)
*
Pete Glenister
Pete Glenister is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer, known for his work with Alison Moyet and Kirsty MacColl. He has also worked with a number of other artists including Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bruce Foxton, Terence Trent D'Arby, Bros, ...
– guitar (tracks 1-7, 9-11), keyboards (tracks 1-2, 4, 7), piano (tracks 3, 8), bass (tracks 4-5, 10), organ (track 6)
* Malcolm Moore – bass (tracks 1, 6-7)
* David Ballard – drums (track 1)
* Adam Mooney, Gabi Glenister – saxophone (track 2)
* Julian Cox – bass (tracks 2, 9)
* Bob Knight – drums (tracks 2, 4, 6, 9)
* Mary Scully – double bass (LSO) (tracks 3, 8)
*
Anthony Pleeth
Anthony Pleeth, born in 1948 in London, is an English cellist, specialising in the Authentic performance, historically informed performance of music of the 18th and 19th centuries on period instruments.
Biography and career
He studied cello wit ...
– cello (LSO) (tracks 3, 8)
* George F. Robertson, Peter Lale – viola (LSO) (tracks 3, 8)
* Chris Tombling, Emlyn Singleton, Everton Nelson, Julian Leaper, Rita Manning, Tom Piggot-Smith – violin (LSO) (tracks 3, 8)
*
Bob Andrews – Hammond organ (track 5)
*
Karl Brazil
Karl Peter Brazil (born 27 May 1977, Solihull) is an English session drummer.
He is best known as the drummer for the British indie rock band Feeder, replacing the band's previous drummer Mark Richardson. He often works with other pop and ...
– drums (tracks 5, 7)
* Jo Wilcox – oboe (track 6)
* Marcos D'Cruze – Spanish guitar (track 9)
*
Marcel Azzola
Marcel Azzola (10 July 1927 – 21 January 2019) was a French accordionist.
He performed with Stan Getz and Jacques Brel, among others. The famous line "" ("Heat up, Marcel") in Brel's song "Vésoul" refers to Azzola, who played the accordion d ...
– accordion (track 9)
* Nick Lloyd – flugelhorn, trombone, euphonium (track 10)
Technical
* Pete Glenister – producer (all tracks), programming (tracks 1-7, 11), engineer (all tracks), mixing (tracks 1, 3, 5-8, 10-11)
* Stephen Price – strings engineer (tracks 3, 8)
* Louis Skinner – programming (track 4)
* Phil Da Costa – programming (track 5), engineer (all tracks), mixing (tracks 1, 3, 6, 8, 10-11)
* Glen Skinner – mixing (tracks 2, 4-5, 9)
* Phil Bodger – mixing (track 7)
* Dick Beetham – mastering
* John Williams – executive producer
Artwork
* Alison Cahill – sleeve design
*
Sam Jones – photography
Charts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turn, The
2007 albums
Alison Moyet albums