''Turn It Up'' is the debut studio album by English singer

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold ov ...

, released on 11 September 2009 by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. The album's first two singles, "

Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh) "Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)" (also known as "Mama Do") is the debut single by English singer and songwriter Pixie Lott released as the lead single from her debut studio album, '' Turn It Up'' (2009). Written and produced by Mads Hauge and Phil Thor ...

" and " Boys and Girls", both topped 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 ...

, while subsequent singles "

Cry Me Out "Cry Me Out" is a song by English singer Pixie Lott from her debut studio album, '' Turn It Up'' (2009). Written by Lott, Mads Hauge, Phil Thornalley and Colin Campsie, and produced by Hauge and Thornalley, the song was released on 22 November 2 ...

", "

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

" and " Turn It Up" all reached the top 20. ''Turn It Up'' peaked at number six 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 ...

and was certified double Platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

, with sales in excess of 600,000 copies. The album was re-released as ''Turn It Up Louder'' on 18 October 2010. It was preceded by the release of " Broken Arrow" as its lead single, and includes nine other bonus songs. In 2010, it was reported that

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

was planning to release ''Turn It Up'' in the United States with new songs in early 2011, which never materialised.

Singles

" was released on 3 June 2009 as the album's lead single. It debuted at number one on the

, making Lott the second British female solo artist to have a debut single enter atop the chart without previously appearing on a reality television show, after

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...

. Follow-up single " Boys and Girls" was released on 5 September 2009, a week before the album's release. The song debuted at number 73 on the UK Singles Chart before climbing to number one the following week, earning Lott her second consecutive chart-topper and breaking the record of the biggest leap to the top position in the UK chart history. "

", released as the third single on 30 November 2009, peaked at number 12 on the UK chart, Lott's first single to miss the top 10. "

" was released as the album's fourth single on 8 March 2010. It charted at number 20 in the UK, making it her fourth consecutive top-20 single. " Turn It Up" was released as the fifth single on 7 June 2010, for which a music video, directed by Nick Frew, was shot in Los Angeles on 17 April 2010. The single became her fifth consecutive top-20 entry when it peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. " Broken Arrow" was released on 10 October 2010 as the only single (sixth overall) from the ''Turn It Up Louder'' reissue. The music video was directed by Gregg Masuak, and premiered on 16 September 2010. The single reached number 12 on the UK chart, giving Lott her sixth consecutive top-20 single. Although it was initially suggested that "Coming Home", a collaboration with American R&B singer

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

, was originally going to serve as the second single from ''Turn It Up Louder'' after it debuted at number 51 on the UK Singles Chart, Lott later confirmed on her official

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page that she was filming a video for "Can't Make This Over". The video premiered on 25 November 2010, but the single release was ultimately cancelled.

Critical reception

''Turn It Up'' received mixed 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

weighted mean 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 ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 51, based on eight reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews". Paul Lester of

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 ...

described the album as a "classy, if not classic, debut from potential-rich pop newcomer" and stated that the songs on the album "do indeed sound as though they could be farmed out to other RnB starlets. That's a compliment as much as it is a criticism: from the 1960s soul stomp of her number one hit 'Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)' to new single 'Boys & Girls' with its brassy

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

-esque production, some of the material here lacks character."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

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 ...

wrote, "Despite this fondness for swinging girl group sounds and Pixie's predilection for belting out the songs, ''Turn It Up'' doesn't play as a retro-soul throwback, the way Winehouse or Duffy do. Lott never attempts to seem wiser than her years, ..and the production is wisely, slyly modern."

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

music editor Nick Levine commented that "''Turn It Up'' is never dull—Lott has too much natural exuberance for that—but it's a little safe and lacking in surprises", citing "Gravity", "Turn It Up" and "Here We Go Again" as highlights. Dan Cairns of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' opined that " r two missteps ('My Love' and 'Nothing Compares'), ''Turn It Up'' is superior, infectious, expertly tailored pop that, had it been recorded 30 or so years ago, would very likely now be being praised to the heavens in reissue sections." Dan Gennoe of

Yahoo! Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...

noted that " e sass, swagger, killer hooks and big production have been focused on the obvious chart contenders and the rest of the album is, true to tradition, a lot of middle of the road balladry and overly earnest swaying, also known as filler." ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' reviewer Robert Spellman felt that the single "Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)" "promised what the album hasn't delivered, a sort sultry self-confidence with a pinch of the wreckless icthat would do

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

proud", adding that "corny

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

s such as 'Cry Me Out' and too much half-baked R&B mistakenly attempt to give Pixie depth when she—or rather her writers—should be gunning for surface only." ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''s Helen Brown referred to Lott as " n and feisty but hard to distinguish from the rest of this year's girl pop pack." In a review for ''

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 ...

'', Michael Cragg dismissed the album as "a fairly average pop album being strangled by a talented vocalist who equates loudness with emotion." Imogen Carter 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 ...

'' compared the album to a "

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

teen-movie soundtrack", calling it "cloying and cliche-ridden, particularly the slow numbers."

Commercial performance

''Turn It Up'' debuted at number six on the

, selling 25,652 copies in its first week. Following the album's re-release ''Turn It Up Louder'' on 18 October 2010, it rose from number 29 to number nine on 24 October with 15,114 copies sold. On 13 August 2010, the album was certified double Platinum by the

(BPI). In Ireland, ''Turn It Up'' debuted and peaked at number 18 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 ...

for the week ending 17 September 2009. The album saw modest success across continental Europe, reaching number 16 in Denmark, number 24 on the

European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart was the European adaptation of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It ran from March 1984 until December 2010. Also commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums, the chart showcased the sales of an act in 19 E ...

chart, number 49 in Switzerland, number 60 in France, number 70 in Austria and Belgium's Wallonia, number 81 in Germany, number 92 in the Netherlands and number 99 in Belgium's Flanders. In Oceania, it peaked at number eight on the Australian Hitseekers Albums Chart and at number 30 in New Zealand.

Track listing

Notes

* signifies an additional producer * signifies an extra vocal producer * signifies a vocal producer * "Coming Home" incorporates elements of " (I Just) Died in Your Arms" by

Cutting Crew Cutting Crew are an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut album ''Broadcast'' and hit single, " (I Just) Died in Your Arms". History 1985–1986: Formation While still in his teens, Nick Van Eede (b ...

. * The enhanced CD includes a link to a bonus area on Push Entertainment, which can only be accessed by inserting the CD into a computer's CD/DVD drive, featuring videos of "Boys and Girls" and "Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)" to watch online, and to download for free. * CD pressings of ''Turn It Up Louder'' prior to November 2010 and its iTunes release contain the album version of "Turn It Up".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Turn It Up''. Musicians *

vocals ; background vocals *

Mads Hauge Mads Hauge (born 10 February 1977) is a Norwegian songwriter and producer from Bergen, Norway. He has written the Natasha Bedingfield hit Soulmate and various songs for Pixie Lott including Cry Me Out, Kiss the Stars and UK #1s Mama Do and Boy ...

drums, keyboards ; bass, guitar, programming ; background vocals ;

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song " Torn" (made famous by Natalie Im ...

drums ; piano ;

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

; guitar * Anders Kallmark synthesiser *

John Thirkell John Thirkell is a British trumpet and flugelhorn player, who has appeared on hundreds of pop, rock, and jazz recordings. Through the 1980s and early 1990s he was on at least one album in the UK Charts continuously, without a break, for over ...

trumpet, flugelhorn * Phil Smith

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

* Sally Herbert string arrangements, conducting * Everton Nelson violin * Richard George violin * Emlyn Singleton violin * Julia Singleton violin * Jackie Norrie violin * Rick Koster violin * Calina de la Mare violin * Bruce White viola * Claire Orsler viola * Clare Finnimore viola * Ian Burdge cello * Chris Worsey cello * Jon Green guitar, piano * David Tench Wurlitzer *

Toby Gad Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) is a Los Angeles-based German music producer/songwriter, best known for co-writing John Legend's biggest hit, " All of Me," the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, and for co-writing and produc ...

all instruments, arrangement ; guitars, bass *

Jonas Jeberg Jonas Jeberg (born January 28, 1975), is a Danish songwriter and music producer residing in Los Angeles. He has written and produced hit songs including Panic! at the Disco's " High Hopes", Selena Gomez's " Fetish" featuring Gucci Mane, Fifth Har ...

all instruments ; all other instruments * Mich Hansen percussion * Ina Wroldsen background vocals * Daniel Davidsen guitar * Warren Zielinski violin * Brian Wright violin * Natalia Bonner violin * Nick Barr viola * Sophie Harris cello * Peter Zizzo background vocals ; arrangement, instrumental programming *

Marion Raven Marion Elise Ravn (born 25 May 1984), better known abroad as Marion Raven, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. Raven formed the pop duo M2M with Marit Larsen, though they ceased performing together in 2002. Raven was later signed as a solo ar ...

background vocals * Miklós Malek additional synth programming *

Kaci Brown Kaci Deanne Brown (born July 7, 1988) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Sulphur Springs, Texas Sulphur Springs is a city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 15,4 ...

all background vocals, arrangement *

Jens Gad Jens Gad is a German producer, songwriter and guitarist of Danish parents. He started making music at young age. Gad produces music for many artists (Sandra Cretu / Sandra Gambino) and was previously co-producer for the musical project, Enigma. ...

drums * Rich Adam additional programming * RedOne all instruments, instrumental programming, vocal arrangement * Johnny Severin electric guitar Technical * Mads Hauge production, recording engineering ;

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

* Phil Thornalley production * Chris Sansom additional engineering *

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs t ...

additional production *

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

mixing * Carlos Oyanedel additional mix engineering * Tom Coyne mastering * Graham Linehy string recording *

production *

Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen ...

mixing * Marc Burkhart recording engineering assistance * Geoff Pesche mastering engineering *

production *

Cutfather Mich Hedin Hansen (born 9 April 1968), known professionally as Cutfather, is a Danish music producer, songwriter, remixer and DJ based in Copenhagen. Cutfather has a studio on Njalsgade, Copenhagen. Career Cutfather is perhaps best known for hi ...

production *

Fraser T. Smith Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith (born 8 February 1971), known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison (sin ...

additional production, additional mix * Beatriz Artola engineering * Mo Hausler string recording * Peter Zizzo production, recording * Jeremy Wheatley mixing * Jens Gad drum recording * RedOne production, vocal editing, recording, engineering * Johnny Severin vocal editing, recording, engineering * Robert Orton mixing * Ryan Laubscher production * Mads Nilsson mixing * Louis Odunoye mixing assistance Artwork * Sandrine Dulermo photography * Michael Labica photography * Paul West design * Joe Wassell-Smith design assistance

''Turn It Up Louder''

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Turn It Up Louder''. Musicians * Pixie Lott vocals ; background vocals *

Al Shux Alexander Shuckburgh, who is also known as Al Shux, is a British record producer and songwriter from London, England. Shux has worked with musical artists Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Plan B, Tinie Tempah and Lana Del R ...

guitar * Jon Green piano,

tack piano A tack piano (also known as a harpsipiano, jangle piano, and junk piano) is an altered version of an ordinary piano, in which objects such as thumbtacks or nails are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the ha ...

, glockenspiel * Tom Meadows drums * Mads Hauge guitar, background vocals, programming, arrangement * Phil Thornalley glockenspiel, programming * Everton Nelson violin leader * Warren Zielinski violin * Bruce White viola * Ian Burdge cello * Sally Herbert arrangement *

Harvey Mason Jr. Harvey Jay Mason Jr. (born June 3, 1968) is an American record producer, songwriter, movie producer and current CEO of The Recording Academy. He has written and produced songs for artists including Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Deniece Wil ...

music * Andrew Hey guitar * Rob Knox drum programming * RedOne all instruments, instrumental programming, vocal arrangement * Johnny Severin electric guitar *

Deekay Deekay is a Danish production and songwriting team founded by Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Michael Larsson with other members Tim "Data" McEwan, Daniel "Obi" Klein and Johannes "Josh" Jørgensen. The name Deekay comes from the acronym dk, which ...

arrangement * Tim McEwan all instruments * Obi all instruments * Josh all instruments * Lars Jensen additional percussion * Martin Larsson additional keys * Toby Gad instruments, arrangement * Mark Pusey drums *

Oliver Weeks Oliver Weeks (born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire) is an English composer, arranger, and guitarist. Education Weeks grew up in Frome, Somerset, and developed an early interest in classical music and '50s and '60s rock 'n' roll. He attended Frome ...

keyboards * Jay Reynolds programming *

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwriter.

background vocals * Victoria Akintola background vocals * Sirach "Angel" Charles background vocals *

John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

guitars, bass * Charles Judge keyboards * Dan Chase keyboards, programming * Eve Nelson keyboards * Jeff Rothschild programming * Teemu Brunila piano * Fabien Waltmann programming * Paul Canning background vocals * Marli Harwood background vocals Technical * Mark Bishop recording * Phil Thornalley production * Mads Hauge production * Harvey Mason Jr. production * Andrew Hey recording * David Boyd recording, mixing assistance * Dabling Harward recording * Dave Russell mixing * Michael Daley mixing assistance * Angela N. Golightly production coordination * RedOne production, vocal editing, recording, engineering * Johnny Severin vocal editing, recording, engineering * Robert Orton mixing * Deekay production, mixing * Toby Gad production, recording * Jay Reynolds additional production ; production ; mixing * James F. Reynolds production, mixing ; additional production, mix * Zach Hancock extra vocal production *

Chris Braide Christopher Braide (born 1973) is an English songwriter, record producer and singer, formerly based in Malibu, Los Angeles, California, United States. Braide is known for being a pianist. First signed as a solo artist by David A. Stewart in t ...

production * Tim Debney mastering * John Shanks production * Jeff Rothschild recording, mixing * Chris Barrett additional recording * Shari Sutcliffe contracted production coordination *

Fred Ball Frederick Henry Ball (July 17, 1915 – February 5, 2007) was an American movie studio executive (management), executive and younger brother of Lucille Ball. Biography Early life Ball was born on July 17, 1915, to Henry Durrell Ball (1887–191 ...

vocal production Artwork * Sandrine Dulermo photography * Michael Labica photography * Tom Bird creative direction * Paul West design * Matt le Gallez design assistance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turn It Up (Pixie Lott Album) 2009 debut albums Albums produced by Greg Kurstin Albums produced by John Shanks Albums produced by RedOne Albums produced by Toby Gad Mercury Records albums Pixie Lott albums