''The Truth Is'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by English singer and songwriter

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series ''The X Factor'' in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syc ...

. It was released on 16 March 2018 through

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. Recording for the album started in 2013 and finished in early 2018. The first single from the album, "

Shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...

", was released on 9 February to BBC Radio 2, and to digital download and streaming on 23 February. The album entered and peaked at number 16 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 ...

, spending only one week in the top 100. This release also returned Burke to the top 10 of Scotland's albums chart after a nine-year absence. The music style of ''The Truth Is'' has been described as a "

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

pop" with

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country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

elements.

Critical reception

''The Truth Is'' received negative reviews from music critics. Andy Kellman from

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 ...

criticised the lyrics, commenting, "The seasons, the sun, the stars, heat, fire, and assorted bodies of water ("swimming in the shallows," "almost drowned in a sea of lies") are used with such frequency that each nonmetaphorical line is a relief". Isabella Gallagher form ''

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 ...

'' described the music style of the album as "a strange mix of 90s femme-pop that I am accidentally crushing on and cheesy musical-flavoured numbers" and added, "I would call out what the actual truth of ''The Truth Is'' - that this is music to ''not'' listen to. It's best enjoyed in the background at a low volume". Rachel Aroesti wrote in ''

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 ...

'', "the tunes are robust rather than riveting and lyrically myopic, focusing solely on the generic thrills of a nascent relationship, often, for some reason, through the prism of weather-based imagery".

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer

Charts

References

External links

*
The Truth Is
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

(list of releases) {{DEFAULTSORT:Truth Is. (Alexandra Burke album), The 2018 albums Alexandra Burke albums Decca Records albums