''Year of the Wolf'' is the fourth album by British singer-songwriter

Nerina Pallot Nerina Natasha Georgina Pallot (born 26 April 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and producer, who has released six albums and over a dozen EPs. She was nominated for British Female Solo Artist at the 2007 BRIT Awards and nominated for an I ...

. It was released on 13 June 2011. The first single is the track "Put Your Hands Up".

Popjustice Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', '' Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael Cr ...

called the song "an understated yet patently brilliant tune" and "highly addictive". The album entered 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 ...

at No. 31.

Background and recording

After self-releasing her third album ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from W ...

'', Jolly returned to a major label,

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, for the release of ''Year of the Wolf''. The album's title comes from her son, Wolfie, with whom she was pregnant during the recording of the album. In an interview with the BBC, Jolly said that her pregnancy affected both the physical recording of the song, making it more difficult to sing, and also its emotional content, particularly the song "History Boys". Talking of that song, she said "there's a human sadness and tragedy at the heart of ar And that's what I was trying to describe in the song – loss. The senseless loss of young lives." On whether or not there was a thematic link between that and her anti-war song "

Everybody's Gone to War "Everybody's Gone to War" is a song written and performed by British singer-songwriter Nerina Pallot. The song, an anti-war protest, was written during the early stages of the Iraq War in 2003 and was composed on bass guitar by Pallot. Originally ...

", she said that "on a personal level, I feel less angry, more sad." The lead single "Put Your Hands Up" was originally written for Kylie Minogue's album ''

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...

''. The track was ultimately rejected (although two other Pallot penned tracks "Aphrodite" and "

Better than Today "Better Than Today" is a song recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her eleventh studio album, ''Aphrodite'' (2010). The track was originally written and produced by Nerina Pallot and Andy Chatterley for Pallot's 2009 extended play, ' ...

" made the final cut). Minogue's album did include a track with the title "

Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love) "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" is a song recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her eleventh studio album, ''Aphrodite'' (2010). The song was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 29 May 2011. Its release wa ...

" (written by Starsmith and Nervo), but this has no connection to the Pallot song.

Reception

The album received generally positive reviews from fans and critics alike, many complimenting the more mature sound and direction.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Nerina Pallot albums albums produced by Bernard Butler