Secret Symphony

Secret Symphony is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Katie Melua, and was released on 5 March 2012.[1] The album was recorded at Air Studios in London in collaboration with orchestrator and conductor Mike Batt.

Secret Symphony
Studio album by Katie Melua
Released	5 March 2012
Genre	Acoustic pop blues jazz easy listening
Length	37:32
Label	Dramatico
Producer	Mike Batt
Katie Melua chronology
The House (2010) Secret Symphony (2012) Ketevan (2013)
Singles from Secret Symphony
"Gold in them Hills" Released: 11 November 2011 "The Bit That I Don't Get" Released: 10 February 2012 "Better Than a Dream" Released: 9 March 2012 "Moonshine" Released: 4 June 2012 "The Walls of the World" Released: 17 September 2012 "Forgetting All My Troubles" Released: 3 December 2012

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating

Melua said in a statement: "This album was going to be my 'singer's album'. I had always wanted to do this one day; singing other people's songs brings something out of you and your voice that isn't perhaps where you would have gone vocally with your own material."

She added: "It stretches you. As it happened Mike and I did write a couple of new ones, but the general idea was to find songs by great writers such as Ron Sexsmith ('Gold In Them Hills') and a favourite song of mine, originally recorded by Bonnie Raitt ('Too Long At The Fair') plus some more well-known ones like Keeping The Dream Alive."

The lead single, "Better Than a Dream", and the track "Walls of the World" were both originally recorded by Melua's longtime collaborator Mike Batt, for the TV series The Dreamstone and his 1977 solo album Schizophonia[2] respectively.

The record serves as the follow-up to Melua's 2010 album The House, which reached number four on the UK album chart. Musicperk.com rated the album 9/10.[3]

A "Special Bonus Edition" of the album has also been released. It consists of the album, four extra tracks dubbed "The Secret Sessions" and a second CD containing a live album: "Live In Berlin".[4][5]

In 2012 it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 200,000 copies throughout Europe.[6]

Track listing

Standard listing[7]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Gold in them Hills"	Ron Sexsmith	3:31
2.	"Better Than a Dream"	Mike Batt	3:10
3.	"The Bit That I Don't Get"	Batt	3:12
4.	"Moonshine"	Francis Healy	2:41
5.	"Forgetting All My Troubles"	Melua	3:22
6.	"All Over the World"	Françoise Hardy	2:56
7.	"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"	Jimmy Cox	4:33
8.	"The Cry of the Lone Wolf"	Melua Batt	3:59
9.	"Heartstrings"	Melua Batt	2:53
10.	"The Walls of the World"	Batt	3:25
11.	"Secret Symphony"	Batt	3:51

Special Bonus Edition[8]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Gold in them Hills"	Ron Sexsmith	3:31
2.	"Better Than a Dream"	Mike Batt	3:10
3.	"The Bit That I Don't Get"	Batt	3:12
4.	"Moonshine"	Francis Healy	2:41
5.	"Forgetting All My Troubles"	Melua	3:22
6.	"All Over the World"	Françoise Hardy	2:56
7.	"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out"	Jimmy Cox	4:33
8.	"The Cry of the Lone Wolf"	Melua Batt	3:59
9.	"Heartstrings"	Melua Batt	2:53
10.	"The Walls of the World"	Batt	3:25
11.	"Secret Symphony"	Batt	3:51
12.	"Feels Like Home (The Secret Sessions)"	Randy Newman	4:50
13.	"Too Long At The Fair (The Secret Sessions)"	Joel Zoss	3:06
14.	"Love Me Tender (The Secret Sessions)"	Elvis Presley Vera Matson	3:14
15.	"It's Over (The Secret Sessions)"	Roy Orbison Bill Dees	3:20

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at #8 with 19,071 copies sold in its first week.[9]

Weekly charts Chart (2012) Peak position Austrian Albums Chart[10] 3 Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart[10] 10 Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart[10] 4 Canadian Albums Chart[11] 64 Danish Albums Chart[10] 4 Dutch Albums Chart[10] 6 Finnish Albums Chart[10] 6 French Albums Chart[10] 7 German Albums Chart[12] 2 Irish Albums Chart [12] 23 Norwegian Albums Chart[10] 6 Polish Albums Chart [13] 1 Portuguese Albums Chart[10] 13 Scottish Albums Chart[14] 10 Spanish Albums Chart[10] 46 Swedish Albums Chart[10] 22 Swiss Albums Chart[10] 2 Taiwan Western Albums Chart[15] 16 UK Albums Chart[16] 8

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position Austrian Albums Chart[17] 70 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[18] 77 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[18] 34 Dutch Albums Chart[19] 66 German Albums Chart[20] 35 Swiss Albums Chart[21] 24 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[22] Gold 10,000^^ Germany (BVMI)[23] Gold 100,000^^ Poland (ZPAV)[24] Platinum 20,000^* United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Silver 60,000^^ ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Published Thursday, Sep 8 2011, 16:41 BST (2011-09-08). "Katie Melua announces new album 'Secret Symphony' - Music News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2012-03-09.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Dave Sleger. "Schizophonia - Mike Batt | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
3. "Secret Symphony - Katie Melua | Musicperk - Trending news, analysis, reviews, ratings and exclusive content for music". Musicperk.com. 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
4. Katie Melua. "Secret Symphony Bonus Edition by Katie Melua". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
5. "Katie Melua - Secret Symphony (Special Bonus Edition) (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
6. http://www.vut.de/index.php?id=42&tx_vutnews_pi1%5Barticle%5D=210&cHash=b7db7c5c120f55ac6c06cd370dbeec86
7. "Secret Symphony: Katie Melua: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
8. "Secret Symphony (Special Bonus Edition): Katie Melua: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
10. "Katie Melua - Secret Symphony". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
11. "CANOE - JAM! Music - SoundScan Charts". Jam.canoe.ca. 2015-04-21. Archived from the original on 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
12. "Secret Symphony by Katie Melua - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
13. "Official Retail Sales Chart - sales for the period 05.03.2012 - 11.03.2012". OLiS. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
15. "玫瑰大眾購物網". G-music.com.tw. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
16. "Official Charts Company - Katie Melua - Secret Symphony". Archive.is. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
17. Steffen Hung. "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
18. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
19. Steffen Hung. "Dutch Charts". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
20. "VIVA Jahrescharts 2012 Album - Charts - VIVA". Viva.tv. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
21. Steffen Hung. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2012". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
22. "Danish album certifications – Katie Melua – Secret Symphony". IFPI Denmark. Scroll through the page-list below to obtain certification.
23. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Katie Melua; 'Secret Symphony')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
24. "Polish album certifications – Katie Melua – Secret Symphony" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
25. "British album certifications – Katie Melua – Secret Symphony". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Secret Symphony in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.