Wanderlust (Sophie Ellis-Bextor album)

Wanderlust (stylised as ШАNDԐЯLUЅT) is the fifth studio album by English singer and songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, released on 20 January 2014 by EBGB's. The album marks a sharp shift in Sophie's music style, incorporating elements of folk, baroque and orchestral music. It was featured as BBC Radio 2's "Album of the Week" on 18 January 2014.[1]

Wanderlust
Studio album by Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Released	20 January 2014 (2014-01-20)
Recorded	State of the Ark (Richmond, London) The Bulgarian Embassy (London)
Genre	Indie pop folk baroque pop
Length	40:56
Label	EBGB's
Producer	Ed Harcourt
Sophie Ellis-Bextor chronology
Make a Scene (2011) Wanderlust (2014) Familia (2016)
Singles from Wanderlust
"Young Blood" Released: 21 November 2013 "Runaway Daydreamer" Released: 31 March 2014 "Love Is a Camera" Released: 23 June 2014 "The Deer & the Wolf" Released: 25 August 2014

A double-disc repackaged version was released on 3 November 2014 and included a remix version of the album.[2]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Young Blood", was offered as a free download on Ellis-Bextor's official website on 26 March 2013,[3] before being officially released on iTunes on 21 November 2013.[4] The single reached number thirty-four on the UK Singles Chart and number three on the UK Indie Singles Chart.[5][6] The accompanying music video was directed by Sophie Muller.[7]

On 31 March 2014, "Runaway Daydreamer" was released as the second single from the album. The music video was also directed by Sophie Muller.[8] It peaked at number 29 on the UK Indie Chart.[9]

The album's third single is "Love Is a Camera", which was released on 23 June, with the video being filmed in Florence, Italy on 30 April, by director Sophie Muller.[10] The single was added straight onto the BBC Radio 2's A-list playlist.[11]

"The Deer & the Wolf" was released on 24 August as the fourth and final single lifted from the album. The video was shot in London by up-and-coming director Harry Cauty.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100[13]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Virgin Media	[14]
AllMusic	[15]
Clash	8/10[16]
The Daily Telegraph	[17]
Digital Spy	[18]
The Guardian	[19]
The Irish Times	[20]
musicOMH	[21]
The Independent	[22]
The Observer	[23]

Wanderlust received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65 based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews",[13] while aggregating website AnyDecentMusic? reports a score of 6.1 based on fourteen professional reviews.[24] Gareth James of Clash found the album "quite remarkable", and described the songs as "grand and ambitious."[16] Matthew Horton of Virgin Media wrote that Ellis-Bextor "has decided on a change of tack [...] that has brought out the best in her," and called the songs "almost without exception, marvelous."[14] John Paul Lucas of So So Gay found Wanderlust "bold, ambitious and frequently surprising" and wrote that it "feels like an arrival, and potentially the most important album of her career."[25] Robert Copsey of Digital Spy described it as "a brave excursion into something surprisingly off-kilter for a traditionally top 40 popstar," however he felt that its lyrics sound "occasionally sappy and sentimental."[18] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian noticed "the preponderance of sweeping string-and-piano arrangements" and noted that "what really sells this album is its forays into eastern European-style pathos."[19]

Louise Bruton of The Irish Times compared the album's sound to the Norwegian folk/pop band Katzenjammer and felt that "as a breakaway from her usual dancefloor dalliances, Sophie chose wisely."[20] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described Wanderlust as "an odd mix of colourful and melodious songs with thoughtful lyrics and lush, slightly wonky arrangements," while also noticing a "lack [of] an emotional centre."[17] Kate Bennett of musicOMH stated that "Sophie Ellis-Bextor has just abandoned her electropop comfort blanket for a smothering duvet of clichés and ineffectual romanticism,"[21] while Hermiony Hobby of The Observer felt that she "sounds like a nine-year-old girl" and called the album's arrangements "more saccharine than stirring."[23] Andy Gill of The Independent noted Wanderlust's "Eastern European flavour" and suggested that Ellis-Bextor is "re-positioning herself in the prim Nordic-diva territory of Agnes Obel and Ane Brun."[22] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times noticed that "she sings with more feeling than her electro-pop days but the album suffers from a plodding pace."[26]

Commercial performance

Wanderlust debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number four with 10,844 copies sold in its first week, becoming Ellis-Bextor's highest-charting solo album since 2001's Read My Lips, the revised edition of which peaked at number two in mid 2002.[27][28] The following week, it fell to number five with sales of 8,520 copies.[29] The album slipped to number nine in its third week, selling 7,231 copies.[30] The album now has the second-longest chart run of any Sophie Ellis-Bextor album (after Read My Lips), having spent fourteen consecutive weeks in the top 75 as of 27 April 2014.[31] It was awarded a Silver certification by the BPI after selling 60,000 copies in the UK.[32]

Wanderlust Tour

Ellis-Bextor supported the album's release with a sold-out and critically acclaimed show at the Bush Hall in London on 21 January 2014.[33][34][35][36][37] She later went to announce a full-UK tour.[38] Festival dates and a second leg of the tour around the UK were announced in late April.[39] The regular setlist consisted on playing most of the songs from the album (frequent exceptions were "Interlude" and "Wrong Side Of The Sun") and very little older hits on the encores, mainly "Murder On The Dancefloor", "Groovejet", "Take Me Home" and "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)".[40]

Sophie won the Best Live Act prize at the AIM Awards held on 2 September 2014 in London.[41]

Tour dates[42]
Date	City	Country	Venue
United Kingdom (1st leg)
7 April 2014	Birmingham	England	Digbeth Institute
8 April 2014	Oxford		O2 Academy Oxford
10 April 2014	London		Union Chapel
11 April 2014
13 April 2014	Bournemouth		O2 Academy Bournemouth
14 April 2014	Brighton		Concorde 2
15 April 2014	Bristol		O2 Academy Bristol
17 April 2014	Gateshead		The Sage Gateshead
18 April 2014	Manchester		The Ritz
19 April 2014	Glasgow	Scotland	Oran Mor
20 April 2014
United Kingdom (2nd leg)[43]
24 September 2014	Cambridge	England	Junction
25 September 2014	Norwich		Waterfront
27 September 2014	Holmfirth		The Picturedome
28 September 2014	Edinburgh	Scotland	Queen's Hall
29 September 2014	Milton Keynes	England	The Stables
1 October 2014	London		Shepherd's Bush Empire
European dates[44]
3 October 2014	St. Petersburg	Russia	A2 Club
4 October 2014	Moscow		Ray Just Arena

Festival dates[45]
Date	City	Country	Festival
Europe
3 May 2014	Zurich	Switzerland	Energy Fashion Night
27 June 2014	Pilton, Somerset	England	Glastonbury Festival[46]
29 June 2014	Westport	Ireland	Westport Festival
4 July 2014	Oxfordshire	England	Cornbury Festival
6 July 2014	Kent		Hop Farm Festival
4 July 2014	Balado	Scotland	T in the Park
2 August 2014	Isle of Wight	England	Camp Bestival
3 August 2014	Oulton Park, Yorkshire		Carfest North
16 August 2014	Chelmsford		V Festival
17 August 2014	Staffordshire		V Festival
23 August 2014	Southsea		Victorious Festival
24 August 2014	Hampshire		Carfest South
29 August 2014	Helsinki	Finland	Juhlaviikot Helsinki Festival[47]
6 September 2014	Isle of Wight	England	Bestival[48]
Asia
24 October 2014	Jakarta	Indonesia	Java Soundsfair[49]

Set List

1. "Birth of an Empire"
2. "Until the Stars Collide"
3. "Runaway Daydreamer"
4. "The Deer & the Wolf"
5. "Young Blood"
6. "When the Storm Has Blown Over"
7. "True Faith"
8. "Wrong Side of the Sun"
9. "When the Lost Don't Want to be Found"
10. "13 Little Dolls"
11. "Love is a Camera"
12. "Cry to the Beat of Band"
13. "Take Me Home"
14. "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)"
15. "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)"
16. "Sing It Back"
17. "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)"
18. "Murder on the Dancefloor"

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Ed Harcourt.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Birth of an Empire"	3:48
2.	"Until the Stars Collide"	3:39
3.	"Runaway Daydreamer"	4:00
4.	"The Deer & the Wolf"	3:54
5.	"Young Blood"	4:28
6.	"-Interlude-"	2:23
7.	"13 Little Dolls"	3:32
8.	"Wrong Side of the Sun"	3:50
9.	"Love Is a Camera"	4:13
10.	"Cry to the Beat of the Band"	3:38
11.	"When the Storm Has Blown Over"	3:31

Disc two – Wandermix (Repackaged edition)[50]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Deer & the Wolf (Role Reversal)"	3:43
2.	"Cry to the Beat of the Band (Break Up)"	4:41
3.	"Wrong Side of the Sun (Phoenix Rising)"	3:43
4.	"Runaway Daydreamer (Secret)"	4:25
5.	"Young Blood (Kick It)"	6:43
6.	"Wandermix (Continuous Mix)"	23:16

Personnel

Credits for adapted from the liner notes of Wanderlust.[51]

Sophie Ellis-Bextor – vocals Seton Daunt – guitar Dirty Pretty Strings – strings (tracks 2, 5, 8) Ed Harcourt – backing vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, production, samples, synth (all tracks); arrangement, conducting (tracks 2, 5, 8) Richard Jones – bass Amy Langley – cello (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8) Gita Langley – violin (tracks 1–3, 5, 8, 10) Rosie Langley – violin (tracks 2, 5, 8)

Arnulf Lindner – double bass (tracks 5, 9) London Bulgarian Choir – choir (track 10) Michael Nash Associates – art direction Sophie Muller – photography Miles Showell – mastering Wallace Productions – management Phil Wilkinson – drums, percussion Polly Wiltshire – viola (tracks 2, 5, 8) Richard Woodcraft – engineering, mixing

Charts

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[52]	132
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[53]	88
Russian Albums Chart[54]	2
Scottish Albums Chart[55]	9
UK Albums Chart[56]	4
UK Indie Albums Chart[57]	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[58]	Silver	60,000^[58]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Japan	20 January 2014	Digital download	EBGB's	[59]
Mexico				[60]
Spain				[61]
United States				[62]
Netherlands		CD digital download		[63][64]
Sweden				[65][66]
United Kingdom				[67][68]
Japan	22 January 2014	CD	EBGB's Modulor Japan	[69]
Australia	24 January 2014	Digital download	EBGB's	[70]
Germany		CD LP digital download	EBGB's Alive	[71][72][73]
Italy		Digital download	EBGB's	[74]
France	27 January 2014	CD digital download		[75][76]
United Kingdom		LP		[77]
Australia	3 February 2014			[78]
Spain		CD LP		[79][80]
Italy	17 February 2014	CD		[81]
Australia	21 February 2014			[82]
United Kingdom (reissue)	3 November 2014	2×CD digital download LP		[83]

References

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