Emeli Sandé

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Emeli Sandé

Emeli Sandé "Our Version Of Events" album

- Release date : February 2012 -

Our Version of Events is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé. The album was released in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2012 through Virgin Records. Work on the album began in early 2010 following Sandé's signing with Virgin, with the song "Heaven" serving as the lead single on August 14, 2011. Working alongside producer & songwriter Shahid "Naughty Boy" Khan, Sandé released a second single "Daddy" on November 27, 2011. A third single, "Next to Me" was released on February 12, 2012. The album's title is a lyric from the song "Read All About It (Part III)" in which Sandé sings: "Let's get the TV & the radio to play our tune again, It's about time we got some airplay of our version of events."

"Our Version Of Events" album tracks and lyrics

"Our Version Of Events" album reviews

The Brits’ Critics Choice Award may have been lampooned for crowning acts before they earn their stripes, but you can’t deny that the panel has a canny habit of backing a winning horse. Since the prize was launched in 2008, the recipients read like a who’s who of successful contemporary British female singer-songwriters: Adele, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding and Jessie J. All have been bright, idiosyncratic artists, with talent in spades.

Continuing that trend, this year’s feted big-seller is Emeli Sandé, a 24-year-old Scot of black South African decent and a former medical student with a bleached quiff and a voice like honey and thunder. This remarkable debut splices urban flare with pop savvy, and proves her a worthy pick.

Sandé’s road to recognition has been via two distinct avenues. First she offered vocal ballast to tracks from grimy hit-makers Wiley, Devlin and Professor Green, but latterly she has been co-writing more conventional pop songs for talent-show alumni Leona Lewis, Cher Lloyd and even Susan Boyle, prompting Simon Cowell to name-check her as his “favourite songwriter of the moment”.

Here, the twin paths intersect: Our Version of Events often sounds like an album operating on two levels, with songs that flourish on a tension between rawness and polished craft.

*** by James Lachno, The Telegraph ***

The winner of the annual Brit Awards Critics' Choice prize has always been a safe-as-houses option (previous ones include Adele and Jessie J), but there's no denying they're always spot-on with their selections. The same could be said in part for this year's winner Emeli Sandé, whose much-hyped debut might play it safe, but nonetheless gets it just right.

As we mentioned in our first listen piece last month, lead single 'Heaven' - a homage to proper '90s dance music - stands alone in its genre (and beats-per-minute range) here, but there's plenty elsewhere that equals its brilliance.

The militant drums and ecclesiastical string section interwoven with Sandé's gospel-like tones on preceding cut 'My Kind of Love' is the real tone-setter for the album. It's a sound that continues best on the sermonizing 'Where I Sleep', the sky-soaring 'River' and latest single 'Next To Me' - the latter also serving as a much-needed uptempo moment among the slightly too ballad-heavy collection.

Her vocal - while remaining flawless throughout - falls somewhere between the power of Leona Lewis on the piano-led numbers (see 'Hope'), and the sultriness of Beyoncé on R&B-tinged 'Mountains'. The former is also an example of the record's occasional heavy-handedness ("I'm hoping that change isn't hopeless/ I'm hoping to start it with me"), but nonetheless, it's impressive penmanship from a once-upon-a-time medical student.

In fact, given the passion, desire and overcoming-the-odds message felt in Our Version of Events, it's hard to imagine Sandé was destined to do anything else in life. Better yet, it sounds like she's only just got started.

*** by Robert Copsey, Digital Spy ***