Track Listing

1. Mary Pickford
2. Its All in My Head
3. If the Lights Go Out
4. What I Miss About You
5. Spellbound
6. What It Says on the Tin
7. Scary Films
8. Perfect Circle
9. Ghost Town
10. If You Were a Sailboat
11. Dirty Dice
12. In My Secret Life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10033 in Music
• Released on: 2009-05-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Album Description
Katie Melua was born in Georgia (former USSR) in 1984, growing up under the communist regime in the capital, Tbilisi. The family left Georgia when Katie was eight and moved to Belfast where her father got a job as a heart surgeon. Katie didn't always want to be a singer or songwriter. Her ambition when she was thirteen was to be a politician or a historian "I honestly thought I'd be able to bring peace to the world...if I ruled it!)" The family lived in Belfast for five years before moving to South East London. At sixteen, Katie joined the BRIT School for Performing Arts.

Composer/producer Mike Batt paid a visit to the school. Katie signed to Batt's record label Dramatico, but stayed at the BRIT School to complete her studies where she graduated with distinction in July 2003.

Unable to secure a contract with a Major record company, Katie and Mike decided to put her album Call Off The Search (containing the song "The Closest Thing To Crazy") out on Batt's own, small record label. After an appearance on The Royal Variety Show, 19 year old Katie shot to the top of the UK album charts and became the biggest selling female artist for the next two years. Her two albums, (the second of which contained the hit "Nine Million Bicycles") have sold more than 10 million copies to date. She and her family took British nationality in 2005. In December 2007, Katie topped the charts with a duet with her idol, the late Eva Cassidy, entitled "What A Wonderful World", with proceeds from the single going to support the UK work of the British Red Cross.

The past years have been quite extraordinary for Katie (now 24). She has had a Dutch tulip named in her honor, met and played for Nelson Mandela in South Africa visiting his Aids charity, has become a hard working Ambassador for Save The Children, raced at 160mph around Grand Prix, flown a plane, learned to dive and parachute freefall, set a Guinness World Record for deepest underwater concert (19 miles under water on a gas rig in the North Sea), and picked up various prestigious awards within Europe, including a World Music Award, a Golden Camera Award, and two German Echo Awards.

Katie's third studio album, Pictures, confirms Katie's status as a unique and remarkable vocalist, and reveals the third chapter of what is destined to be a long musical career.

Amazon.com
There is something innately British about Katie Melua’s appeal, her style reminiscent of former '60s UK legend Lulu, especially in songs that combine adult contemporary pop with a slight crooning style ("All In My Head," "If You Were A Sailboat"). Whatever her je-ne-sais-quality is, Melua’s popularity in Europe is massive; she has sold more CDs in Britain than any other female artist in both 2005 and 2006. At the time of the release of her third CD, Pictures, sales of her first two were at an impressive eight million sold and climbing. Many compare her sound and style to Norah Jones and Diana Krall, but that is quite misleading, as she is neither as bluesy as Jones nor as jazzy as Krall, landing in fact much more in the middle of the road stylistically. Cover songs are in short supply on this disc (unlike Melua’s prior releases); Pictures contains only one cover tune, a Motown-affected Leonard Cohen song entitled "In My Secret Life." While all the other songs are originals, many do significantly resemble Cohen cuts, pairing poetry with melancholy ("If The Lights Go Out," "Dirty Dice"). One word of advice to the unfamiliar; the former Russian resident has a vibrato that at times approaches a warble, so although Melua’s music clearly has massive appeal to an entire continent, North American eardrums would do well to preview her sonic wares prior to purchasing the whole disc. --Denise Sheppard

Customer Reviews

Not astonishing, but a good, warm, smooth album.
This is the American version of her 2007 release.
It is a thematic album full of cinematic references - touching upon old-school Hollywood, horror and cowboy movies.
But there's more to the album's 12 songs.
Katie herself points out that "Pictures" is 'darker' than her first two albums and also that it features a lot more of her own input.
It is not significantly darker, but there is a hint of things to come now that Katie is branching out on her own after her three-album collaboration with Mike Batt, her manager, primary songwriter and producer.
On this one, the 24 year-old singer/songwriter seems to have realised that she's outgrown her mentor : in a way, the six songs she's penned for "Pictures" sound altogether more vital, more interesting and more affecting than Batt's seven offerings.
Throughout the album, there are the same everyday themes that someone like Lily Allen sings about, but with none of the brashness that Lily adopts. Katie's songs are far more subtle.
Its first single "If You Were a Sailboat" is typically Katie, is a nicely packaged song about - you guessed it - love, and a rather safe bet...But it may disappoint her fans, given its striking similarity to the likes of "Nine Million Bicycles".
"Mary Pickford (Used To Eat Roses)" is a good opener, it's funny, quirky and immediately makes you think that perhaps there's something different about this singer-songwriter that will set her apart from the rest. However, the next couple of songs are slightly disappointing, nice melodies but a bit bland and forgettable.
It picks up however with the bittersweet "What I Miss About You" which definitely feels like it's been written by someone who's gone through a break-up: the hopeless romantics will particularly love it.
"Spellbound" is a really nice song that benefits from some really enchanting melodies and one of the most vibrant choruses on the album. It reverberates with positivity and sunshine values.
"Scary Films" shows a nice bluesy, R&B quality, with the guitars, especially, adding some grit to Melua's smooth vocals - and the lyrics which are well worth listening to as well.
Reggae vibes on "Ghost Town" (one of two songs bearing a Melua/Batt credit) add another flavour to the melting pot of sounds that is "Pictures".
These songs also highlight and demonstrate Katie's varied musical interests and influences.
For Katie fans, this record will be everything they expected and more. The haters are likely to find it overly sentimental and sweet.
"This jazzy, smoky sound formula is ever present again and to be honest, the arrangements are not all bad. It's the half hearted, take the money and run performance which drives you the closest thing to crazy". -Glenn Meads
But whichever way of the fence you are, you will have to admit that Pictures brings a new element of Katie the artist to the fore.
My picks: "Spellbound", "Scary Films", "Perfect Circle", "Ghost Town", "Dirty Dice", "In My Secret Life".
Enjoy!
Call off the Search
Piece by Piece
It's Not Me, It's You

Melua's "Pictures" Worth Keeping
Prime Cuts: What It Says on the Tin, Scary Films, If You Were a Sailboat

Born in Soviet Georgia and grown up in the United Kingdom, Melua's accent gives her a leg up over her contemporaries. For instance, the way she vocally influxes her ending notes is truly beguiling. Further, Melua is also an assiduous student of contemporary music. Perfecting the torch-like balladry of Norah Jones and picking up the hook-laden musical proclivities of Jann Arden, Melua certainly has created yet another album that is a nice crossover of contemporary jazz and pop music. While many singer-songwriters tend to indulge in lofty issues over non-melodic constructions, Melua's charm is that she takes simple (and at times even naïve) observations and builds little love stories around them. Relative to her previous couple of albums, nothing much has changed. Her longtime scribe Mike Batt is still responsible for the lion's share of the songs' genesis. However, this time the boundaries have been stretched when a languid version of Leonard Cohen's nod to post-modernity "In My Secret Life" is included.

While some men are praised by their paramours for their sensitivity or good lucks, Melua in "Scary Films" lauds praises over her lover for helping her chase away her nightmares. Though the lyrics on a cursory level may sound childish but coupled with Melua's girlish vocal twirls over its enchanting dreamy melody, "Scary Films" is so enchanting that one feels transported right into a fairy tale. Again utilizing the same "horror" theme is "Ghost Town," a forlorn broken hearted jazz ballad with a slight touch of Hank Williams' blues. While the newly composed "If I Were a Sailboat" (not that old Lyle Lovett song of the same title) may be faulted on its use of inconsistent imageries, it has a magical cull that squarely captures the romantic vertigo of falling in love.

Just as "9 Million Bicycles" was the gem of her last CD, "What It Says on the Tin" is this record's masterpiece. The gentle strumming of the guitar, the lush gush of a string-laden ensemble, and the sensuous fête fetale-esque vocals all are winsome ingredients to this exquisite and well-written love song. The fine attention paid to the lyrical content of "What I Miss the Most" is another fine example of why Melua and co-writer Andrea McEwan's writing is so engaging. However, just like her previous efforts, there are a few fillers. The mid-tempo "Spellbound" takes a break from the ballad-heavy slant of the album. Unfortunately, it suffers from too much chord changes and melodic twisting. While the light samba feel of "Perfect Circle" is acceptable without being spectacular.

Nevertheless, "Pictures" is the perfectly apt title for this disc. With the use of acerbic word pictures, unexpected motifs and picturesque language, the vignettes Melua paints through each of these 12 paeans are indelible. Never overindulging in the lethargic pandering of some jazz records and never assenting to the non-melodious gibberish of some singer-songwriter's CDs, Melua's "Pictures" is a keeper.

My favorite Katie Melua album...so far
I've been a Katie Melua fan for a while now. I have to say, this is my favorite of her 3 full studio albums. Technically, this is not a new Katie Melua album, but it's new to the States. Kudos to her record company for putting it out here and at such a low price. It's so much better than having to plunk down extra money for the import.

I hear a noticeable difference on this album from her previous two. Katie has grown - vocally, musically and lyrically. Her voice is perfect; she sings impeccably. If I'm not mistaken, all the tracks on this album are original songs except for Katie's bold and beautiful cover of Leonard Cohen's "In My Secret Life".

Several songs stand out for me: "If the Lights Go Out" - a jingly/jangly Pop song about the end of the world. Reminds me of 10,000 Maniacs "Like the Weather" - a song about clinical depression done with a Pop sensibility. "What I Miss About You" is an awesome anti-breakup song. Lyrically, I am reminded of Alanis Morissette but musically, I hear Brandi Carlile. The lyrics are cold but Katie's voice is warm and flows with deep emotion. I'd hate to be the guy on the other end of that song. And how about, "If You Were a Sailboat" a deeply poetic love song.

Katie Melua is an artist with longevity - her UK career proves that. Pictures is the next chapter in what will be a long journey for a very talented and gifted artist.