Real Life
Studio album by
Emeli Sandé
Released13 September 2019 (2019-09-13)
Genre
Length44:15
LabelVirgin EMI
ProducerTroy Miller
Emeli Sandé chronology
Kingdom Coming
(2017)		 Real Life
(2019)		 Let's Say for Instance
(2022)
Singles from Real Life
  1. "Sparrow"
    Released: 15 March 2019
  2. "Extraordinary Being"
    Released: 22 May 2019[3]
  3. "Shine"
    Released: 12 July 2019[4]
  4. "You Are Not Alone"
    Released: 30 August 2019

Real Life is the third studio album by Scottish singer Emeli Sandé, released on 13 September 2019 by Virgin EMI Records.[5] Sandé co-wrote all tracks on the album, and the album was produced by Troy Miller.[6] It includes the singles "Sparrow", "Extraordinary Being", "Shine" and "You Are Not Alone".[7]

Background

Sandé's intent is to inspire "hope and confidence" with the album, particularly for those "who have been marginalised, forgotten or kicked down by this invisible oppression that's always there."[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Belfast Telegraph9/10[8]
Classic Pop7/10[1]
Evening Standard[9]
The Music[10]

Lucy Mapstone from Scottish daily newspaper The National wrote that "Sande's first two albums hit number one and number two in the charts respectively, so she has a lot to live up to. But, honestly, this may be her best work yet [...] Having gone through a period of difficulty in her life, Sandé has come out the other side and, across this new collection, she rises like the proverbial phoenix with tunes that are a new level of epic, all melodic and uplifting and hymn-like with the odd Motown or gospel influence thrown in where appropriate."[11] AllMusic editor Andy Kellman rated Real Life three and a half stars out of five. He felt that the album "aims to alleviate, uplift, and motivate [..] Like Sandé's two previous studio albums, it's based in mature pop, but its integration of other genres and styles — a little reggae, some blues, disco, and more gospel than ever — is done with more finesse. The seamlessness, combined with full-hearted vocal performances, counteracts all the platitudes and flying-bird-as-freedom metaphors."[2]

Classic Pop's Wyndham Wallace felt that "Sandé doesn't appear interested in breaking new ground when she can preserve and revere old territory: Real Life immerses her in gospel soul traditions, with massed voices integral to its style, so if you're comfortable with formulas, you won't begrudge her being formulaic."[1] In his review for Evening Standard Jochan Embley found that "Real Life is far from adventurous in terms of its songwriting — too often, the structures seem slightly by-the-numbers. The tense, ascending strings towards the end of "Honest" are the closest we get to experimentation and are compelling enough to make you wish Sandé had taken similar risks elsewhere. That said, by clinging on to her soul-inflected roots, Sandé manages to avoid any modern pop tropes, which at least gives the album a disarming authenticity."[9]

Commercial performance

In the UK, the album debuted at number six with sales of 7,650 combined units.[12]

Track listing

All music is composed by Troy Miller

Real Life track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Co-producerLength
1."Human"
Sandé4:53
2."Love to Help"
  • Sandé
  • Laidi Saliasi
 4:08
3."You Are Not Alone"
 3:52
4."Shine"Sandé 3:29
5."Sparrow"
  • Sandé
  • Saliasi
Sandé4:06
6."Honest"
  • Sandé
  • Troy Miller
Sandé3:28
7."Survivor"
  • Sandé
  • Saliasi
 4:45
8."Extraordinary Being"
  • Sandé
  • Miller
  • Saliasi
 4:04
9."Same Old Feeling"
  • Sandé
  • Saliasi
  • Jacob McKenzie
  • Christopher Hanlon
 3:37
10."Real Life"
  • Sandé
  • Saliasi
 3:58
11."Free as a Bird"
  • Sandé
  • Saliasi
  • Mckenzie
 3:55
Total length:44:15

Charts

Chart performance for Real Life
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)[13] 31
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 25
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 136
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 50
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 31
Irish Albums (IRMA)[18] 37
Scottish Albums (OCC)[19] 2
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[20] 60
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 6
US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard)[23] 79

Release history

Release history for Real Life
Country Release date Label(s)
United Kingdom[5] 13 September 2019 Virgin EMi

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wallace, Wyndham (30 July 2019). "Review: Emeli Sandé – Real Life". Classic Pop. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Kellman, Andy. "Emeli Sandé – Real Life | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  3. ↑ Peacock, Tim (17 July 2019). "Listen to Emeli Sandé's new single, 'Extraordinary Being'". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Peacock, Tim (17 July 2019). "Emeli Sandé releases new single, 'Shine', new album, 'Real Life' due in September". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 "REAL LIFE by Emeli Sandé". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  6. 1 2 Sexton, Paul (12 April 2019). "Multi-Platinum Emeli Sandé Announces New, Third Album 'Real Life'". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  7. ↑ Kenneally, Cerys (11 April 2019). "Emeli Sandé announces new album Real Life". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  8. ↑ Mapstone, Lucy (13 September 2019). "Albums of the week – from Emeli Sande to Status Quo". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  9. 1 2 Embley, Jochan (13 September 2019). "Uplifting songs have a disarming authenticity". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  10. ↑ Giuffre, Liz (6 June 2019). "Emeli Sande / Real Life". The Music. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  11. ↑ Mapstone, Lucy (13 September 2019). "Emeli Sande returns with new album Real Life – and an important lesson". The National. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  12. ↑ Jones, Alan (20 September 2019). "Charts analysis: Sam Fender rockets to summit". Music Week. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  13. ↑ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Digital Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Emeli Sandé – Real Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  15. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Emeli Sandé – Real Life" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  16. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Emeli Sandé – Real Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  17. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Emeli Sandé – Real Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Emeli Sandé". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  20. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Emeli Sandé – Real Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Emeli Sandé – Real Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  22. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  23. ↑ "Emeli Sande Chart History (Top Current Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
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