English Rain

English Rain
Studio album by Gabrielle Aplin
Released 13 May 2013
Recorded 2012-13
Genre
Length 49:45
Label Parlophone
Producer Mike Spencer
Gabrielle Aplin chronology
Home
(2012)		 English Rain
(2013)		 Light Up the Dark
(2015)
Singles from English Rain
  1. "The Power of Love"
    Released: 9 November 2012
  2. "Please Don't Say You Love Me"
    Released: 10 February 2013
  3. "Panic Cord"
    Released: 5 May 2013
  4. "Home"
    Released: 14 July 2013
  5. "Salvation"
    Released: 12 January 2014
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Digital Spy[2]
The Guardian[3]
Red Online(very positive)[4]
Counter Act[5]
FemaleFirst[6]

English Rain is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin. It was released on 13 May 2013 and serves as the follow-up to her 2012 extended play, Home.

It serves as her first release with a major record label, and was released with Parlophone.

English Rain debuted at number 2 in the UK Albums Chart, selling over 35,000 copies. It has since been certified gold in the UK for selling 100,000 copies.

Background

On 29 February 2012, Aplin announced that she had signed to Parlophone[7] and began recording her debut album in March 2012. Aplin was confirmed as the soundtrack to the John Lewis 2012 Christmas television advertisement, covering Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "The Power of Love".[8] In an interview, she said "I was worried people might hate me because they were so attached to the original single. But I've since been in touch with Holly Johnson, and he said some lovely things about my take on his song."[9]

On 12 December 2012, Aplin announced that the title of her debut album would be English Rain. In addition, she also unveiled its artwork and release date of 29 April 2013; however, the release date was pushed back by two weeks to 13 May. On 12 March 2013 Aplin released previews of the songs that would appear on the standard edition of English Rain. Aplin also worked with record producer Mike Spencer.[10]

Reception

Critical

The album was generally well received by critics, praising her for her vocals but calling the album safe and not particularly adventurous. Critics praised tracks such as "Salvation" for taking Aplin out of her "comfort zone" and compared "Please Don't Say You Love Me", the album's second single, to Mumford and Sons.

Commercial

English Rain was well received commercially. English Rain debuted at number 2 in the United Kingdom selling over 35,000 copies,[11] the following week the album fell 7 places to number 9. Internationally, the album achieved moderate success, charting at number 11 in Ireland on 19 May;[12][13] number 22 in Australia; number 55 in Belgium and number 39 in New Zealand.

On 23 July 2013, Aplin revealed on her Facebook page that English Rain had been certified Gold (for selling 100,000 copies).[14]

Promotion

Tours

Aplin performing in Islington, London on 25 June 2010.

To promote the album, Aplin went on two tours. The first was a smaller, mini-tour which took place in March 2013, two months before the album's release, to smaller venues; while the second was a larger tour, where Aplin performed at larger venues such as the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. The second tour took place in Autumn 2013.[15]

Singles

"The Power of Love" was released as the album's first and lead single on 9 November 2012 after being sampled in John Lewis' Christmas advert.[16] The song was well received critically and commercially and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 36, however later peaked at number 1 on 9 December 2012.[17] Aplin's version was certified gold in the United Kingdom on 11 January 2013.[14]

"Please Don't Say You Love Me" was released as the album's second single on 10 February and serves as the singer's first original single signed to Parlophone. On the week ending 16 February, the song debuted at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, serving as her highest debut on the chart.

Aplin announced live on 17 February Radio 1 Chart Show that her third single would be "Panic Cord", a song taken from the singer's second EP, Never Fade. It was released on 5 May, a week prior to the album's release, and peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart.[18]

"Home" serves as the fourth single from the album. Shooting for the music video began on 20 May 2013 and the video was unveiled on 9 June.[19][20] The single was released on 14 July and peaked at number 48 in the UK. "Home" was also featured on the ninth episode of Wentworth.

"Salvation" serves as the fifth single from the album, released on 12 January 2014.[21] A music video for the song premiered on 3 December 2013.[22]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Panic Cord"  
Mike Spencer 3:25
2. "Keep on Walking"  
  • Aplin
  • Atkinson
Spencer 2:52
3. "Please Don't Say You Love Me"  
  • Aplin
  • Atkinson
Spencer 3:00
4. "How Do You Feel Today?"  
  • Aplin
  • Atkinson
  • Thomas Wilding
  • Spencer
  • Tom Wilding
 3:46
5. "Home"  
  • Aplin
  • Atkinson
Spencer 4:07
6. "Salvation"  
Spencer 4:10
7. "Ready to Question"  
  • Aplin
  • Atkinson
  • Thomas Wilding
Spencer 3:18
8. "The Power of Love"  
 4:06
9. "Alive"  
  • Aplin
  • Spencer
Spencer 4:11
10. "Human"  
  • Aplin
  • Nicholas Atkinson
  • Thomas Wilding
Spencer 3:26
11. "November"  
  • Aplin
  • Atkinson
  • Mike Spencer
  • Luke Potashnik
 4:06
12. "Start of Time[23]"  
  • Spencer
  • Julian Emery
 4:01

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2013–14) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 55
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 107
Irish Albums (IRMA)[28] 11
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[29] 39
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 2
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[31] 33
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 95
UK Albums (OCC)[33] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (2014) Position
Australian Albums Chart[34] 61

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[35] Gold 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36] Gold 100,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Australia 17 May 2013 [37] Digital download, CD, vinyl Parlophone
United Kingdom 13 May 2013

References

  1. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "English Rain - Review". Digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
  3. ↑ "Album Review". Guardian.co.uk. 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  4. ↑ "English Rain". Red Online. Retrieved 2013-05-10.
  5. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain - Review". CounterAct-magazine.com/. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  6. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain Review". FemaleFirst.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  7. ↑ "Bath singer Gabrielle Aplin signs recording deal". Bath Chronicle. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin: The Power of a Christmas John Lewis advert?". The Independent. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  9. ↑ Thrills, Adrian (16 November 2012). "Gabrielle Aplin, the folk singer behind the festive soundtrack for John Lewis, gets the thumbs-up from Frankie Goes To Hollywood". Mail Online. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  10. ↑ Steve Holden (17 April 2012). "Introducing... Gabrielle Aplin". Newsbeat. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - Timeline Photos - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "Rod Stewart enjoys first Number 1 album in nearly 40 years!". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  13. ↑ ">> IRMA << Welcome to our site >>". irma.ie. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Certified Awards". bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  15. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - Cover Photos - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  16. ↑ Video on YouTube
  17. ↑ "Power of Love cover claims number one spot". BBC. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  18. ↑ "GABRIELLE APLIN". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - Timeline Photos - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  20. ↑ Video on YouTube
  21. ↑ "Ultimate Music - Gabrielle Aplin "Salvation" (Video Premiere)". Ultimate Music. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  22. ↑ YouTube. youtube.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  23. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain". Gabrielle Aplin. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  24. ↑ "English Rain (Deluxe Edition) : Target". Target Corporation. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  25. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Gabrielle Aplin – English Rain". Hung Medien.
  26. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Gabrielle Aplin – English Rain" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  27. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Gabrielle Aplin – English Rain" (in French). Hung Medien.
  28. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, 2013". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  29. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Gabrielle Aplin – English Rain". Hung Medien.
  30. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  31. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Gabrielle Aplin – English Rain". Hung Medien.
  32. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Gabrielle Aplin – English Rain". Hung Medien.
  33. ↑ "{{{artist}}} | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart
  34. ↑ "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 100 Albums 2014". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  35. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  36. ↑ "British album certifications – Gabrielle Aplin – English Rain". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 September 2014. Enter English Rain in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  37. ↑ "Gabrielle Aplin - Good Morning Australia, the wait is... - Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
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