Life in a Beautiful Light

Life in a Beautiful Light
Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light.jpg
Studio album by
Released11 June 2012 (2012-06-11)
StudioMayfield Studios (United Kingdom)
State of the Ark (Surrey, England)
GenrePop rock, soft rock
Length45:31
LabelMelodramatic, Mercury, Vertigo
ProducerPete Wilkinson
Amy Macdonald chronology
Love Love UK & European Arena Tour LIVE 2010
(2011)
Life in a Beautiful Light
(2012)
Under Stars
(2017)
Amy Macdonald studio album chronology
A Curious Thing
(2010)
Life in a Beautiful Light
(2012)
Under Stars
(2017)
Singles from Life in a Beautiful Light
  1. "Slow It Down"
    Released: 20 April 2012
  2. "Pride"
    Released: 13 August 2012
  3. "4th of July"
    Released: 22 October 2012
Deluxe version cover
Amy Macdonald - Life in a Beautiful Light Deluxe.jpg

Life in a Beautiful Light is the third album by Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Macdonald, released on 11 June 2012. The lead single is "Slow It Down" and was released on 20 April 2012. Macdonald's official website confirmed the album for release on 13 April 2012. The track listing was confirmed on Universal Music's store on the same day.

Background

Macdonald began to write Life in a Beautiful Light after having a "lovely year off" following touring in support of A Curious Thing. Macdonald had no time to write songs on her second album as she was touring with This Is the Life. However, Macdonald said she felt that the creation of Life in a Beautiful Light was a more natural process. Two songs from Life in a Beautiful Light were begun before Macdonald's break. "In the End" was written with Macdonald questioning herself whether being a musician was a worthwhile occupation.

Macdonald wrote "Human Spirit" inspired by the Chilean miners' rescue. The song "Left That Body Long Ago" described her grandmother's decline into Alzheimer's disease whilst "Across the Nile" is a response to the conflict of the Arab Spring.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Daily Express
Hot Press
musicOMH
Sputnikmusic
The Scotsman
The Tech

The album up to now has gathered mixed reviews, earning a collective score of 5.1 out of 10 at AnyDecentMusic?. The Upcoming described the album as a "strong return from Macdonald, interweaving her distinctive voice with splashing cymbals and burbling electronica, but still intermittently flirting with folky affectations". The album received 60/100 on Metacritic, a review aggregator website, signifying "mixed or average reviews".

Chart performance

On 14 June 2012 Life in a Beautiful Light entered the Irish Albums Chart at number 5, making it her highest charting album in Ireland. On 17 June 2012 the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 2, making it the second highest charting album that week, only beaten by Gary Barlow's album Sing. Only 1,000 copies separated the top three albums. The album fared better in Scotland, where it debuted at number one.

Singles

  • "Slow It Down" was released as the lead single from the album on 20 April 2012. The song was a modest hit in Europe, charting at forty-five in the United Kingdom, fifty-six in Austria, fifty in Switzerland and forty in Germany.
  • "Pride" was released as the second single from the album on 13 August 2012.
  • "4th of July" was released as the third single from the album on 22 October 2012.

Track listings

All songs written by Amy Macdonald

Standard edition

No.TitleLength
1."4th of July"3:48
2."Pride"3:22
3."Slow It Down"3:52
4."The Furthest Star"3:29
5."The Game"4:24
6."Across the Nile"3:19
7."The Days of Being Young and Free"4:09
8."Left That Body Long Ago"4:49
9."Life in a Beautiful Light"4:35
10."Human Spirit"2:06
11."The Green and the Blue"3:53
12."In the End / Two Worlds" (hidden track)8:05

Deluxe edition

No.TitleLength
1."4th of July"3:48
2."Pride"3:22
3."Slow It Down"3:52
4."The Furthest Star"3:29
5."The Game"4:24
6."Across the Nile"3:19
7."The Days of Being Young and Free"4:09
8."Left That Body Long Ago"4:49
9."Life in a Beautiful Light"4:35
10."Human Spirit"2:06
11."The Green and the Blue"3:53
12."In the End"3:52
13."Slow It Down" (acoustic version)3:46
14."The Furthest Star" (acoustic version)3:07
15."The Green and the Blue" (acoustic version)2:50
16."Across the Nile" (acoustic version; iTunes exclusive)3:10
17."4th of July" (acoustic version)3:03
18."Slow It Down" (singalong instrumental version)3:56
19."4th of July" (singalong instrumental version)3:48
20."Pride" (singalong instrumental version)3:24
21."Two Worlds" (hidden track)3:52
iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
21."Pride" (acoustic version)3:18
Saturn bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
21."Born to Run" (acoustic version)3:32
22."Life in a Beautiful Light" (acoustic version)3:16
Spotify bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Slow It Down" (Spotify version; acoustic live)3:35
14."Pride" (Spotify version; acoustic live)3:24

Super deluxe box set

A super deluxe box set was also released that contains:

  • Standard edition of the album
  • Bonus CD: A selection of acoustic versions, and singalong instrumentals
  • DVD-5 acoustic versions live
  • 2 litho artwork numbered prints
  • Sheet music for "Slow It Down"

"Amy Macdonald guitar pic"

Charts and certifications

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI) Platinum 200,000^
Poland (ZPAV) Gold 10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) Platinum 30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold 100,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.


This page was last updated at 2022-06-11 15:15 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari