''Call off the Search'' is the debut studio album by British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer

Katie Melua Ketevan Katie Melua (; ka, ქეთევან "ქეთი" მელუა, ; born 16 September 1984) is a British singer and songwriter. She was born in Kutaisi, Georgia and raised in Belfast and London. Under the management of composer ...

, released in 2003.

Recording and release

British songwriter, producer and arranger

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, and conductor. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Batt created the novelty pop band T ...

signed Melua to his

Dramatico Dramatico is a record label founded by Mike Batt in 2000. Artists on the label include Mike Batt, Robert Meadmore, Sarah Blasko, Katie Melua, Leddra Chapman and Alistair Griffin. Dramatico has also established a publishing company in New Yor ...

recording and management label after she performed at a showcase at the Brit School for the Performing Arts in early 2003. Batt was looking for a young artist capable of "performing jazz and blues in an interesting way". Melua went into the studio soon after with Batt as the producer. She recorded songs written by Batt,

John Mayall John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...

, Delores J. Silver, herself,

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

, and James Shelton. Melua wrote "Faraway Voice" about singer

Eva Cassidy Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and musician known for her interpretations of jazz, Folk music, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her f ...

. "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" refers to Melua's upbringing in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

: "Penguins" referring to

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and "Cats" to

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. ''Call off the Search'' was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 3 November 2003. It became a hit, reaching number one on the UK album chart in January 2004 and the top twenty of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n album chart in June 2004. It spent 87 weeks in the ARIA Top 100, certified Platinum for shipments of 70,000+. First single "

The Closest Thing to Crazy "The Closest Thing to Crazy" is the debut single of Georgia-born singer Katie Melua. The song is featured on her first studio album, '' Call Off the Search'' (2003). The song was written as part of the musical ''Men Who March Away'', and appeared ...

", written by Batt, reached the top five in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, top ten in the UK, top twenty in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and top fifty in Australia. The second single from the album was the title track, " Call Off the Search", which gave Melua her second UK top twenty hit. The third single, a cover of Mayall's " Crawling up a Hill", was released on 18 July as the third single in the UK. In the UK the album sold 1.8 million copies within its first five months of release, making it six times

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

. It spent six weeks at the top of the UK chart.

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, ''Call off the Search'' was the 5th best selling album of 2004 with 1,356,962 copies sold,Chartwatch Annual Chart Booklets->Year 2003
Retrieved August 4, 2010. and has sold over 1.9 million copies in the UK as of January 2013.

Track listing

The Japanese release has the extra track "

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

Personnel

*Katie Melua –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

–

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, conducting, arrangements,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Jim Cregan James Cregan (born 9 March 1946) is an English rock guitarist and bassist, best known for his associations with Family, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, and Rod Stewart. Cregan is a former husband of the singer Linda Lewis and worked with her a ...

– guitar *

Tim Harries Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, an ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*The Irish Film Orchestra – orchestra *Michael Kruk –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Alan Smale – leader *

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English guitarist and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his studio session work. By the early 1970s, he had become one of th ...

– guitar *

Henry Spinetti Enrico Antonio Giorgio Spinetti (born 31 March 1951) is a Welsh session drummer whose playing has featured on many prominent rock and pop albums. Career Spinetti was born in Cwm, near Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, Wales.) His first band, aged abou ...

– drums ;Technical *Steve Sale – engineering *Simon Fowler – photography *Michael Halsband – cover photo

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Katie Melua albums 2003 debut albums Albums produced by Mike Batt European Border Breakers Award–winning albums