''Life in a Beautiful Light'' is the third album by Scottish singer-songwriter

Amy Macdonald Amy Elizabeth Macdonald (born 25 August 1987) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. In 2007, she released her debut studio album, ''This Is the Life (Amy Macdonald album), This Is the Life'', which produced the singles "Mr. Rock & Roll" and "This ...

, released on 11 June 2012. The lead single, " Slow It Down" 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. Released to favourable reviews, it was a commercial success in Europe, debuting at number one in Austria and Germany, number two in her native Scotland and the United Kingdom, as well as the top five in Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands. The album was produced by Pete Wilkinson, and released via Melodramatic, Mercury and

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

. It spawned a total of three singles – the commercially successful "Slow It Down", and subsequent singles "

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

" and "

4th of July Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

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.Biography — Amy Macdonald
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 Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

whilst "Across the Nile" is a response to the conflict of the

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Chart performance

On 14 June 2012 ''Life in a Beautiful Light'' entered the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by t ...

at number 5, making it her highest-charting album 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 ...

. On 17 June 2012 the album entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

at number 2, making it the second highest-charting album that week, only beaten by Gary Barlow's album ''

Sing 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 singi ...

''. Only 1,000 copies separated the top three albums. The album fared better in Scotland, where it debuted at number one. It was awarded Platinum status in both

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, indicating sales in excess of 200,000 and 30,000 copies respectively, and in the United Kingdom was awarded Gold certification by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI), indicating sales in excess of 100,000. Additionally, in Poland, it was also certified Gold, indicating sales of over 10,000 copies.

Singles

" Slow It Down" was released as the albums lead single on 20 April 2012. It achieved considerable commercial success across Europe, particularly in the continent, where it reached the top five in Poland, top twenty in Belgium and Scotland, and also the top forty in both Germany and Switzerland. It was eventually certified Gold in Germany, indicating sales in excess of 150,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, it missed the official UK Top 40 by five places, debuting and peaking at number forty five on the official UK Singles Charts, before falling to number forty eight in its second week. In its third week on the UK Singles Chart, it stood at number eighty four, before falling out of the UK Top 100 entirely. Moderate success was achieved in Ireland, where it reached number fifty seven on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

. "

" was released as the second single from the album on 13 August 2012. In an interview with ''

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'' Macdonald said that the song was inspired from signing the national anthem of Scotland at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

, saying "it is an honor and it is something that she always gets nervous about, but it is such a buzz afterwards that she loves to do it". It reached the top 100 of the Scottish Singles Charts, peaking at number eighty-seven, and thirty-nine on the Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders Charts in Belgium. "

" was released as the third and final single from the album on 22 October 2012.

Critical reception

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".Album review: Amy Macdonald — Life In A Beautiful Light , The Upcoming
/ref> The album received 60/100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website, signifying "mixed or average reviews".Life in a Beautiful Light Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More - Metacritic
/ref>

Track listings

All songs written by Amy Macdonald

Standard edition

Deluxe edition

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

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Life in a Beautiful Light'' on the official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Life in a Beautiful Life Amy Macdonald albums 2012 albums Mercury Records albums Vertigo Records albums