''What Silence Knows'' is the debut solo album by English singer

Shara Nelson Shara Nelson (born 1965) is an English singer and songwriter. She worked with Massive Attack in the early 1990s, and as a solo artist had five UK top 40 hit singles. Her 1993 debut album, '' What Silence Knows'', was shortlisted for the Mercury ...

, released in September 1993 on

Cooltempo Records Cooltempo, the dance music imprint of Chrysalis Records, was revived in May 2018. The label released albums by artists such as Kenny Thomas, Milli Vanilli, Adeva, Shara Nelson, Mica Paris and Innocence. History Cooltempo emerged at the end o ...

. It includes five singles which reached the UK Singles Chart: " Down That Road", "

One Goodbye in Ten "One Goodbye in Ten" is a song by British singer-songwriter Shara Nelson, released in September 1993 by Cooltempo Records as the second single from the singer's first solo album, '' What Silence Knows'' (1993). Written by her with British band Sa ...

", " Inside Out", " Uptight" and "

Nobody Nobody most often refers to: * Nobody, an indefinite pronoun Nobody may also refer to: Fictional characters * Nobody (''Kingdom Hearts''), a race of beings in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series *Nobody, a character in the Jim Jarmusch fi ...

". The album peaked at No. 22 on 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 ...

and was later certified Gold 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 ...

for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. The album was shortlisted for the 1994

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

Critical reception

Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' wrote, "A glittering solo debut for this talented vocalist. The current single, "

", is particularly fine: a rich string arrangement underpinning a Sixties feel. Other tracks, such as "

", recall her past with

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

, while the vox/piano style of " Inside Out" has a haunting, stark beauty. Could be a

Dina Carroll Geraldine "Dina" Carroll (born 21 August 1968) is an English singer. She had a string of hits during the 1990s, including the UK top ten singles "It's Too Late (Carole King song)#Quartz version, It's Too Late" (1991), "Don't Be a Stranger (Din ...

-style breakout."

Adam Higginbotham Adam Higginbotham (born 1968) is a British journalist who is the former U.S. correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine and former editor-in-chief of '' The Face''. He has also served as a contributing writer for'' The New Yorker'', ''Wired ...

from '' Select'' said, "It's a tremendous soul album, with Nelson's searing voice matched to a full spectrum of musical textures and resonant lyrics that will frighten the pants off Derek and Shirley canoodling on the sofa in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

Track listing

# "Nobody" (Shara Nelson, Kenny Nicholas, Trevor Jacobs, Suni Suleynan) – 4:22 # "Pain Revisited" (Shara Nelson,

Howie B Howard Simon Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbie Robertson, Elisa, Mukul Deo ...

ernstein) – 5:16 # "One Goodbye in Ten" (Shara Nelson, Bob Stanley,

Pete Wiggs Peter Stewart Wiggs (born 15 May 1966) is an English musician and DJ from Reigate, Surrey. Saint Etienne Pete Wiggs is a member of the pop/dance group Saint Etienne (alongside Bob Stanley and Sarah Cracknell) for which he co-writes songs, p ...

) – 5:50 # "Inside Out" (Shara Nelson, Kevin Armstrong) – 3:19 # "Uptight" (Shara Nelson, Prince Be) – 5:04 # "Down That Road" (Shara Nelson, Prince Be) – 5:15 # "Chance" (Shara Nelson, Kenny Nicholas, Trevor Jacobs, Suni Suleynan) – 3:58 # "Thoughts of You" (Shara Nelson, John Coxon) – 4:16 # "How Close" (Shara Nelson, Prince Be) – 3:59 # "What Silence Knows" (Shara Nelson,

Style Scott Lincoln Valentine Scott (29 April 1956 – 9 October 2014), better known as Style Scott, was a Jamaican reggae drummer, famous for playing in the Roots Radics and, later, with Dub Syndicate. He also recorded and performed with Prince Far I, Bunn ...

) – 6:59

Personnel

*Shara Nelson – vocals *Billy Liesegang, G.A. Parricelli – guitar *

Mike Peden Michael Peden is a British record producer, remixer and composer, best known for his work with the British musical duo Lighthouse Family. With his former band the Chimes, Peden had a hit single with their version of "I Still Haven't Found What ...

– bass *Mel Wesson – keyboards, synthesizer *Michael Timothy,

Pete Wingfield William Peter Wingfield (born 7 May 1948) is an English record producer, Keyboardist, keyboard player, songwriter, singer, and music journalism, music journalist. Career Whilst at Sussex University, Wingfield and three other students formed ...

– keyboards *Rupert Brown, Trevor Murrell – drums *Miles Bould – percussion *Lyn Gerald, Tee Green – backing vocals *Philip D. Todd – flute, electronic wind instrument *London Session Orchestra – strings *

Nick Ingman Nicholas Ingman (born 29 April 1948) is an English arranger, composer and conductor in the commercial music field. His collaborators include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Björk, and the British X-factor. Born and educated in London, Ingman move ...

– string arrangements *

Gavyn Wright Gavyn Wright is a British violinist and orchestra leader with the London Session Orchestra and Penguin Cafe Orchestra. He is best known for his orchestral arrangements on pop productions (including Elton John, Simply Red, Bush, Mecano, ...

– orchestral leader and conductor

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 debut albums Shara Nelson albums Cooltempo Records albums Albums produced by Mike Peden