The Blue God
| The Blue God | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 12 May 2008 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:17 | |||
| Label | Independiente | |||
| Producer | Martina Topley-Bird Danger Mouse | |||
| Martina Topley-Bird chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| BBC.co.uk | (positive)[1] |
| Hot Press | [2] |
| Manchester Evening News | [3] |
| musicOMH | [4] |
| Pitchfork Media | 4.6/10[5] |
| Prefix Magazine | [6] |
| The Times | [7] |
| Twisted Ear | [8] |
The Blue God is the second studio album by British singer-songwriter Martina Topley-Bird, her first in five years. It was released on 12 May 2008,[9] and produced by Danger Mouse.
The track "Carnies" was released as the first single on 3 March 2008[10] and reached No. 20 on the UK Indie Charts.[11] "Poison" was released as the second single[12] and reached No. 9 on the Indie Charts.[11] The album reached number 88 on the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release.[13]
Background
The album had been complete since at least September 2007.[14] Since then, Topley-Bird slowly revealed track titles and posted songs from the album on her official website[15] and her MySpace page.[16]
Singles
The album was preceded by its first single, "Carnies," on 3 March 2008.[17] "Poison," the second single, was released on 5 May 2008. The single's B-side, "Soldier Boy", is a collaboration with Gorillaz & Roots Manuva which interpolates certain elements of the Gorillaz' demo "Snakes & Ladders".[16] The third single from the album, "Baby Blue," was released as a digital download on 7 September 2008.[18][19]
Reception
The album received generally positive critical reception; the BBC said it "warps reflections of Ella Fitzgerald, two-tone ska, dark psychedelia and Pentangle's 'acid folk' into unsettling shapes ... It's an often astonishing album and one which, if Tricky's forthcoming comeback can't match it, may curse him to be known as 'that bloke who used to rap with Martina Topley Bird.'"[20]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Phoenix" | Topley-Bird | 3:48 |
| 2. | "Carnies" | Topley-Bird | 3:09 |
| 3. | "April Grove" | James G. Barbour | 3:32 |
| 4. | "Something to Say" | Topley-Bird | 3:26 |
| 5. | "Baby Blue" | Topley-Bird | 2:27 |
| 6. | "Shangri La" | Topley-Bird | 3:47 |
| 7. | "Snowman" | Topley-Bird | 2:35 |
| 8. | "Da Da Da Da" | Topley-Bird | 2:24 |
| 9. | "Valentine" | Topley-Bird | 3:36 |
| 10. | "Poison" | Topley-Bird | 2:58 |
| 11. | "Razor Tongue" | Topley-Bird | 3:54 |
| 12. | "Yesterday" | Topley-Bird | 3:41 |
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart | 88 |
| French Albums Chart | 149 |
References
- ^ "BBC – Music – Review of Martina Topley-Bird – The Blue God". bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Hot Press review
- ^ Administrator (19 April 2010). "Martina Topley Bird – The Blue God (Independiente)".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Colville, Liz. "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ^ Prefix Magazine review
- ^ "Login". The Times.
- ^ "カラコンは女の子の味方". twistedear.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008.
- ^ "Independiente". independiente.co.uk.
- ^ "Martina Copley-Bird – Carnies". Independiente. 25 February 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ a b "BBC - Radio 1 - Chart - UK Top 30 Indie Singles Chart". Retrieved 14 March 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "NEW SINGLE ANNOUNCEMENT! – Martina Topley Bird". Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
- ^ The Official UK Charts Company : TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART Archived 1 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "martinatopleybird.com". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
- ^ "Martina Topley Bird". Martina Topley Bird. Archived from the original on 12 July 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ a b MySpace.com – Martina Topley-Bird
- ^ "martinatopleybird.com". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
- ^ Martina Topley Bird – Baby Blue Archived 14 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Baby Blue Single OUT NOW!". independiente.co.uk.
- ^ Clarke, Paul (2008). "Martina Topley-Bird The Blue God Review". BBC. Retrieved 20 March 2015.