Nostalgia
Studio album by
Annie Lennox
Released30 September 2014 (2014-09-30)
RecordedOctober 2013 – mid-2014
Genre
Length42:31
LabelIsland
Producer
Annie Lennox chronology
A Christmas Cornucopia
(2010) 		Nostalgia
(2014)
Singles from Nostalgia
  1. "I Put a Spell on You"
    Released: 15 September 2014
  2. "Summertime"
    Released: 30 September 2014

Nostalgia is the sixth solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Annie Lennox. It was released on 30 September 2014 by Island Records.[1] It was Lennox's first album in four years, and her third album of covers. The album consists entirely of cover versions, mainly of compositions from the Great American Songbook originally written in the 1930s; two compositions initially date from the 1950s. The material was researched and learned by Lennox as she studied archival footage uploaded to YouTube.[2]

Nostalgia debuted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Lennox's sixth UK top-10 solo album. It has since been certified Gold by the BPI for sales in excess of 100,000 copies in the UK. It debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 32,000 copies, earning Lennox her third top-10 solo album on the chart, as well as her first-ever number-one album on both Billboard's Jazz Albums and Traditional Jazz Albums charts.[3] It had sold 139,000 copies in the United States as of April 2015.[4] Nostalgia peaked inside the top ten in Austria, Canada, Italy and Switzerland. The album was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 57th Grammy Awards.[5]

Background and release

On 15 August 2014, Lennox published a blog post on her official website announcing the upcoming release of Nostalgia. She stated that the album would initially be released on vinyl LP format[1] on 30 September 2014 as a three-week vinyl exclusive.[2] Nostalgia was previewed to a small audience at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles on 12 August 2014.[2]

Promotion

Lennox explained that she did not plan to tour as extensively as she did in support of her album Songs of Mass Destruction (2007). She told Billboard that "at this point in time, less is more for me. I'm more about quality than quantity, and I think this is quite a niche place to be."[2]

The single "I Put a Spell on You" received its first radio play on 15 September 2014 by Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2.[6] Lennox performed the song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015, and coupled with the inclusion of the track as the opening song of the film Fifty Shades of Grey, pushed it into the Billboard Hot 100 at number 97 in February 2015. It also entered the UK Singles Chart at number 63 that same month. Despite a relatively lowly chart peak, in October 2022 the single was certified Silver by the BPI denoting sales/equivalent streams of 200,000 copies in the UK, making it one of Lennox's most popular singles.

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic68/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The Boston GlobePositive[9]
Chicago Tribune[10]
The Guardian[11]
Mojo[12]
New York Daily News[13]
PopMatters7/10[14]
Rolling Stone[15]

Nostalgia received generally favourable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, the album has a score of 68 out of 100 based on eight reviews.

Mojo gave the album a positive review, stating it was "Straight and true, without a trace of rear-view-mirror sentimentality." Mike Wass of Idolator wrote that Lennox "breathes new life into the much-covered gems with perhaps the best vocal performance of her long and varied career", noting the assistance given by the "haunting arrangements". He stated that it would be an understatement to call the album "a departure from Annie's usual oeuvre," and that Lennox "puts her own inimitable spin" on the tracks.[16] In a mixed review, The Guardian stated "Lennox can't hope to approach the anguish or disgust of Billie Holiday's original 'Strange Fruit', so why even try, unless you're going to totally reinvent the song like the Cocteau Twins did? Lennox is at her best when she sounds most involved, and her beautiful takes on 'Georgia on My Mind', 'God Bless the Child' and 'You Belong to Me' are full of poignancy and yearning."[11]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Memphis in June"
2:47
2."Georgia on My Mind"
3:55
3."I Put a Spell on You"Screamin' Jay Hawkins3:32
4."Summertime"
5:12
5."I Cover the Waterfront"
2:59
6."Strange Fruit"Abel Meeropol3:46
7."God Bless the Child"
3:03
8."You Belong to Me"
3:22
9."September in the Rain"
2:53
10."I Can Dream, Can't I?"
2:56
11."The Nearness of You"
2:32
12."Mood Indigo"
5:34
Deluxe edition bonus DVD
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Annie Lennox Discusses Nostalgia"  
2."I Put a Spell on You" (live)Screamin' Jay Hawkins 

Personnel

Credits for Nostalgia adapted from Tidal.[17]

Musicians

Technical

Artwork

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Gold 100,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Edition Label Ref.
United States 30 September 2014 LP Standard Blue Note [50]
21 October 2014 CD + DVD Limited (Amazon exclusive) [51]
Digital download Standard [52]
Germany 24 October 2014
  • CD
  • LP
  • digital download
 Universal [53][54][55]
CD + DVD Deluxe [56]
France 27 October 2014
  • CD
  • digital download
 Standard [57][58]
Digital download Deluxe [59]
United Kingdom
  • CD
  • LP
  • digital download
 Standard Island [60][61][62]
  • CD + DVD
  • digital download
 Deluxe [63][64]
Australia 31 October 2014
  • CD
  • digital download
 Standard Universal [65][66]
Digital download Deluxe [67]

References

  1. ^ a b Lennox, Annie (15 August 2014). "New Album – Nostalgia – Coming Soon". AnnieLennox.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d Hampp, Andrew (14 August 2014). "Exclusive: Annie Lennox Talks Return to Music With 'Nostalgia' Album, Reveals Cover, Track List & More". Billboard. Archived from the original on 16 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  3. ^ Caulfield, Keith (30 October 2014). "Annie Lennox 'Thrilled and Delighted' to Have No. 1 Jazz Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Grammys 2015: Complete list of nominees". Los Angeles Times. 5 December 2014. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Tony Blackburn picks the Tracks of My Years". BBC Radio 2. 15 September 2014. Archived from the original on 16 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Nostalgia Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". metacritic.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  8. ^ Nostalgia at AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  9. ^ Reed, James (28 October 2014). "Music Review: Annie Lennox Nostalgia". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  10. ^ ""Annie Lennox turns nostalgia trip into a dull ride" (Chicago Tribune)". Chicago Tribune. 17 October 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  11. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (23 October 2014). "The Guardian (Annie Lennox: Nostalgia review – poignant renditions of pre-rock standards)". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  12. ^ [Mojo Magazine (Nov 2014, p.92)
  13. ^ Farber, Jim (21 October 2014). "CD reviews". NY Daily News. New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 22 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Popmatters". Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  15. ^ Hermes, Will (21 October 2014). ""Sweet Dreams" diva digs into standards, shows off that voice (Nostalgia review)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
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  51. ^ "Nostalgia (Ltd. Ed CD/DVD Deluxe Amazon Exclusive)". Amazon. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
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  55. ^ "Nostalgia: Annie Lennox: MP3-Downloads" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  56. ^ "Nostalgia (Deluxe Edition)" (in German). Amazon.de. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
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