Posts tagged album

Right, so here’s the deal: I’m going to list 7 of my favourite chillout albums but I want you to know that this isn’t an arbitrary number plucked out of nowhere. It’s like all those fashion magazines with “109 tips to a sexier, healthier you” – why not 108 or 110? No, the number of albums listed here are all the albums I listen to first thing in the morning or last thing at night – especially if the day’s been a flat out disaster.

1) Rise – Samantha James

This album is first for a reason: it is the best of the lot. Light, dance-pop music that washes over you and takes all of your troubles away like a cool breeze on a blue sky day. Samantha James doesn’t wail or demand you take notice of her vowel prowess; she tells you to keep on truckin’ and lightens the load.

Standouts: Rise, Enchanted Life, Rain, Come Through, Deep Sunrise

2) Come Away With Me – Norah Jones

I have literally done more work to this album than any other music in my life. The melodies are mellow; the voice warm with an underlining gravel tone. If you want some company whilst you work, Norah is good company to keep. The jazz and acoustic feel never hurt either.

Standouts: Don’t Know Why, Shoot the Moon, The Long Day Is Over, Come Away With Me, Nightingale, Feelin’ The Same Way

3) Soldier of Love – Sade

Not typical chillout music on this one but soulful, R ‘n’ B fare. Half of the album channels a melancholy sound; the other half features a playful and content side of Sade, happy to sit back and groove a little. This mix of material enables a cathartic process to take place inside of you and returns your balance after a long day of hassles and stress.

Standouts: The Moon And The Sky, Morning Bird, Skin, The Safest Place

4) Songs of Sanctuary – Adiemus

A rainbow-coloured African elephant, charging forth alongside an army of giraffes, lions and gazelles, rides through the Serengeti toward the bluest oasis you’ll ever see.

Weird, I know, but that’s what the eponymous first track, Adiemus, conjures up in my mind. Gospel hymns aside, this album will not be background music for a day’s activities. The orchestral crescendos and African, gospel harmonies on Songs of Sanctuary will excite your creative neurons and send a buzz around your skull ‘til you have a few fresh ideas.

Standouts: Adiemus, In Caelum Fero, Kayama, Tintinnabulum

5) Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel – Mariah Carey

I can hear the ‘X’ at the top of this window being clicked already. Please, hear me out. This album was a pretty major commercial disaster. Critics aren’t exactly calling it a masterpiece either. To top it off, it’s had more singles than a speed dating event on Valentine’s Day.

However, Memoirs is Mariah’s least earpiercing album since Billboard starting tracking whale sounds. Whether it’s the ever-flowing champagne or the new husband, Mariah has produced a chilled-out, relaxing album worthy of bedtime listening (I would skip Ribbon, Obsessed and Up Out My Face if you’re listening to it for that purpose, though).

The theme is fixated around past lovers and relationships – good or bad – from a bygone era of life. Give this album a spin once in a while if you want to reminisce.

Standouts: Betcha Gon Know, H.A.T.E.U., Candy Bling, The Impossible, Languishing

6) Moon Safari – Air

Of all the 7 albums listed, this one is likely to have slipped in and out of your consciousness the most. You will probably know Sexy Boy but the funny thing is that this song is not indicative of the rest of the album, which is akin to easy-listening lounge music with fewer vocals. Moon Safari gets you in a chilled mood without you ever knowing.

Standouts: Sexy Boy, All I Need, Ce Matin La, Remember

7) The Very Best Of Enya – Enya

(This features the majority of her best work, hence why I am listing it over a specific album.)

Research needs to be conducted on Enya’s music. I think she’s found the secret to send people to sleep, buried deep in the bowels of her Irish castle. If you can’t get any shut-eye because of thoughts swirling round your head or loud, drunken neighbours are keeping you awake at night – often my main problem – then do as I do and put on Enya. I guarantee you those eyelids will be drooping before you can say, ‘Sail Away’.

Standouts: Orinoco Flow, Only Time, May It Be, Caribbean Blue