Version of Me

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Version of Me
Studio album by
Melanie C
Released21 October 2016 (2016-10-21)
Recorded2014–2016
Studio
GenrePop[1][2]
Length42:21
Label
Producer
  • Paul Boddy
  • Dele Ladimeji
  • SOS Music
  • Tom Wilding
Melanie C chronology
Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire
(2013) 		Version of Me
(2016) 		Melanie C
(2020)
Singles from Version of Me
  1. "Anymore"
    Released: 6 September 2016
  2. "Dear Life"
    Released: 16 December 2016
  3. "Hold On"
    Released: 17 March 2017
  4. "Room for Love"
    Released: 20 October 2017[3]

Version of Me is the seventh studio album by English singer Melanie C. It was released on 21 October 2016 by Red Girl Records to highly positive reviews.[4][5] It became her highest-charting album since 2005's Beautiful Intentions, debuting at number 25 on the UK Albums Chart. It was released in Germany at a later date in 2017 becoming her first album to chart outside of the top 20.

Background and composition[edit]

Melanie C started recording the album in 2014, and it was not her only focus at the time. She elaborated,

"Because in the past, I've gone "Right. It's album time" with back-to-back writing sessions. But, with this record, I had other stuff going on. And actually, I think it's really benefited the record because I never got stale, you know? It just felt like life kept on happening and all of these scenarios kept coming up, and it was really inspiring. I didn't feel like I was repeating myself because I was just taking my time, so that was really cool. One of the songs on the album, as you know, is "Version of Me," and I thought this is a really good album title. Each record has been me at that moment in time, and this is really an expression of what's going on in my life in the last five years. So, that felt really good. I also like the thought that we all do this, we all have versions of ourselves. We're very different speaking to our friends than to our boss, or when we're in school with a teacher. We are this person, but there's so many versions of us".[6]

Musically, Version of Me is a pop album with elements of R&B and electronica.[1][2]

Promotion[edit]

During two An Intimate Evening with Melanie C special events at Under the Bridge in London, Melanie C performed some songs from Version of Me as well as her old hits. She also performed a set of songs acoustically at her show at G-A-Y on 2 October 2016. On 10 November 2016, Melanie appeared on Celebrity Juice, on what was the last episode of the sixteenth series. On 12 November 2016, Dear Life was played for the first time as a single on Graham Norton's BBC Radio 2 show.

In support of the album, several singles were released. On 29 July 2016, Melanie released "Numb" as the first promotional single for the album. "Anymore" was released as the album's lead single on 6 September 2016.[5] It reached number one on the UK physical chart.[5] "Dear Life" was released as the second single on 16 December.[7] On 17 March 2017, "Hold On" featuring Alex Francis was released as the third single.[8] It was not included on the original version of the album, but featured on the deluxe release.

Melanie announced "Room for Love" as the fourth single on 13 October 2017, with its release scheduled for 20 October.[3]

Tour[edit]

Melanie embarked on the Version of Me Tour in April 2017. She visited fourteen cities, starting in Glasgow on 4 April and finishing in Stuttgart on 9 May. She also visited Mexico City for the first time in her solo career.[9] [10]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Auspop[11]
Daily Express[2]
The Independent[12]
Music News[13]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic found that the songs on the album "have strong contours: not necessarily hookier melodies, but arrangements that emphasize movement instead of shimmer. Version of Me still tends to collapse into style, grooving on feel instead of song, but Melanie C actually winds up giving the album a bit of a kick. No matter how anodyne and elegant her electronic surrounds are, she punctures their sheen with her earthiness, and that gives Version of Me an unexpectedly nervy heart."[1] Martin Townsend from The Daily Express called the album "a very deliberate exercise in modern RR&B flavoured pop. This feels, at times, like a mistake: "Numb," in particular, is laden with so much sonic trickery it sounds like builders are working in the studio [but] when the producers calm down and her huskily powerful but always slightly vulnerable voice is allowed to soar, as on the closing quartet of tracks, the results are superb."[2]

Music News's Jeremy Williams-Chalmers called the album "a must-listen" and wrote: "Version of Me is aptly titled. It is definitively Melanie C, but as ever a Melanie C that has not been explored on record previously [...] Teaming up with Sons of Sonix gives Melanie C a sound that is current and straddles a perfect balance between winning over new, younger fans and pleasing the wants of her fans of old [...] As a result the album is more R'n'B anthem heavy than any of Melanie's earlier work, but this is no bad thing."[13] Michael Smith from Renowned for Sound described the album as "an on-trend collection of songs; one that shows her potential place with electronic music in the future, despite still leaning very close to the pop spectrum, and cements her potential versatility simultaneously. Rather than allowing her career to grow stale after seventeen years as a solo artist, Melanie C takes a stab at something a little different with Version of Me and easily pulls it off."[14]

Chart performance[edit]

Version of Me debuted and peaked at number 25 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Melanie C's highest-charting album since Beautiful Intentions (2005).[15]

Track listing[edit]

Version of Me track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Dear Life"
SOS Music3:27
2."Escalator"
  • Chisholm
  • Richard Judge
  • Tom Wilding
Wilding3:22
3."Anymore"
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
SOS Music3:03
4."Something for the Fire"
  • Chisholm
  • Olly Knights
  • Gale Paridjanian
Wilding3:48
5."Version of Me"
  • Nicholas Atkinson
  • Chisholm
  • Wilding
Wilding4:00
6."Numb"
  • Olaniyi Michael Akinkunmi
  • Chisholm
  • Moses Ayo Samuels
  • Varren Wade
SOS Music3:30
7."Room for Love"
  • Akinkunmi
  • Chisholm
  • Samuels
  • Wade
SOS Music3:20
8."Unravelling"
Wilding4:41
9."Loving You Better"
  • Akinkunmi
  • Chisholm
  • Samuels
  • Wade
SOS Music4:44
10."Our History"
  • Paul Boddy
  • Chisholm
  • Dele Ladimeji
  • Boddy
  • Ladimeji
3:51
11."Blame"
  • Jonas Westling
  • Wilding
4:35
Total length:42:21
German deluxe edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."Hold On" (featuring Alex Francis)
  • Chisholm
  • Greg Hatwell
  • Westling
Westling3:22
Total length:45:43
Brazilian edition bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."One Minute"
  • Chisholm
  • Judge
  • Wilding
  • Wilding
  • Hatwell
3:14
Total length:45:35
Deluxe edition bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Dear Life" (Live from Ronnie Scott's)
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
 3:31
2."Version of Me" (Live from Ronnie Scott's)
  • Atkinson
  • Chisholm
  • Wilding
 4:03
3."Something for the Fire" (Live from Ronnie Scott's)
  • Chisholm
  • Knights
  • Paridjanian
 3:56
4."Never Be the Same Again" (Live from Ronnie Scott's)
 3:32
5."Anymore" (At Night HiFi remix)
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
  • SOS Music
  • At Night HiFi[a]
5:38
6."Anymore" (Full Intention dub mix)
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
5:44
7."Anymore" (Seamus Haji remix)
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
6:00
8."Dear Life" (Grant Nelson radio edit)
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
3:24
9."Dear Life" (Grant Nelson dub)
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
  • SOS Music
  • Nelson[a]
6:14
10."Dear Life" (Reuben Keeney extended mix)
  • Argyle
  • Chisholm
  • SOS Music
  • Reuben Keeney[a]
4:58
11."One Minute"
  • Chisholm
  • Judge
  • Wilding
  • Wilding
  • Hatwell
3:14
Total length:50:19

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Version of Me
Chart (2016–2017) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 34
Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 94
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 28
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[19] 83
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 25
UK Indie Albums (OCC)[21] 2

Release history[edit]

Release history for Version of Me
Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Various 21 October 2016
Red Girl [22]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Version of Me at AllMusic. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Townsend, Martin (16 October 2016). "The Lemon Twigs Kings Of Leon and Melanie C: Album Reviews". Daily Express. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b Melanie C (13 October 2017). "Let's #MakeRoomForLove ❤ Melanie C's new single "Room For Love" is now available for Pre-Save and Pre-Order on Spotify, iTunes and other digital outlets! Pre-Save and Pre-Order today and listen to the song on October 20th! And... don't forget to check out the video ;)". Retrieved 13 October 2017 – via Facebook.
  4. ^ "Melanie C: Version of Me". iTunes. Apple (US). Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b c White, Jack (6 September 2016). "Melanie C goes electronic on new single Anymore, announces seventh album Version Of Me". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. ^ papermagazine (11 October 2016). "Talking Girl Power, Social Media Fame, and Growing Up with Mel C., the Artist Formerly Known as Sporty Spice".
  7. ^ "Dear Life (CD Single) - Signed & Unsigned available". Melanie C Official Store. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  8. ^ https://www.facebook.com/MelanieCmusic/posts/10155185038467710 [user-generated source]
  9. ^ "Melanie C announces headline 2017 UK tour - Entertainment Focus". 17 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Melanie C Germany Tour".
  11. ^ "Melanie C 'Version Of Me' Album Review". 26 October 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  12. ^ Gill, Andy (19 October 2016). "Album reviews: Lady Gaga - Joanne, Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker, Pretenders - Alone, and more". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  13. ^ a b Williams-Chalmers, Jeremy. "Melanie C Version Of Me". music-news.com. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  14. ^ Smith, Michael. "Album Review: Melanie C – Version Of Me". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Melanie C – Version of Me" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  17. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 43, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  19. ^ "TOP 100 ALBUMES — SEMANA 43: del 21.10.2016 al 27.10.2016" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Melanie C – Version of Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Archive Chart". UK Indie Albums Chart. 28 October 2016.
  22. ^ "Version of Me by Melanie C". Apple Music. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
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