Don't Look Back (Celeste Buckingham album)

Don't Look Back is the debut album by Slovak-based recording artist Celeste Buckingham, released on April 3, 2012 through a distribution by EMI Records.

Critical response
Don't Look Back received very favorable reviews from music critics. The REPORT magazine praised the album as "one of the best debut records that has ever been released by the finalists of any local talent contest". Complimenting young artist for "having surpassed all fellow singers of her own", Daniel Maršalík attributed much of "Buckingham's allure" to her ability to see beyond the horizons of her homebase in the first place. Beside the album's anthem "Run Run Run and its titular ballad, he would find the most aspiring up-tempo tracks, namely "Hello Stranger", "Bleeding" and "Blue Guitar". Giving the set six (out of seven) points, he only reproached the Slovak cut "Mám ťa málo", respectively the spoken intro of "Stupid Love Games", both of which he saw "disturbing to no purpose".

In a review published in the online newspaper MusicServer.cz, Honza Balušek introduced the product as "a fresh and brilliant record", continuing further: "However unbelievable, (at the time of recording) sixteen-year-old Celeste Buckingham is on the absolute top of the best SuperStar's finalists... Wow!" Despite noting the broad genre influences, such as e.g. Adele, Dido, Rihanna and Katy Perry, the columnist stressed Buckingham's skills as a sovereign composer. Except for the opening tune "Nobody Knows", reportedly disliked due to "[its] wrecked rhythm", he felt all of the album's tracks as "radio-friendly hits." Among other, he lauded "Run Run Run" as his favorite and, especially, the singer's duet "Heart" featuring Noah Ellenwood. Unlike Maršalík of the REPORT, he saw also a potential in her collaboration with Martin Harich, describing their result ("Mám ťa málo") to sound "like the best in the Slovak classic pop" music. Eventually, he graded the album with eight points (out of ten in total).

Chart performance
On July 26, 2012, the album entered the Top 50 Prodejní, a chart effective for both countries Czech Republic and Slovakia, debuting at number forty. The following week, on August 3, 2012, the set topped its chart run at number thirty-seven. In total, the record would spend four weeks on the list.

Credits and personnel

 * Celeste Buckingham - lead vocalist, writer, lyrics, producer
 * Andrej Hruška - writer, producer, guitar
 * Martin Šrámek - writer, producer, keyboard
 * Marián Slávka - drums
 * Maťo Ivan - bass guitar


 * Carmel Buckingham - writer
 * Martin Harich - backing vocalist, writer
 * Noah Scott Ellenwood - backing vocalist
 * LittleBeat - recording studio
 * EMI Czech Republic - distributor