Love & Money

by Katie Melua

Overview

There's a feeling on Katie Melua's ninth album, 2023's softly rendered Love & Money, that she's happy and wants to mark the occasion. It's a subtle, yet palpable shift from 2020's Album No. 8, a set of artfully diffuse indie pop recorded in the wake of her divorce following a six-year marriage. That album, produced with Leo Abrahams, felt diaristic and experimental, as if the Georgian-born/U.K.-raised Melua was sloughing off the Baroque arrangements of the '60s- and '70s-influenced pop of the first half of her career to find something even more personal. Once again working with Abrahams, Melua has returned with an album that feels lighter and more relaxed than its predecessor, as if she's worked through her transformation and can now take a deep breath and spread her metaphorical creative wings. It's a vibe she conjures on "Quiet Moves," a song that could either be Melua singing about her lover or herself, and the way she's learned to ignore her negative inner voice. She sings, "A voice that tells me I can't dance won't disappear/Seconds are making my heart and my head go baddum baddum baddum/Having you here makes that all go away." Or, perhaps what speaks more importantly to these lyrics is the fact that, while recording the album, she was pregnant with her first child, a life-changing experience that seems to underscore the warm feelings redolent in many of the songs. Melua is clearly enjoying life's simple pleasures here, whether it's spending a sunny day by the river as in "Lie in Heat" or invoking her need for quiet alone time, as in "Those Sweet Days." Similarly, on "First Date" she ruminates on falling in love and possibly meeting someone who will get carried away and "dream of our future days." If Love & Money is the sound of Melua getting carried away, then it seems to suit her just fine. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	03/24/2023
Label:	Bmg
UPC:	4050538863215
Rank:	79013

Tracks

1. Golden Record
2. Quiet Moves
3. 14 Windows
4. Lie in the Heat
5. Darling Star
6. Reefs
7. First Date
8. Pick Me Up
9. Those Sweet Days
10. Love & Money

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Katie Melua   Primary Artist
Chester Kamen   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Jeremy Warmsley   Organ,Piano
Alex Toff   Drums
Martin Slattery   Piano
Philipp Poisel   Featured Artist
Chris Vatalaro   Drums,Percussion
Emma Smith   Violin
Sam Dixon   Bass

Technical Credits

Labi Siffre   Composer
Katie Melua   Composer
Will Taylor   Composer
Leo Abrahams   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Cameron Craig   Engineer
Tim Harries   Composer
Jeremy Warmsley   Composer
Petter Eriksson Stakee   Composer
Luke Potashnick   Composer
Sumit Bothra   Executive Producer
Molly Drake   Composer
Matt Colton   Mastering
Tobias Kuhn   Composer
Philipp Poisel   Composer
Daniel Moyler   Mixing Engineer
Zurab Melua   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Mariam Sitchinava   Photography
Dom Shaw   Assistant
Lizzie Ballantyne   Design