Life in a Beautiful Light, the third studio outing from Amy Macdonald, finds the Scottish singer/songwriter applying her refreshingly unhindered brogue to a heartfelt, 12-song set that blends the stadium-baiting wail of fellow countrymen Broken Records and Frightened Rabbit with the safe, middle of the road, adult alternative pop of James Blunt and Brandi Carlile.
Things get off to a grand start with the spirited "4th of July," an open-road-ready, horn-laden, four-chord love letter to a weekend fling that's equal parts Springsteen and Tunstall, with a little bit of the Proclaimers tossed in for good measure.
Elsewhere, "Slow It Down," Life in a Beautiful Light's first tick in the vocal affectation department, and the U2-cribbed "Across the Nile," a political war cry concerning the Arab Spring uprising, are certainly rousing, but feel a bit calculated.
In fact, outside of the aforementioned opener and the lush, string-heavy title cut, it all feels a little bit calculated.
Macdonald is so beholden to lyrical and melodic clichés, that it can sometimes feel like she's using a template.
She's got talent to spare, but Life in a Beautiful Light, at its essence, is the sound of an artist looking for her own voice amidst the deafening roar of her influences.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4th of JulyAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 2 | PrideAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | Slow It DownAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | The Furthest StarAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 03:29 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | The GameAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 04:24 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 6 | Across the NileAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 7 | The Days of Being Young and FreeAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 28 MB |
| 8 | Left That Body Long AgoAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 9 | Life In a Beautiful LightAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 10 | Human SpiritAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 02:07 | 4 MB | 14 MB |
| 11 | The Green and the BlueAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 12 | In the EndAmy Macdonald | Amy Macdonald | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 45 mins | 104 MB | |||||
| 45 mins | 312 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Adam | Executive Producer |
| 2 | Pulad Ama | Advisor |
| 3 | Ann Lines | Cello |
| 4 | Natalie Arnett | Photography |
| 5 | Tom Bird | Creative Director |
| 6 | Dan Britten | Handclapping |
| 7 | Phillip Conway Brown | Vocals |
| 8 | Bob Clearmountain | Mixing |
| 9 | Steve Cracknall | Trumpet |
| 10 | Steve Cradock | Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) |
| 11 | Seton Daunt | Guitar (Electric) |
| 12 | Susan Dench | Viola |
| 13 | Sam Embery | Drums |
| 14 | Joe Fields | Engineer, Guitar (Electric) |
| 15 | Manon Grandjean | Assistant Engineer, Handclapping |
| 16 | Shannon Harris | Handclapping, Harmonium, Percussion, Piano |
| 17 | Micaela Haslam | Vocals |
| 18 | Simon Hayes | Handclapping, Pro-Tools |
| 19 | Tim Hutton | Trumpet |
| 20 | Mark Kulke | Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) |
| 21 | Peter Lale | Viola |
| 22 | Ben Lyonsmyth | Bass, Guitar (Bass), Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Amy Macdonald | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Primary Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Laura Melhuish | Violin |
| 25 | Amanda Morrison | Vocals |
| 26 | Gerard O'Beirne | Vocals |
| 27 | Leo Payne | Violin |
| 28 | Geoff Pesche | Mastering |
| 29 | Audrey Riley | Cello, Conductor, String Score, Vocal Conductor |
| 30 | Stuart Ross | Bass, Drums |
| 31 | Christopher Tombling | Violin |
| 32 | Claire Underwood | Vocals |
| 33 | Pete Wilkinson | Arranger, Engineer, Mixing, Piano, Producer, String Arrangements |
| 34 | Greg Warren Wilson | Violin |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |