Smile... It Confuses People

Smile... It Confuses People
Studio album by Sandi Thom
Released 5 June 2006
Genre Pop, folk
Length 32:05
Label RCAMG
Producer Jake Field, Rick Parkhouse, Duncan Thompson
Sandi Thom chronology

Smile... It Confuses People
(2006)
The Pink & The Lily
(2008)
Singles from Smile... It Confuses People
  1. "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)"
    Released: 3 October 2005
  2. "What If I'm Right"
    Released: 28 August 2006
  3. "Lonely Girl"
    Released: 4 December 2006

Smile... It Confuses People is the debut studio album by Scottish singer Sandi Thom. It was released in both Ireland and the United Kingdom on 5 June 2005 by RCA Records (although the back of the album bears the RCA Music Group logo instead). The album is a mix of pop and folk, predominantly written by Thom herself alongside Tom Gilbert.

The album produced Thom's first number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, Ireland Singles Chart and in Australia, giving her song the record of longest period at number-one in Australia for 2006 and becoming the highest selling single for 2006. The album also generated another two singles but failed to chart successfully. Smile... It Confuses People was certified platinum by BPI selling three hundred thousand copies around the UK.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
"Contactmusic" [3]
"Metro" [4]
RTÉ [5]
The Guardian [6]
'The Independent [7]
'The Scotsman [8]
Virgin Media [9]
Yahoo! Music [10]

The album went straight to number one in its week of release in the UK. It spent a total of eighteen weeks in the UK top forty. It has since gone platinum in the UK and has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

In Australia the album reached its peak at #11. On its ninth week in the chart at number fifteen the album was certified gold by ARIA selling thirty-five thousand copies around Australia.[11] It was the seventy-eighth highest selling album for 2006.[12]

I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair) was the first song released from the album and topped the UK, Ireland Singles Chart for two weeks the Australian ARIA Singles Chart for ten weeks making it the highest selling single for 2006. It was accredited Double Platinum (140,000 units) by ARIA. "What If I'm Right" was the second song released from the album and reached 22 in the UK and 30 in the Irish chart and top forty in Australia and New Zealand. "Lonely Girl" was the third song released from the album available for digital download only released in the UK on 4 December 2006 and did not chart.

Track listing

Standard Edition
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "When Horsepower Meant What It Said"  Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert 3:05
2. "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)"  Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert 2:31
3. "Lonely Girl"  Sandi Thom 3:10
4. "Sunset Borderline"  Duncan Thompson; Jake Field; Sandi Thom 3:36
5. "Little Remedy"  Duncan Thompson; Jake Field; Sandi Thom 2:53
6. "Castles"  Jake Field; Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert 4:25
7. "What If I'm Right"  Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert 2:58
8. "Superman"  Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert 2:43
9. "Human Jukebox"  Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert 3:19
10. "Time"  Simon Perry; Sandi Thom 3:20
First Pressing
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
11. "Under the Sun"  John McLaughlin; Nick Cook; Sandi Thom 3:22
Japan Edition
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
11. "May You Never"  John Martyn 3:43
12. "Don't Think Twice"  Bob Dylan; Hugues Aufray 2:24
Sandithom.com Bonus Track
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Soul Mining"  Sandi Thom 3:25

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[13] 11
New Zealand Albums Chart[14] 5
Ireland Albums Chart 1
UK Albums Chart 1

Certifications

Chart Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA) Gold[11] 35,000
France (SNEP) Silver[15] 50,000
New Zealand (RIANZ) Gold 7,500
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum[1] 313,200

Release details

Country Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom 2006-06-05 RCA Records CD 82876843432
Australia 2006-07-29 Sony BMG CD 82876843432

References

Preceded by
Bright Idea by Orson
UK number one album
11 June 2006 – 17 June 2006
Succeeded by
Under the Iron Sea by Keane