Life in Mono is the third studio album by English pop singer Emma Bunton. The album was originally set for a November 2006 release in the UK, however it was later pushed back to 4 December 2006. Much like her previous album, Free Me, the album experiments with elements of 1960s pop music. For this particular album the musical arrangement was more directed towards 1960s French pop music, with some elements of British 1960s pop and Motown.
The album was inspired by 1960s sounds, like motown, bossa nova and pop.[1][2][9][10] Bunton had been working on her third release since winter 2004. The album's title track is a cover version of the hit "Life in Mono" by 1990s trip hop band Mono, best known through its usage in the 1998 film Great Expectations. The track "Take Me to Another Town" contains a sample from Herb Alpert's 1965 "Green Peppers". Songs recorded during this period that did not appear on the final album include "Crazy", "Rhapsody", and "Secrets".
Due to Bunton's pregnancy all forms of promotion were cancelled after a few months. Rumors of a third single surfaced through websites[citation needed] after Bunton stated she was thinking of releasing a third single, however this never came. The album tracks "I Wasn't Looking (When I Found Love)", "Perfect Strangers" and "Take Me to Another Town" were rumoured as choices for the third single.
Singles[]
The first single taken from the album was a cover of Petula Clark's 1964 hit single "Downtown". It was released on 13 November 2006. It was the 2006 BBCChildren in Need official charity single and reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
The second single, "All I Need to Know" was released on 12 February 2007. It charted at No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart.
Chart performance[]
Although it sold almost 13,000 copies in its first week,[citation needed] the album was Bunton's first not to reach the UK top 10. It debuted on the UK Albums Chart at No. 65 on 10 December 2006 and fell to No. 75 in its second week before dropping out of the chart the following week.
Track listing[]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Life in Mono.
