Contact (Noisettes album)

Background

On 28 June 2012, the band announced that Contact was the name of their third album. Discussing the album, Shingai Shoniwa said: "Contact for us, is like a film from beginning to end, musically, lyrically, emotionally. The album starts with a big 30-piece orchestra and ends with just Dan and I singing and just the cackling of the wood and the flames of the fire for accompaniment." Dan Smith said: "Me and Shingai are a great double act in the studio whether we are writing on our own or with other people. The trousers (metaphorically of course) are on a rota. Sometimes I wear them and sometimes she does and occasionally we get a leg each but mostly each of us knows when we are supposed to lead or follow and it could be at any time that we need to switch roles."

Critical reception

The album has so far been well received by critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally favourable reviews". Ally Carnwath of The Observer gave the album a positive review stating, "Noisettes' last album, 2009's Wild Young Hearts, marked a sudden shift from the scrappy indie of their debut to a polished pop sound and yielded No 2 hit Don't Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go). Unsurprisingly, there's no volte-face here; chart-friendly electropop and retro soul predominate, and though there's variety in the mandolin strum of Rag Top Car and the title track's orchestral balladry, these are smooth gear changes rather than detours. Still, Shingai Shoniwa's vocals supply enough personality to elevate them above standard winebar fare, and the perky doo-wop of That Girl, in particular, is impossible to dislodge." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave the album a positive review stating, "Noisettes are anathema to those who feel indie-ish pop should have a deeper purpose – their third album is a frothfest of colour and light, with a joyous disregard for genre boundaries, but almost zilch in the way of introspection. Its "redeeming" quality, if one were needed, is that it's been made by a band with an almost nerdy love of music and its power to lift the spirit. Indeed, Shingai Shoniwa, whose springy vocals are the keystone of the duo's sound, credits Contact's optimism with helping her mother battle cancer. The eclecticism of a record that flits from trad country (Ragtop Car) to bossa nova (Star) and indie-disco that strives for the giddiness of their 2009 hit Don't Upset the Rhythm (I Want You Back) would feel a bit scattergun if Shoniwa and guitarist Dan Smith weren't so obviously fans of each style they tackle. This isn't one of those albums that diddles around with multiple genres solely in the hope of expanding a band's fanbase. And it's rather fabulous that Final Call features the absurdly posh Deborah Evans-Strickland of 1970s one-hit wonders the Flying Lizards."

Singles

Chart performance

On 2 September 2012, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 30. The album dropped to number 84 in its second week. The album also peaked to number 35 on the Scottish Albums Chart.