The Cappuccino Songs

Background

In 1996, Tikaram terminated her contract with WEA, her label for eight years. She quickly signed with Mother Records to release her next album.

For this album, Tikaram chose to work with Italian musician Marco Sabiu to produce the record. The two had met when he and his producing partner Charlie Mallozzi (known collectively as The Rapino Brothers) produced Tikaram's only new song for her 1996 The Best of Tanita Tikaram compilation, "And I Think of You - E penso a te". The album features a distinctively poppier, more electronic sound than her earlier releases, which were more folk-rock albums.

Like in her previous album, Tikaram collaborated with the London Session Orchestra for the string sections of her songs. Tikaram recorded a dark electronic cover of ABBA's little-known minor hit "The Day Before You Came", one of the few times she has covered another artist's songs.

Release and reception

The album received mixed reviews on release, and was not a big seller, charting at #69 in the UK. The album was released in continental Europe and Japan, but it was not a big seller. Unlike her previous records, this album was never released in the USA. After promotion of this album ended, Tikaram was let go of Mother records and retired from the music scene for several years.

Three singles were released from the album: "Stop Listening", "I Don't Wanna Lose at Love" and "If I Ever". The Italian and Japanese pressings of the album featured "And I Think of You - E penso a te" as a bonus track, and it was released as a promotional single in Italy in late 1998.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Tanita Tikaram and Marco Sabiu, except where indicated.

Track listing

Written-By – Benny Andersson (tracks: 7), Björn Ulvaeus (tracks: 7), Marco Sabiu (tracks: 1, 3 to 6, 8, 9, 11), Tanita Tikaram (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 11), Varttina (tracks: 6, 11)

Personnel