Eye to the Telescope is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, originally released on 13 December 2004 and re-released 10 January 2005 by Relentless Records. On 19 July 2005, it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize in the United Kingdom. Tunstall promoted the album in the United States and Canada in December 2005. The album was released on 7 February 2006 in the US. A special CD/DVD edition of the album was released in September 2006 in the United States, along with a different cover and a bonus track.
The album was a strong seller worldwide, selling over five million copies internationally, and became the 51st best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the United Kingdom. It spawned five singles – "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", "Other Side of the World", "Suddenly I See", "Under the Weather" and "Another Place to Fall", all of which achieved considerable commercial success in 2005 and 2006.
A 20th Anniversary (Stargazer) Edition was released on 31st October 2025 as a 2LP vinyl edition (on blue and pink vinyl), 2CD edition, 4CD edition and combined vinyl and CD versions. The vinyl and 2CD versions have the original album on one disc and a Stargazer EP plus live tracks recorded at the BBC on the second disc. The Stargazer EP consists of three tracks recorded as part of the original recording sessions, including the title track 'Eye To the Telescope'.
Background
Tunstall came to public prominence following her performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later... with Jools Holland in 2004. Tunstall's parents and friends were not interested in music, and she began writing music and playing guitar at the age of fifteen years old. She performed her first gig at a venue called The Vic in her native St Andrews after learning to play guitar. Her performance was described as being like a "fish in water", credited to her confidence and ability to "hold the court" in the room.
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Reviews for Eye to the Telescope were positive. Mark A. Price of PopMatters gave the album a score of 7 out of 10, noting that it manages to sound "both new and familiar", mixing influences from artists like Melissa Etheridge and Fiona Apple, while adding some originality of her own. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it four stars out of five, calling it "a promising, satisfying debut".
The album has been described as "an iconic and beloved record that defined an era of British music in the 2000s" by Brendon Veevers of Renowned for Sound. Despite this, at the time of its release, the BBC described the album was "extremely frustrating" as a result of songs such as "Under The Weather" and "Through The Dark" having a lack of engagement, however, did claim that there was "promising signs of a new found confidence and willingness to take risks" on the song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree".
Chart performance
The album entered the UK album chart at 73 and quickly dropped out again (it originally entered the lower regions of the Top 200 in its debut week, but these placings are not officially recorded for statistical purposes). It re-entered at 66 a few weeks later, and its rise was both surprising and unique for a new album on the UK charts. It improved every week for four weeks before peaking at number 36, then dropping down as low as 63 again. It then resumed a somewhat meteoric rise, culminating in a peak of number seven before slowly shifting back down. The publicity surrounding Tunstall's Mercury Music Prize nomination sent it back up the charts to an eventual peak of No. 3, after which time it became a Top 20 mainstay for the rest of 2005. It dropped out of the Top 10 in the 61st week, and has dropped continually since, before ending its run at 72 weeks. After a several month absence, the album returned at No. 66 for a 73rd non-consecutive week in August 2006.
The singles from the album became increasingly more successful, with "Other Side of the World" spending almost five months on the chart and "Suddenly I See" remaining in the Top 40 for 10 weeks. The album's next single, "Under the Weather", entered the chart at No. 39, while the fifth and final single, "Another Place to Fall", became Tunstall's first single to miss the Top 40 after more than 1.3 million copies of the album had been sold. In total, Tunstall has spent 133 weeks so far on the British charts.
The album was certified 5× platinum by the Irish album chart selling about 75,000 copies,
Track listing
All tracks produced by Steve Osborne, except for track 1, "Other Side of the World", which is produced by Osborne and Martin Terefe, and track 4, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", which is produced by Andy Green.
Notes
- The original edition of the album, released in December 2004, had a slightly different track order and did not include the studio version of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"; the version of the track recorded on Later... with Jools Holland was included as a "bonus live track".
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
- KT Tunstall – vocals (tracks 1–4, 6, 8–9, 11–12, Lead: 5, 7, 10), guitar (1–11), wurlitzer (1, 10), pianet (3, 7), Shelltone horn (3), piano (2, 5, 8, 12), Doepfer bass (4, 7), chimes (8), additional percussion (4)
- Steve Osborne – shelltone horn (tracks 1–2), bass (2, 5, 11), additional guitar (2, 7, 10–11), percussion (5), moog synthesizer (7), background vocals (7, 10), audio mixing (10)
- Arnulf Lindner – double bass (tracks 1–2), bass guitar (3, 6, 8–9), baritone guitar (6, 9)
- Luke Bullen – drums (tracks 1–3, 5–12), percussion (3–4, 9–10), cajon (5–6, 9–10)
- Martin Terefe – additional keyboards (track 1)
- Ian Burdge – cello (tracks 2, 10)
Charts
Weekly charts
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! Chart (2005–2006)
! Peak<br />position
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!scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"| 41
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! Chart (2005)
! Position
|-
!scope="row"| European Albums (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|33
|-
! scope="row"| Irish Albums (IRMA)
| style="text-align:center;"|14
|-
!scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! Chart (2006)
! Position
|-
!scope="row"| European Albums (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|55
|-
!scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
!scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|34
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!scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|74
|-
!scope="row"| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)
| style="text-align:center;"|12
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! Chart (2007)
! Position
|-
!scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| style="text-align:center;"|149
|-
!scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|137
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
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! Chart (2000–09)
! Position
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
|align="center"|51
|}
All-time charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
! Chart
! Position
|-
! scope="row"| Irish Female Albums (IRMA)
| 34
|}
Certifications
Release history
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Country
!Release date
!Label
!Format
!Catalogue
|-
|rowspan=2|United Kingdom
|
|rowspan=2|Relentless
|CD
|CDREL06
|-
|
|CD + LP
|CDRELX06 + LPREL06
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|rowspan=2|United States
|
|rowspan=2|Virgin
|CD
|507292
|-
|
|CD+DVD
|747292
|}