Read My Lips is the debut studio album by the English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, released on 3 September 2001 by Polydor Records. After the disbandment of the Britpop group Theaudience, for which Ellis-Bextor served as lead vocalist, she was signed to Polydor. Prior to the LP's completion, the singer collaborated with several musicians, including band Blur's bassist Alex James, Moby and New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander. The record was described as a collection of 1980s electronica and 1970s disco music.

Critical response to Read My Lips was polarised, with music critics denouncing its content that was, according to one magazine, Q, of lesser quality than "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)"—the singer's collaboration with Italian DJ Spiller. The album reached number two on the UK Albums Chart, and has since been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It spawned four singles: "Take Me Home", "Murder on the Dancefloor", double A-side single "Get Over You"/"Move This Mountain" and "Music Gets the Best of Me".

Background

left|thumb|150px|American musician [[Moby (pictured) sought Ellis-Bextor, so they could work together, due to her "amazing" voice The song was a commercial success, and Ellis-Bextor signed to Polydor. She was contacted by director Baz Luhrmann, who offered her a role in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, but the singer refused in order to focus on her career as a recording artist. The success of "Groovejet" also prompted American musician Moby to notice Ellis-Bextor, and revealed interest in working with her due to her "amazing" voice, as he described it. He instructed his record company to "track" Ellis-Bextor "down" so they could start working as soon as Moby finished his tour. Furthermore, she also recorded with Blur bassist Alex James, as well as former frontman of the New Radicals, Gregg Alexander, while Damian LeGassick was recruited for his programming and keyboard work. The album photography was shot by Mert Alaş and Marcus Piggot.

Composition

An "eclectic" album, Read My Lips, is a collection of 1980s electronica and 1970s disco. "Sparkle" has "speeding beats and equally speeding keyboards",

Singles and promotion

Promotion for Read My Lips launched with the release of "Take Me Home", a cover of the song by singer Cher, which was released on 13 August 2001. Although its production and Ellis-Bextor's vocal performance in the song were heavily criticised, the single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. After the release of the album, "Murder on the Dancefloor" was serviced as its second single on 3 December 2001. It peaked in the top 10 of the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. A double A-side single including new re-release song "Get Over You" and original album track "Move This Mountain" was released on 10 June 2002, in a set of two CD singles.

Ellis-Bextor, who had previously felt uncomfortable with the idea of touring, confirmed a UK-only tour in January 2002, which took place from April to May. Later, in July 2002, other dates of the tour were revealed for 2003.

Critical reception

Toby Manning from Q cited "Take Me Home" and "Move This Mountain" as the album's highlights, but, overall, he thought that the record failed to live up to the standard set by the previous collaboration with Spiller. Kelvin Hayes from AllMusic dubbed it "a disappointing debut from Ellis-Bextor, fusing Human League synth with beats and cinematic strings", but described "Murder on the Dancefloor" as the "shimmering highlight" from the album. A critic from entertainment.ie said "the material on her debut solo album only rarely does justice to her distinctive upper-crust voice", and said that "most of the songs sound laboured and plod where they should swing".

In contrast to the previous reviews, Andrew Arora from Blue Coupe had a more positive response to the record. Arora said "it lands somewhere between Pet Shop Boys' synth-pop faculty and Blondie's Parallel Lines album", although he claimed that fans of "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" "should not expect much from this album, but it does deliver a dynamic electro disco sound that is sometimes analogous to her breakthrough-hit single".

Commercial performance

Read My Lips debuted at number four on the UK Albums Chart, selling 23,023 copies in its first week. Although the original ten-track edition dropped down and out of the charts over the next few weeks, a twelve-track UK edition, released in December 2001, peaked at number three in January 2002 following the chart success of "Murder on the Dancefloor". Finally, a fifteen-track edition with a considerably revised running order was released in summer 2002 and peaked at number two—41 weeks after the original edition first charted. The album was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 21 June 2002.

Track listing

Notes

  • signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2002 UK reissue of Read My Lips.

Musicians

  • Sophie Ellis-Bextor – vocals
  • Yoad Nevo – programming, percussion ; guitars ; keyboards, drum programming
  • Guy Pratt – bass guitar
  • John Themis – guitars
  • Nick Franglen – programming
  • Wired Strings – strings
  • Rosie Wetters – string leader
  • Damian LeGassick – programming, keyboards, guitar
  • Jake Davies – additional programming
  • Marco Rakascan – programming ; guitars
  • Ross Newell – lead guitar ; guitars ; keyboards ; bass
  • Juliet Roberts – backing vocals
  • Sylvia Mason-James – backing vocals
  • Ben Hillier – all instruments, programming, piano ; drums
  • Alex James – bass guitar , guitars, bass
  • Stefan Skarbek – programming
  • Aidan Love – original programming, original arrangement
  • Saphena Aziz – backing vocals
  • Jennifer John – backing vocals
  • Korpi & Blackcell – arrangement
  • Nina Woodford – background vocals
  • Emma Holmgren – background vocals
  • Mathias Johansson – guitar, bass, all keyboards, programming
  • Henrik Korpi – all keyboards, programming

Technical

  • Matt Rowe – production
  • Gregg Alexander – production
  • James Loughrey – engineering
  • Laurence Brazil – engineering assistance
  • Jeremy Wheatley – additional production ; mixing ; remix
  • Marco Rakascan – vocal recording ; additional production ; production ; engineering ; remix ; mixing
  • Damian LeGassick – production
  • Jake Davies – mix engineering, sound design
  • Bacon & Quarmby – lead vocals recording
  • Gary Wilkinson – production
  • Ben Hillier – production
  • Alex James – production
  • Darren Nash – recording assistance
  • Steve Osborne – production
  • Rik Simpson – engineering
  • Andrea Wright – remix assistance, additional production assistance
  • Korpi & Blackcell – production, recording
  • Niklas Flyckt – mixing
  • Göran Elmquist – mix assistance
  • Richard Hall – production, recording
  • Ben Thacker – engineering
  • John Davis – mastering at Sony Music Studios

Artwork

  • Mert Alaş and Marcus Piggot – photography
  • Michael Nash Associates – design

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2001–2003 weekly chart performance for Read My Lips

! scope="col"| Chart (2001–2003)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)

| 2

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)

| 6

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+ 2024 weekly chart performance for Read My Lips

! scope="col"| Chart (2024)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2001 year-end chart performance for Read My Lips

! scope="col"| Chart (2001)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 76

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2002 year-end chart performance for Read My Lips

! scope="col"| Chart (2002)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 41

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Dance Albums (ARIA)

| 5

|-

! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)

| 79

|-

! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)

| 40

|-

! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)

| 84

|-

! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)

| 20

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 28

|}

Certifications

Notes

References

  • Review + Details
  • Read My Lips Tour dates