Down to Earth is the second studio album by Welsh musician Jem, the follow-up to Finally Woken. The first single, "It's Amazing", was featured on the soundtrack to the Sex and the City movie. The album spawned four singles.
The press release states that Jem co-wrote the album with a variety of people including Jeff Bass, Lester Mendez and Greg Kurstin and sings in Japanese on the track, "Aciiid!". The album also includes a collaboration with South African singer-songwriter and poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela on the track "You Will Make It" which was dedicated to the memory of D12 member Proof.Jem – Down To Earth (CD liner notes). ATO Records. 88088-21630-2 Although the collaboration never happened, Jem wanted to work with Eminem for the song, saying "The track is about losing someone and I wrote it the day after his friend Proof was murdered. I was in Detroit with Eminem's friends, who I happened to be recording with, when it happened".
Critical reception Down to Earth was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 7 reviews.
In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer Andrew Leahey wrote: "Down to Earth's title depicts Jem as a grounded musician, but its wide-ranging sound suggests something different, as the singer has yet to find a style that fully suits her capabilities."
Track listing
Personnel
Hiroko Aoyagi – vocals Jeff Atmajian – piano, string arrangements, piano arrangement Jeff Bass – bass, guitar, keyboards, producer, drum programming, tracked by Kevin Beber – drum programming Brian Berryman – engineer, fader engineer Mick Bolger – trombone, trumpet, euphonium, mellophonium, E flat cornet Mike Bradford – producer, string arrangements, instrumentation Del Casher – sounds Bryan Cook – engineer Nick Cuchinella – trombone Nabil Elderkin – photography Johnny Evans – saxophone Serban Ghenea – mixing Jem Griffiths – vocals, producer, vocal engineer, poetry reading Justin Griffiths – acoustic guitar John Hanes – mixing Mark Aaron James – design Ted Jensen – mastering Shinobu Lee – vocals David Levita – acoustic guitar, guitar Lester Mendez – piano, producer, string arrangements, brass arrangement, instrumentation Monica Mendez – sound design Milan, Derrick & The Krew – chorus Eddie Miller – vocal engineer Rafael Padilla – percussion Phillip Ramos – studio assistant Tim Roberts – mixing assistant Ken Robinson – trumpet Sonus – strings Welsh Choir of Southern California – chorus Joe Wohlmuth – engineer
Charts + Chart performance for Down to EarthChart (2008)PeakpositionUS Billboard 200 48Chart (2009)PeakpositionUK Albums Chart64
Release history + Release history for Down to Earth Country Date United States 16 September 2008 Canada Japan Ireland 30 January 2009 United Kingdom 2 February 2009 Europe Sweden 4 February 2009 Portugal 16 February 2009 Poland Denmark 23 February 2009 Germany 27 February 2009 Austria Netherlands Switzerland Norway 2 March 2009 France 3 March 2009 Finland 4 March 2009 Greece 6 March 2009 Italy 20 March 2009
Notes
References