Truth Is a Beautiful Thing is the second studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar. It was released on 9 June 2017 by the trio's imprint Metal & Dust and Ministry of Sound.
Singles "Rooting for You" was released as the album's lead single on 1 January 2017. It peaked at number 58 on the UK Singles Chart. The album's second single, "Big Picture", was released on 1 February 2017, reaching number 73 on the UK Singles Chart. "Truth Is a Beautiful Thing" was released as the third single on 24 March 2017. "Oh Woman Oh Man" was released as the fourth single on 21 April 2017, peaking at number 85 on the UK Singles Chart. On 11 August 2017, "Non Believer" was sent to UK contemporary hit radio as the album's fifth single. The album's sixth and final single, "Hell to the Liars", was released on 10 November 2017.
Critical reception Truth Is a Beautiful Thing received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Praise was directed at the album's atmospheric production and Hannah Reid's emotive vocals, while some critics felt that the record lacked musical variety and progression from the band's debut album, If You Wait. The album holds a score of 68/100 on review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on 17 critics' reviews. Scott Dransfield of Under the Radar, praised the album for being an "album-length exploration of mood, or a collection of self-contained songs, than it is a flowing, conceptual, capital-A album." The Guardian awarded the album three out of five stars, commending its "cinematic and grand" production but criticizing it for being too uniform in tone. NME also gave the album four stars, stating that while London Grammar ability to craft ethereal soundscapes, but criticized the album for lacking to connect with its lyrics stating "They're not exactly expected to diss Cameron in a thunderous, anti-Brexit, but they could still say more, or go beyond a default of singing about the complex ups and downs of relationships." The Arts Desk was more critical, giving the album two out of five stars, describing it as having "dumped many of the elements that made If You Wait really shine and instead find themselves fishing around for inspiration and trying on a fair few ill-fitting hats for size."
Conversely, AllMusic rated the album three and a half stars out of five, praising its lush production and Reid's vocal performance, while The Independent rated it three stars, highlighting the lyrical themes, but stated "listeners may experience déjà vu."
Commercial performance Truth Is a Beautiful Thing debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 43,403 copies, including 2,780 from sales-equivalent streams.
Track listing
Notes signifies a co-producer signifies a vocal producer signifies an additional vocal producer signifies an additional producer
Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of the deluxe edition of Truth Is a Beautiful Thing.
London Grammar Hannah Reid – vocals ; piano Daniel Rothman – guitars Dot Major – drums, programming ; piano ; Rhodes
Additional musicians
Paul Epworth – drums, programming ; additional programming Greg Kurstin – piano, Mellotron, Chamberlin, Orchestron, Juno-60 Wil Malone – string arrangements, string conducting Lucie Švehlová – concertmaster City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – strings Myriot (Tim Bran and Roy Kerr) – additional programming
Technical
Jan Holzner – string recording London Grammar – production ; mixing Paul Epworth – production Jon Hopkins – production, mixing Myriot (Tim Bran and Roy Kerr) – production ; co-production ; additional vocal production ; additional production Greg Kurstin – production, engineering Ben Baptie – production ; mixing ; additional engineering Simon Askew – production Tom Elmhirst – vocal production; vocal mixing ; mixing Brandon Bost – mix assistance Andy Menhenitt – mix assistance ; engineering assistance Matt Wiggins – mixing ; engineering Joseph Hartwell Jones – engineering Riley MacIntyre – additional engineering ; engineering Joe Visciano – engineering for mix Manon Grandjean – engineering ; vocal recording Luke Pickering – engineering assistance Alex Pasco – engineering Julian Burg – engineering Tom Coyne – mastering Kevin Tuffy – mastering
Artwork Eliot Lee Hazel – cover photo Alexandra Waespi – inside photos Harry Hall – inside photos Leif Podhajsky – creative direction, layout
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for Truth Is a Beautiful Thing Chart (2017) Peakposition Greek Albums (IFPI) 24
Year-end charts + 2017 year-end chart performance for Truth Is a Beautiful Thing Chart (2017) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) 45 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 13 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 32 French Albums (SNEP) 77 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 63 UK Albums (OCC) 33
+ 2018 year-end chart performance for Truth Is a Beautiful Thing Chart (2018) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 63 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 194
+ 2019 year-end chart performance for Truth Is a Beautiful Thing Chart (2019) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 181
Certifications
Release history + Release dates and formats for Truth Is a Beautiful Thing Region Date Format Edition Label Various 9 June 2017 Australia Dew Process France CD Because Deluxe United States LP Standard Columbia Digital download
Notes
References