Child of the Universe (album)

Child of the Universe is the fourth studio album by Australian singer–songwriter Delta Goodrem. It was released on 26 October 2012 by Sony Music Entertainment. The album was preceded by its three singles "Sitting on Top of the World", "Dancing with a Broken Heart" and "Wish You Were Here". The album debuted at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for shipments of 35,000 copies.

Child of the Universe
Studio album by Delta Goodrem
Released	26 October 2012
Recorded	2008–12
Genre	Pop rock power pop
Length	60:21
Label	Sony
Producer	Steve Booker Chris Braide Gary Clark John Shanks
Delta Goodrem chronology
Delta (2007) Child of the Universe (2012) Christmas (2012)
Singles from Child of the Universe
"Sitting on Top of the World" Released: 13 April 2012 "Dancing with a Broken Heart" Released: 10 August 2012 "Wish You Were Here" Released: 12 October 2012

Background

"I've done a 360 back to where I started, but hopefully it's more evolved. I feel I've stepped up my game. I'm experimenting with different chord changes and different areas of music. I feel I can do anything on this album, I'm relishing that. I feel like the sky's the limit but at the same time it's very raw."

—Goodrem speaking about her fourth studio album Child of the Universe."[1]

The album was originally in pre-production and writing stages in 2008 while Goodrem was in the United States, and was expected to be released in 2010 at some point. Commenting on the album in 2010, Goodrem said "What resonates with me now is the acoustic guitar and piano. I'm enjoying writing songs that are more stripped back. "I've done a 360 back to where I started, but hopefully it's more evolved. I feel I've stepped up my game. I'm experimenting with different chord changes and different areas of music. I feel I can do anything on this album, I'm relishing that. I feel like the sky's the limit but at the same time it's very raw." However, after some personal issues and moving countries the album was delayed. Goodrem said the album would be out "soon" and eventually said it would be out in late 2011. The album was again pushed back and said to be out early 2012. Although this didn't happen due to her role as a coach on The Voice Australia. The album was made available to stream in full through iTunes for free on 19 October 2012 and officially released a week later on 26 October 2012 in Australia and New Zealand on 9 November. The release of the album was almost exactly five years since her previous studio release, Delta, which was released on 20 October 2007. A theme present in this album is will to survive, rediscovering yourself and fighting for love and happiness in yourself.[2]

Release and promotion

Goodrem signing at Miranda Westfield during promotion in Australia

"Child of the Universe" was released digitally and physically on 26 October 2012 in Australia. That night Goodrem appeared on Australian TV program A Current Affair to promote the album. She performed "Wish You Were Here" and "Predictable". On 29 October 2012 Goodrem appeared on Australian morning TV program Sunrise. She performed songs including "Sitting on Top of the World" and "Wish You Were Here". She also performed a mash up of songs "Out of the Blue" and "Be Strong" from her second album Mistaken Identity. Goodrem did an interview on 5 November 2012 on nightly chat program The Project. The next day Goodrem appeared at the Melbourne Cup. After finishing her tour Goodrem flew to New Zealand to do promotion after the album was released there on 9 November 2012. After doing various breakfast morning TV interviews, radio interviews and a small show for her fans, Goodrem performed "Wish You Were Here" on New Zealand's Got Talent. After returning to Australia she appeared on Australian morning television show Mornings, singing "Wish You Were here" to promote the album. She then performed "Sitting on Top of the World" on the season final of Australia's Funniest Home Videos.

Singles

"Sitting on Top of the World" was released to radio on 5 April 2012 and released digitally and physically on 13 April 2012. The song reached number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified double Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for selling 140,000 copies. This became her first multi-platinum certified single since "Predictable" in 2003. It also charted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 23. It did even better in Greece, where it went all the way to Number One on its chart.[3] "Dancing with a Broken Heart" was released to radio on 26 July 2012, released digitally on 10 August 2012 as the second single from Child of the Universe and debuted and peaked at number 15 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It would later become her fourth Number One single in Sweden.[4] "Wish You Were Here" was released to radio on 4 October 2012 and released digitally on 12 October 2012 as the third single. It debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number seven and later peaked at number five. It was certified Platinum for selling 70,000 copies.[5]

An Evening with Delta: The Top of My World Shows

To promote the album, Goodrem embarked on an album launch half-tour "An Evening with Delta: The Top of My World Shows." The tour started off in Brisbane on 27 October 2012 the day after the album was released and was followed by two shows in Sydney on 31 October 2012 and 2 November 2012. The tour finished with two Melbourne shows on 7 and 8 November 2012.[2]

Critical reception

Tania Zeine from ARIA mentioned how the time off between albums allowed Goodrem to compose one of her greatest albums yet. They also praised Goodrem's "diversity of style and genre with her tracks" and that she "shows off vocally with her broad range of soulful harmonies and Christina Aguilera like power solos."[6] Emily Booth from The AU Review rated the album 7.8/10. She noted highlights of the album include Child of the Universe, Touch, Hunters and the Wolves in which she noted that it was "excellently produced and wildly atmospheric and arguably the best track on the album", and Control. However she did point out that "Dancing with a Broken Heart" is still one of the weakest songs of her career. Booth said that, "The best thing about the new record is the diversity of styles, because she can really show off her best asset, from the rock-tinged vocals on 'When My Stars Come Out' to the Mariah Carey-style harmonies on 'Safe to Believe'. There are plenty of songs which pay their respects to her musical roots, for the fans of her older stuff, but Delta has always had a versatile voice."[7]

Accolades

The album's first single "Sitting on Top of the World" was nominated for Song of the Year at the ARIA Music Awards of 2012, but lost to "Brother" by Matt Corby.[8] Sitting on Top of the World also gained two nominations at the 2013 APRA Awards. The first was for "Pop Work of the Year" and the second being for "Most Played Australian Work".[9][10] However the winner of both awards was Timomatic for Set it Off.[11]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number two on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart on 4 November 2012 with 16,000 copies sold. Goodrem was denied a fourth straight number one album by Taylor Swift who sold around 21,000 copies of her album Red.[12] The next week Child of the Universe dropped one spot to number three but suffered big drops the next two weeks, dropping to number thirteen then number twenty four.[13][14][15] It rose to number fifteen in its fifth week in Australia.[16] In New Zealand the album debuted at number eighteen and then dropped to number twenty six the next week.[17][18] Overall it spent three weeks on the New Zealand Albums Chart.[19] Child of the Universe spent ten weeks in the Australian top fifty.

Track listing

Standard edition[20]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Child of the Universe"	Delta Goodrem, Gary Clark	Clark	4:13
2.	"Touch"	Goodrem, Clark	Clark	4:21
3.	"Wish You Were Here"	Goodrem, Clark	Clark	4:36
4.	"Knocked Out"	Goodrem, Vince Pizzinga, Clark	Clark	3:50
5.	"Sitting on Top of the World"	Goodrem, John Shanks	Shanks	3:58
6.	"I'm Not Ready"	Goodrem, Pizzinga	Pizzinga	4:49
7.	"Hunters and the Wolves"	Goodrem, Pizzinga, Eric Rosse	Chris Braide	3:29
8.	"Dancing with a Broken Heart"	Goodrem, Pizzinga, Shanks	Shanks	3:48
9.	"Hypnotized"	Goodrem, Pizzinga, Shanks	Shanks	3:43
10.	"Safe to Believe"	Goodrem, Clark, Pizzinga, Nick Jonas	Pizzinga	4:38
11.	"The Speed of Life"	Goodrem, Clark	Braide	3:38
12.	"War on Love"	Goodrem, Shanks	Shanks	3:49
13.	"I Lost All Love 4 You"	Goodrem, Martin Terefe	Terefe	3:50
14.	"When My Stars Come Out"	Goodrem, Clark, Olivia Waithe	Steve Booker	3:30
15.	"Control"	Goodrem, Clark	Braide	4:02
Total length:				60:21

iTunes bonus tracks[21]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Alcohol"	Goodrem, Clark, Robert Conley	Clark	3:52
17.	"No Communication"	Goodrem, Clark	Clark	4:00
Total length:				68:13

Deluxe edition bonus disc – The Acoustic Sessions[22]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Child of the Universe"	Goodrem, Clark	3:29
2.	"Touch"	Goodrem, Clark	4:09
3.	"Wish You Were Here"	Goodrem, Clark	4:20
4.	"Hunters and the Wolves"	Goodrem, Pizzinga, Rosse	3:07
5.	"Safe to Believe"	Goodrem, Clark, Pizzinga, Jonas	4:37
6.	"Sitting on Top of the World"	Goodrem, Shanks	3:48
7.	"The Speed of Life"	Goodrem, Clark	3:49
8.	"Hypnotized"	Goodrem, Pizzinga, Shanks	4:01
9.	"War on Love"	Goodrem, Shanks	4:31
10.	"Knocked Out"	Goodrem, Pizzinga, Clark	3:47
11.	"Dancing with a Broken Heart"	Goodrem, Pizzinga	3:57
Total length:			43:40

B-sides

The following tracks were not released on the album, but were released on the singles.

Title	Single(s)
Uncovered	"Sitting on Top of the World"
Waiting For Forever	"Dancing with a Broken Heart"
Rise	"Wish You Were Here"
Daughter	"Wish You Were Here"
Heart Hypnotic	Bonus single after album was released, not included in next album.

Personnel

• Delta Goodrem – vocals, piano, keyboards, Writer, Concept
• Steve Booker – Producer
• Chris Braide – Producer
• Gary Clark – Producer, Writer
• Robert Conley – Writer
• Livvi Franc – Writer
• Nick Jonas – Writer
• Vince Pizzinga – Writer, Producer
• Eric Rosse – Writer
• John Shanks – Producer, Writer
• Martin Terefe – Writer, Producer
• Braddon Williams – Engineer
• Murray Sheridan – Engineer
• Simon Todkill – Engineer
• Chandler Harrod – Engineer
• Steve Genewick – Engineer
• Mike Horner – Engineer
• Tom Weir – Drum Engineering
• Baeho "Bobby" Shin – String Engineer
• Sam Keyte – Engineer, Programming
• Paul Lamalfa – Engineer, Programming
• Luke Campolieta – Assistant Engineer
• Jonathan Baker – Assistant Engineer, Engineer
• Lars Fod – Pro-Tools
• Manny Marroquin – Mixing
• Miles Walker – Mixing
• Doug Brady – Mixing
• Thomas Juth – Mixing
• Mark Endert – Mixing
• Leon Zervos – Mastering
• Dan Chase – Drums, Keyboards
• Michael Dolce – Guitar
• Victor Indrizzo – Percussion
• Charlie Judge – Keyboards
• Matt Laug – Drums
• The Love Sponge Strings – Strings
• Derrick McKenzie – Drums
• Mick Skelton – Drums, Percussion
• Smit – Engineer, Programming
• Adam Sofo – Keyboards, Piano
• Nikolaj Torp – Organ, Piano
• Warren Trout – Percussion

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2012) Peak position scope="row" Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 2 Australian Artist Albums Chart (ARIA) 1 scope="row" New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 18

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position Australian Albums Chart[25] 46 Australian Artist Albums Chart[26] 9

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[27]	Gold	35,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Edition(s)	Label	Catalogue
Australia[28][29]	26 October 2012	CD digital download	Standard deluxe	Sony Music Australia	88691936482
New Zealand[30]		Digital download	Standard
Hong Kong[31]	31 October 2012	CD	Standard deluxe
Singapore	6 November 2012
New Zealand[32]	9 November 2012
Malaysia	23 November 2012
Taiwan[33]	14 December 2012		Deluxe
Australia[34]	20 December 2012	Digital download
New Zealand[35]
Thailand[36]

References

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3. "Sitting on Top of the World". JB HI-FI. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
4. "iTunes - Music - Dancing With a Broken Heart - Single by Delta Goodrem". iTunes Store. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
5. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart| Australia's Official Top 50 Songs". ARIA Charts. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
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12. "Taylor Swift Red Spends Second Week Atop ARIA Chart". Noise11. 4 November 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
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14. "One Direction Take Me Home Debuts at 1 on ARIA". Noise11. 18 November 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
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16. "Guy Sebastian Earns His Second ARIA No 1 Album". Noise11. 2 December 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
17. "Albums - 19 NOVEMBER 2012". Official New Zealand Music Chart. Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
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20. "Child of the Universe &#124CD & DVD Music, Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI". Jbhifionline.com.au. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
21. "iTunes - Music - Child of the Universe by Delta Goodrem". iTunes Store. 9 November 1984. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
22. "Child of the Universe (Deluxe Edition) &#124CD & DVD Music, Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI". Jbhifionline.com.au. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
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26. "ARIA Top 50 Australian Artists Albums 2012". Aria.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
27. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
28. "Child of the Universe". Sanity. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
29. "Child of the Universe by Delta Goodrem". iTunes Store (Australia). Apple. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
30. "Child of the Universe by Delta Goodrem". iTunes Store (New Zealand). Apple. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
31. "Child of The Universe (CD) - Delta Goodrem". Sonymusic.com.hk. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
32. "Child of the Universe – Delta Goodrem". Marbecks.co.nz. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
33. "宇宙的孩子 (豪華雙CD盤) - 黛兒塔 Delta Goodrem - 88765408112 | 台灣索尼音樂娛樂股份有限公司". Sonymusic.com.tw. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
34. "Child of the Universe (Deluxe Edition) by Delta Goodrem". iTunes Store (Australia). Apple. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
35. "Child of the Universe (Deluxe Edition) by Delta Goodrem". iTunes Store (New Zealand). Apple. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
36. "Child of the Universe (Deluxe Edition) by Delta Goodrem". iTunes Store (Thailand). Apple. Retrieved 6 January 2013.