Long Live the Angels

Long Live the Angels is the second studio album by Scottish recording artist Emeli Sandé, released on 11 November 2016 by Virgin Records. The lead single from the album, "Hurts", was released on 16 September 2016.[2][3][4][5] Sandé embarked on a European tour to support the album, with dates in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.[6]

Long Live the Angels
Studio album by Emeli Sandé
Released	11 November 2016
Recorded	2013 – August 2016
Genre	R&B soul
Length	51:56
Label	Virgin
Producer	Emeli Sandé Jonny Coffer Chris Loco Mac & Phil Mojam Naughty Boy ProducerWez Rachet Shakaveli TMS
Emeli Sandé chronology
iTunes Session (2013) Long Live the Angels (2016) Kingdom Coming (2017)
Emeli Sandé studio album chronology
Our Version of Events (2012) Long Live the Angels (2016) Real Life (2019)
Deluxe cover
Singles from Long Live the Angels
"Hurts" Released: 16 September 2016 "Breathing Underwater" Released: 28 October 2016 "Highs & Lows" Released: 17 March 2017[1]

The album is influenced by Sandé's Zambian background. The song "Tenderly" features her father and cousins, credited as The Serenje Choir, named after the town of Serenje in the Serenje District of Zambia.[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Chicago Tribune	[10]
The Daily Telegraph	[11]
The Guardian	[12]
The Independent	[13]
The New York Times	favourable[14]
NME	[15]
The Observer	[16]
Pitchfork	5.4/10[17]

Long Live the Angels received generally favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on 11 reviews.[8] Neil McCormick, writing for The Daily Telegraph, rated the album five out of five stars and declared it "a thrilling second album that affirms Sandé as a singular talent." He noted that "Long Live the Angels is something special, the sound of a gifted, grown-up singer-songwriter using all the tools at her disposal to put her own heart back together."[11] AllMusic editor Andy Kellman felt that the album was "built to maintain her rank [...] Sandé sings with more precision and force without overselling anything. There's also more nuance to her approach [...] Certain listeners might bemoan the shortage of uptempo belters here, but one attentive and thorough listen presents a clear justification."[9]

Chicago Tribune journalist Greg Kot wrote that Long Live the Angels "sounds lean and unadorned when compared to its best-selling predecessor, and is all the better for it. Some songs are stripped to little more than a guitar and voice, but Sande doesn't rely on vocal acrobatics to fill in the gaps. She whispers and roars, breathing with the songs instead of trying to overwhelm them."[10] In his review for The New York Times, Jon Pareles remarked the Sandé's "return is lucid and uncluttered, placing all the expressiveness of her voice at its center. [She] could easily oversing; she has delicacy, volume, graininess, melismas and sly, rhythmic nuances whenever she needs them. But she inhabits her songs rather than overpowering them [...] Intertwining love, faith and music, as Ms. Sandé does through much of the album, is a time-tested idea. But it’s also an abiding and deserving one, especially when it’s carried off with such unfailing grace."[14]

Andy Gill, writing for The Independent, noted that "the more interesting aspects of the album are to be found in less formulaic arrangements, [...] settling into a folk-soul setting clearly influenced by Tracy Chapman."[13] The Observer journalist Bernadette McNulty found that "a repetitive wash of acoustic guitars and consoling choirs dull the emotion, and Sandé is too polite to go for the jugular."[16] Less enthustastic, Pitchfork contributor Katherine St. Asaph felt that "too much of Long Live the Angels just feels turgid [...] Sandé sings, well and interchangeably, over a dozen tracks of stately but amorphous gloom – the sort of beige dramatics The Guardian dubbed, in 2011, the new boring'."[17] Barry Nicolson from NME wrote that "of course, at 15 tracks long, there’s no shortage of saccharine X Factor balladry either [..] Sandé clearly has the chops to stand out in the sophisticated cross-platform arms race of modern pop music but you still wish she didn’t fall back so readily on cliché."[15]

Chart performance

Long Live the Angels debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind Olly Murs' 24 Hrs. During the first week of the release, it sold 47,512 copies.[18]

Tour

Sandé went on two tours to promote the album. The first set of dates were between 2 and 21 October 2016. The second was a larger tour, Long Live the Angels Tour, which went around Europe between 16 March and 27 October 2017.

Tour dates
Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening acts
Leg 1 – UK[6]
2 October 2016	Glasgow	Scotland	Òran Mór	—
3 October 2016	Aberdeen		The Tunnels	—
5 October 2016	Manchester	England	Manchester Gorilla	—
6 October 2016	London		Church of St John-at-Hackney	—
Leg 2 – Europe
12 October 2016	Amsterdam	Netherlands	People's Place	—
13 October 2016	Paris	France	Flow	—
17 October 2016	Berlin	Germany	Lido Berlin	—
20 October 2016	Stockholm	Sweden	Nalen	—
21 October 2016	Basel	Switzerland	Messe Eventhalle	Joris

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Long Live the Angels.[19]

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Selah"	Adele Emily Sandé	A. Sandé ProducerWez	2:29
2.	"Breathing Underwater"	A. Sandé Christopher Crowhurst	Chris Loco	4:22
3.	"Happen"	A. Sandé Matthew Holmes Philip Leigh Jonny Coffer Shahid Khan	Naughty Boy Mac & Phil	3:35
4.	"Hurts"	A. Sandé Holmes Leigh James Murray Mustafa Omer	Mac & Phil Mojam	3:58
5.	"Give Me Something"	A. Sandé Holmes Leigh Crowhurst	A. Sandé Mac & Phil	3:52
6.	"Right Now"	A. Sandé Holmes Leigh Khan	Naughty Boy Mac & Phil	2:14
7.	"Shakes"	A. Sandé Khan Coffer	Naughty Boy Coffer	2:49
8.	"Garden" (featuring Jay Electronica and Áine Zion)	A. Sandé Crowhurst Timothy Thedford Áine Zion	Loco	4:02
9.	"I'd Rather Not"	A. Sandé Khan Coffer Shakil Ashraf	Naughty Boy Shakaveli	3:49
10.	"Lonely"	A. Sandé Holmes Murray Omer Leigh	Mac & Phil Mojam	3:33
11.	"Sweet Architect"	A. Sandé Coffer Omer Murray	Coffer Mojam	3:19
12.	"Tenderly" (featuring Joel Sandé and The Serenje Choir)	A. Sandé Holmes Leigh Joel Sandé	Mac & Phil	3:22
13.	"Every Single Little Piece"	A. Sandé Holmes Leigh	Mac & Phil	4:03
14.	"Highs & Lows"	A. Sandé Tom Barnes Peter Kelleher Ben Kohn Wayne Hector	TMS	3:14
15.	"Babe"	A. Sandé Holmes Leigh	Mac & Phil Loco	3:15
Total length:				51:56

Digital bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Hurts" (acoustic)	A. Sandé Holmes Leigh Murray Omer	Mac & Phil Mojam	4:16
Total length:				56:12

Deluxe edition bonus tracks[20]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Kung Fu"	A. Sandé Coffer	A. Sandé Rachet	3:57
17.	"Somebody"	A. Sandé Crowhurst	Loco	2:43
18.	"This Much Is True"	A. Sandé	A. Sandé	3:32
Total length:				62:08

Digital deluxe edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
19.	"Hurts" (acoustic)	A. Sandé Murray Omer Holmes Leigh	Mac & Phil Mojam	4:16
Total length:				66:24

Japanese bonus tracks[21]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
19.	"Naturally"	A. Sandé Barnes Hector Kelleher Kohn	TMS	5:31
20.	"Dream On"	A. Sandé Coffer	Coffer	2:04
Total length:				69:45

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] 20 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[23] 30 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[24] 9 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[25] 35 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[26] 70 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[27] 21 French Albums (SNEP)[28] 65 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] 12 Irish Albums (IRMA)[30] 6 Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] 84 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[32] 29 Scottish Albums (OCC)[33] 1 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] 53 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[35] 52 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36] 9 UK Albums (OCC)[37] 2 US Billboard 200[38] 41

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[39] 86 UK Albums (OCC)[40] 26

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[41]	Platinum	300,000[42]

References

1. "Capital FM".
2. Leight, Elias (16 September 2016). "Emeli Sande Details New LP 'Long Live the Angels'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
3. Gumushan, Tanyel (16 September 2016). "Stream Emeli Sandé's single 'Hurts' from new album 'Long Live The Angels'". NME. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
4. Cliff, Aimée (16 September 2016). "Emeli Sandé Learned How To Say No. The Result Is Her Best Music To Date". The Fader. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
5. White, Jack (16 September 2016). "Emeli Sande announces details of her second album, called Long Live The Angels". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
6. Levine, Nick (20 September 2016). "Emeli Sandé announces intimate UK comeback tour". NME. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
7. Savage, Mark (20 September 2016). "Emeli Sande: Zambian roots inspired my new album". BBC. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
8. "Critic Reviews for Long Live the Angels". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
9. Kellman, Andy. "Alicia Keys - Here". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
10. Kot, Greg (9 November 2016). "Emeli Sande finds courage in heartbreak on 'Long Live the Angels'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
11. McCormick, Neil (10 November 2016). "Emeli Sandé finds heartbreak on a higher plane – review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
12. Sullivan, Caroline (10 November 2016). "Emeli Sandé: Long Live the Angels review – immaculately tame". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
13. Gill, Andy (9 November 2016). "Album reviews: Emeli Sande - Long Live The Angels". The Independent. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
14. Pareles, Jon (9 November 2016). "Emeli Sandé's 'Long Live the Angels' Is Uncluttered and Strong". New York Times. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
15. Nicolson, Barry (11 November 2016). "Emeli Sandé - Long Live The Angels´Review". NME. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
16. McNulty, Bernadette (13 November 2016). "Album reviews: Emeli Sande - Long Live The Angels". The Observer. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
17. v, Katherine (15 November 2016). "Emeli Sande - Long Live The Angels". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
18. Jones, Alan (18 November 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Olly Murs fifth album debuts at No.1". Music Week. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
19. Long Live the Angels (Media notes). Emeli Sandé. Virgin Records. 2016.CS1 maint: others (link)
20. "Long Live the Angels (Deluxe)". iTunes. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
21. "Long Live the Angels (Japan)". CDJapan. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
22. "Australiancharts.com – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
23. "Austriancharts.at – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
24. "Ultratop.be – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
25. "Ultratop.be – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
26. "Emeli Sandé Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
27. "Dutchcharts.nl – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
28. "Lescharts.com – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
29. "Offiziellecharts.de – Emeli Sandé – Long Live The Angels" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
30. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 46, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
31. "Italiancharts.com – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
32. "Charts.nz – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
33. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
34. "TOP 100 ALBUMES — SEMANA 46: del 11.11.2016 al 17.11.2016" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
35. "Swedishcharts.com – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
36. "Swisscharts.com – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
37. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
38. "Emeli Sandé Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
39. "Jaaroverzichten 2016 Albums". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
40. White, Jack (30 December 2016). "The Official Top 40 Biggest Albums of 2016". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
41. "British album certifications – Emeli Sandé – Long Live the Angels". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 9 December 2016. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Long Live the Angels in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
42. Myers, Justin (5 September 2020). "Who would win this year's BRIT Awards if they were decided on sales alone?". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

External links

• Emeli Sandé's official site