Our Songs is the eighth studio album by American singer Anastacia. It was released on September 22, 2023, through German-based recording label Stars by Edel.[1] Entirely produced by Christian Geller, the album marked Anastacia's first album release since Evolution (2017).[1] Conceptually, Our Songs is a cover album that features a compilation of mostly translated interpretations of German rock songs, involving material that was originated by Scorpions, Tokio Hotel, Die Toten Hosen, Unheilig, and others.[2]
| Our Songs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 22, 2023 | |||
| Length | 48:22 | |||
| Label | Stars by Edel | |||
| Producer | Christian Geller | |||
| Anastacia chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Our Songs | ||||
Upon its release, the album earned largely mixed reviews from music critics who praised the singer's vocal performance but felt that her versions were for inferior to the original songs. Our Songs debuted at number two on the German Albums Chart, becoming Anastacia's highest-charting album in nearly two decades. It further reached the top ten in Austria and Switzerland and reached number 16 on the UK Album Downloads Chart. A reissue of Our Songs, the Gold deluxe edition, was released on June 21, 2024.[3][4]
Background
editOn November 8, 2022, during her "I'm Outta Lockdown Tour", Anastacia revealed to UK's Channel ITV News that she was working on a project for a 2023 release saying: "It's a different project than I've ever done. I'm not doing music I wrote, I'm doing music other people wrote but from a different language". In April 2023, media outlets announced that Our Songs will feature interpretations of German songs, which have been translated to English.
On Anastacia's website the album is described as: "From 100% pop to stadium-sized rock radio anthems, the album brings together classics from different genres and decades, presenting these highlights of German music history to an international audience for the first time."[1] The album includes versions of "Born to Live Forever" by Unheilig, "Forever Young" by Alphaville and "Still Loving You" by Scorpions.[1][5][6]
Singles
edit- The album's first single, "Best Days" was released on April 28, 2023.[1] It is a cover of German punk rock band Die Toten Hosen's "Tage wie diese".
- On July 14, the second single, "Supergirl" was released.[7][8] The song was originally recorded and released as the debut single by German pop rock band Reamonn in 2000.[7]
- A third single, "Now or Never", was released on August 25.[9] A music video was released on the same day.[10] The song is a cover of Johannes Oerding's song "An guten Tagen" released in 2019.
- The song "Just You", was released on September 21 alongside its music video, directed by Marcel Brell.[11] The song features the original artist, Peter Maffay and is a cover of his own "So Bist du", released in 1979.
- A single, "Highs & Lows" was released on June 7, 2024, which comes from the deluxe version of the album, due for release on June 21, 2024.[12]
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Laut.de |   [13] |
| RetroPop | [14] |
Renowned for Sound editor Ryan Bulbeck called Our Songs a "mid-paced, but sweet album, chocked full of ballads and sing-along moments. While there are no stand-out uptempo tunes to dance to, listeners will be pleasantly surprised by Anastacia’s versatility. Her voice, also, is as powerful as ever, and that alone makes this an album to listen to."[15] UK-based popular culture website Culturefix noted that: "It is certainly a unique concept for an album and it is likely that many of the tracks will feel original and fresh to listeners outside Germany."[16] Antenne Brandenburg critic Tina Knop remarked that "new interpretations fit Anastacia so well that when you listen to them you're suddenly no longer sure whether it's an Anastacia original or a cover."[17]
RetroPop magazine felt that as "an album, Our Songs is a fine collection of material [...] with a vocalist as adept as Anastacia taking command over the project, they couldn't be in safer hands. What's less convincing is the overall concept, which despite being perhaps her most international work at times feels more of a passion project than the return of one of the most successful pop acts of the 2000s after more than half a decade."[14] Der Spiegel felt that "despite [Anastacia's] recognizable voice, some of the songs lack the feeling of the original, such as Sarah Connor's ballad "Wie schön du bist" ("Beautiful") or the Lindenberg classic "Cello". The instruments recorded sound more like loveless instrumental versions. This may not bother die-hard Anastacia fans from Germany."[18] Sven Kabelitz from Laut.de dismissed the album as "calculated." He found that "every single one of these twelve songs is better in the original than here."[13]
Chart performance
editOur Songs debuted at number 2 on the German Albums Chart in the week of September 29, 2023.[19] This marked Anastacia's highest-charting album since Anastacia (2004) and first top ten album since 2014's Resurrection.[20] In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 16 on the UK Albums Downloads Chart.[21] It also placed on three other charts in that country.[22]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist (date) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Best Days" |
| Die Toten Hosen (2012) | 4:32 |
| 2. | "Now or Never" |
| Johannes Oerding (2019) | 3:18 |
| 3. | "Beautiful" |
| Sarah Connor (2015) | 3:20 |
| 4. | "Still Loving You" | Scorpions (1984) | 5:33 | |
| 5. | "Monsoon" |
| Tokio Hotel (2007) | 3:58 |
| 6. | "Born to Live" |
| Unheilig (2010) | 3:28 |
| 7. | "Cello" | Udo Lindenberg | Udo Lindenberg (1973) | 3:30 |
| 8. | "Just You" (duet with Peter Maffay) |
| Peter Maffay (1979) | 4:40 |
| 9. | "Symphony" |
| Silbermond (2004) | 4:50 |
| 10. | "Supergirl" |
| Reamonn (2000) | 4:03 |
| 11. | "Forever Young" | Alphaville (1984) | 3:17 | |
| 12. | "An Angel" |
| The Kelly Family (1994) | 3:53 |
| Total length: | 48:26 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist (date) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Highs and Lows" |
| Michael Schulte (2019) | 3:54 |
| 14. | "Control" |
| Zoe Wees (2022) | 3:55 |
| 15. | "Rooftop" |
| Nico Santos (2017) | 3:18 |
| Total length: | 59:13 | |||
Charts
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
|
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Format | Label | Edition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | September 22, 2023 | Stars by Edel | Standard | [1] | |
| June 21, 2024 |
|
Gold deluxe | [31] |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Anastacia Releases New Single 'Best Days', Pays Tribute To German Pop Hits On New Album 'Our Songs' – Culture Fix". Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ Louise, Sarah (April 27, 2023). "Anastacia Releases New Single 'Best Days'". Anastacia Fanclub. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
- ^ "Instagram post by Anastacia". www.instagram.com. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ "Noughties pop star Anastacia would 'consider' entering Eurovision Song Contest". Yahoo News. March 11, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ "Home". Anastacia - Our Songs. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Anastacia heads to Lisbon to sing about her 'Best Days'". OUTInPerth. May 1, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ a b "Anastacia announces new single Supergirl from forthcoming LP Our Songs". Retropop Magazine. July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
- ^ "Instagram post by Anastacia". July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023 – via Instagram.
- ^ "Yep 'Supergirl' is the name of my next single due to be released on July 14th!..." Retrieved August 17, 2023 – via Instagram.
- ^ "Anastacia - Now or Never (Official Video)". Retrieved August 25, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Anastacia x Peter Maffay - Just You (official video)". Retrieved September 21, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ Gotto, Connor (June 5, 2024). "Anastacia announces new single Highs & Lows from deluxe Our Songs LP". Retro Pop Magazine. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Kabelitz, Sven. "Katsching, die Kasse klingelt". Laut.de (in German). Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "Anastacia – Our Songs". Retropopmagazine.com. September 18, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ Bulbeck, Ryan (September 18, 2023). "Album Review: Anastacia – Our Songs". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ "Anastacia Releases New Single 'Best Days', Pays Tribute To German Pop Hits On New Album 'Our Songs' – Culture Fix". Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Album-Tipp, 21.09.2023, Anastacia – Our Songs". Antenne Brandenburg (in German). September 21, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ "Anastacia covert auf neuem Deutschland-Album Udo Lindenberg und Tokio Hotel". Der Spiegel (in German). September 19, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ "Fantasy schlagen Anastacia in spannendem Charts-Duell". Offiziellecharts.de (GfK) (in German). September 29, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
- ^ a b "Offiziellecharts.de – Anastacia – Our Songs" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
- ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart on 29/9/2023 29 September 2023 - 5 October 2023". Official Charts. September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Our Songs – Anastacia". Official Charts. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Anastacia – Our Songs" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Anastacia – Our Songs" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Anastacia – Our Songs" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Anastacia – Our Songs". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ "lescharts.ch – Anastacia – Our Songs" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
- ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 2023" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
- ^ "Our Songs (Gold Deluxe Edition)". Spotify (in German). Retrieved June 24, 2024.