What Silence Knows
Studio album by
Released20 September 1993 (1993-09-20)[1]
Genre
Length48:18
LabelCooltempo
ProducerMichael Peden
Shara Nelson chronology
What Silence Knows
(1993)
Friendly Fire
(1995)
Singles from What Silence Knows
  1. "Down That Road"
    Released: 12 July 1993[2]
  2. "One Goodbye in Ten"
    Released: 1993
  3. "Inside Out"
    Released: 8 November 1993[3]
  4. "Uptight"
    Released: 31 January 1994[4]
  5. "Nobody"
    Released: 23 May 1994[5]
  6. "Inside Out" / "Down That Road (remix)"
    Released: 30 August 1994[6]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Chicago Reader(favorable)[7]
Los Angeles Times[8]
Melody Maker(favorable)[9]
Music Week[10]
NME6/10[11]
Spin(favorable)[12]

What Silence Knows is the debut solo album by English singer Shara Nelson, released in September 1993 on Cooltempo Records. It includes five singles which reached the UK Singles Chart: "Down That Road", "One Goodbye in Ten", "Inside Out", "Uptight" and "Nobody".[13] The album peaked at No. 22 on the UK Albums Chart[14] and was later certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.[15]

The album was shortlisted for the 1994 Mercury Music Prize.[16]

Critical reception

Alan Jones from Music Week wrote, "A glittering solo debut for this talented vocalist. The current single, "One Goodbye in Ten", is particularly fine: a rich string arrangement underpinning a Sixties feel. Other tracks, such as "Nobody", recall her past with Massive Attack, while the vox/piano style of "Inside Out" has a haunting, stark beauty. Could be a Dina Carroll-style breakout."[10]

Track listing

  1. "Nobody" (Shara Nelson, Kenny Nicholas, Trevor Jacobs, Suni Suleynan) – 4:22
  2. "Pain Revisited" (Shara Nelson, Howie Bernstein) – 5:16
  3. "One Goodbye in Ten" (Shara Nelson, Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs) – 5:50
  4. "Inside Out" (Shara Nelson, Kevin Armstrong) – 3:19
  5. "Uptight" (Shara Nelson, Prince Be) – 5:04
  6. "Down That Road" (Shara Nelson, Prince Be) – 5:15
  7. "Chance" (Shara Nelson, Kenny Nicholas, Trevor Jacobs, Suni Suleynan) – 3:58
  8. "Thoughts of You" (Shara Nelson, John Coxon) – 4:16
  9. "How Close" (Shara Nelson, Prince Be) – 3:59
  10. "What Silence Knows" (Shara Nelson, Style Scott) – 6:59

Personnel

  • Shara Nelson – vocals
  • Billy Liesegang, G.A. Parricelli – guitar
  • Mike Peden – bass
  • Mel Wesson – keyboards, synthesizer
  • Michael Timothy, Pete Wingfield – keyboards
  • Rupert Brown, Trevor Murrell – drums
  • Miles Bould – percussion
  • Lyn Gerald, Tee Green – backing vocals
  • Philip D. Todd – flute, electronic wind instrument
  • London Session Orchestra – strings
  • Nick Ingman – string arrangements
  • Gavyn Wright – orchestral leader and conductor

Charts

Album

Chart (1993) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[17] 131
Austrian Albums Chart[18] 32
UK Albums Chart[14] 22

Singles

Year Single UK
chart
[14]
1993 "Down That Road" 19
"One Goodbye in Ten" 21
"Inside Out"
1994 "Uptight" 19
"Nobody" 49
"Inside Out" / "Down That Road" (remix) 34

References

  1. "Album Releases". Music Week. 18 September 1994. p. 24. Misprinted as the previous week, 13 September, on source.
  2. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 10 July 1993. p. 21.
  3. "Single Releases". Music Week. 6 November 1993. p. 23.
  4. "Single Releases". Music Week. 29 January 1994. p. 25.
  5. "Single Releases". Music Week. 21 May 1994. p. 27.
  6. "Single Releases". Music Week. 27 August 1994. p. 27.
  7. Johnson, Martin (20 October 1994). "No Need to Shout". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  8. Hunt, Dennis (7 August 1994). "Shara Nelson, 'What Silence Knows' (Chrysalis/ERG)". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  9. Bush, Calvin (18 September 1993). "Albums". Melody Maker. p. 39. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  10. 1 2 Jones, Alan (25 September 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums" (PDF). Music Week. p. 17. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  11. Morton, Roger (18 September 1993). "Long Play". NME. p. 37. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  12. Bernstein, Jonathan (July 1994). "Spins". Spin. p. 70. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  13. "SHARA NELSON | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  14. 1 2 3 "Official Charts > Shara Nelson". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  15. "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for 'Shara Nelson' (from bpi.co.uk)". Imgur.com (original source published by British Phonographic Industry). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  16. "Mercury Prize". www.mercuryprize.com.
  17. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 13 September 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  18. "austriancharts.at > Shara Nelson". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
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