View source for Smile... It Confuses People

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2011}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Smile... It Confuses People
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Sandi Thom]]
| cover      = Smile...It Confuses People cover.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 5 June 2006
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Pop music|Pop]], [[folk music|folk]]
| length     = 32:05
| label      = [[RCA Music Group|RCAMG]]
| producer   = Jake Field, Rick Parkhouse, Duncan Thompson
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[The Pink & The Lily]]
| next_year  = 2008
| misc       = {{Singles
| name        = Smile... It Confuses People
| type        = studio
| single1     = [[I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)]]
| single1date = 3 October 2005
| single2     = [[What If I'm Right]]
| single2date = 28 August 2006
| single3     = Lonely Girl
| single3date = 4 December 2006
}}
}}
'''''Smile... It Confuses People''''' is the debut [[studio album]] by Scottish singer [[Sandi Thom]]. It was released in both [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and the [[United Kingdom]] on [[2006 in music|5 June 2006]] by [[RCA Records]] (although the back of the album bears the [[RCA Music Group]] logo instead). The album is a mix of [[pop music|pop]] and [[folk music|folk]], predominantly written by Thom herself alongside Tom Gilbert.
The album produced Thom's first number-one single—"[[I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)]]"—on the [[UK Singles Chart]], the [[Irish Singles Chart]], and Australia's [[ARIA Charts|ARIA Singles Chart]]. In the latter country, the song spent the longest period at number-one in 2006 (10 weeks) and became the country's highest-selling single for 2006.  The album also generated another two singles, but they both failed to replicate the success of the first single. ''Smile... It Confuses People'' was certified platinum by [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]] selling three hundred thousand copies around the UK.<ref name="BPI Certification">[http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=32690 "Certifications 2006"]. ''[[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]]''. Retrieved 3 June 2007.</ref>
==Release==
===Critical reception===
{{Music ratings
| rev1      = [[Allmusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}} <ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|last=Jurek|first=Thom|title=Smile...It Confuses People|publisher=allmusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/smile-it-confuses-people-mw0000544041|access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref>
| rev2      = ''[[Contactmusic.com|Contactmusic]]''
| rev2Score = {{Rating|3|10}} <ref>{{cite web|last=Rea|first=Mike|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/sandithomx19x06x06|title=Sandi Thom: Smile... It Confuses People|date=19 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621082946/http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/sandithomx19x06x06|archive-date=21 June 2006|access-date=23 June 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[Metro (Associated Metro Limited)|Metro]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|2|5}} <ref>{{cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2006/06/05/metrolife-cd-reviews-3-153872/|title=MetroLife: CD reviews|last=Allfree|first=Claire|date=5 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626210922/http://metro.co.uk/2006/06/05/metrolife-cd-reviews-3-153872/|archive-date=26 June 2015|url-status=live|access-date=23 June 2024}}</ref>
| rev4      = [[RTÉ.ie|RTÉ]]
| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}} <ref name="RTE">{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2006/0710/thoms.html|title=Sandi Thom - Smile... It Confuses People|publisher=[[RTÉ]]|date=10 July 2006|last=McGee|first=Linda|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127025522/http://www.rte.ie/arts/2006/0710/thoms.html|archive-date=27 January 2008|url-status=dead }}</ref>
| rev5      = ''[[The Guardian]]''
| rev5score = {{Rating|3|5}} <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jun/02/popandrock.shopping6|title=Sandi Thom, Smile - It Confuses People|first=Caroline|last=Sullivan|date=2 June 2006|work=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060602195410/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1787965,00.html|archive-date=2 June 2006|access-date=23 June 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev6      = ''[[The Independent]]''
| rev6score = {{Rating|2|5}} <ref>{{cite news|url=http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article752179.ece|title=Album: Sandi Thom|last=Gill|first=Andy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701073743/http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article752179.ece|work=The Independent|date=9 June 2006|archive-date=1 July 2006|url-status=dead|access-date=23 June 2024 }}</ref>
| rev7      = ''[[The Scotsman]]''
| rev7score = {{Rating|2|5}} <ref name="Scotsman">{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/music/news-and-features/sandi-thom-1-1120318|title=Sandi Thom|work=The Scotsman|date=2 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010002354/http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/music/news-and-features/sandi-thom-1-1120318|archive-date=10 October 2012|access-date=23 June 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev8      = [[Virgin Media]]
| rev8score = {{Rating|1|5}} <ref name="Virgin">{{cite web|url=http://www.virginmedia.com/music/reviews/albumreviews/sandithom_smileitconfusespeople.php|title=Sandi Thom - Smile... It Confuses People review|publisher=Virgin Media|access-date=23 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604050108/http://www.virginmedia.com/music/reviews/albumreviews/sandithom_smileitconfusespeople.php|archive-date=4 June 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev9      = [[Yahoo! Music]]
| rev9score = {{Rating|7|10}} <ref name="Yahoo">{{cite web|last=Gennoe|first=Dan|url=http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/060617/33/20bji.html|title= Sandi Thom - 'Smile…It Confuses People' |date=17 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310085916/http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/060617/33/20bji.html|archive-date=10 March 2007|access-date=23 June 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}
Critical reviews of the album were mixed to negative. In a three-star (out of five) review [[allmusic]], Thom Jurek said of "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker": "...it's a hopelessly naïve, cleverly worded musical ditty that is reminiscent of something used to sell European automobiles."<ref name="allmusic"/> However, Jurek also praised tracks "Lonely Girl" and "Sunset Borderline" as "simple acoustic songs [that] become big, swirling numbers that touch on '70s female singer/songwriter empathy."<ref name="allmusic"/> [[Virgin Media]] rated the album one of five stars, calling the album "retro, technophobic" and commented on Thom's approach to 1970s folk pop: "...Thom lacks the charisma or the musicianship to bring the sound into the 21st century without coming over like a covers act."<ref name="Virgin"/>
In Thom's native Scotland, ''[[The Scotsman]]'' rated the album two out of five stars, with critic Kenneth Walton commenting: "...beyond her digital rags-to-riches story, there really isn't anything to mark out this [[Banff, Aberdeenshire|Banff]] native from the legions of other rootsy pop troubadours strumming in bars up and down the country."<ref name="Scotsman"/> Linda McGee of Irish public broadcaster [[RTÉ]] had a mixed review: "Nothing here is overproduced. Nothing is overly dressed up with musical trickery. It's all very stripped down, some guitar strumming and percussion for the most part - that simple."<ref name="RTE"/>
[[Yahoo! Music]] critic Dan Gennoe had a more positive review, rated seven out of 10 stars: "Every song comes preloaded with an unmissable hook, endearing melody and wide-eyed idealism which only a real humbug would chide."<ref name="Yahoo"/> Gennoe did offer a contrasting view that the album was "completely unconvincing", with an "overall feeling...of being imprisoned in one long Coke advert", adding: "At no point does Thom sound like she's singing from the heart, just trying to reach the widest possible demographic."<ref name="Yahoo"/>
===Chart performance===
The album went straight to number one in its week of release in the UK. It spent a total of eighteen weeks in the UK top forty. It has since gone platinum in the UK and has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
In Australia the album reached its peak at #11. On its ninth week in the chart at number fifteen the album was certified gold by [[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]] selling thirty-five thousand copies around Australia.<ref name="ARIA Certification">[http://www.aria.com.au/pages/ARIACharts-Accreditations-2006Albums.htm "Certifications 2006"]. ''[[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]]''. Retrieved 3 June 2007.</ref> It was the seventy-eighth highest selling album for 2006.<ref name="ARIA End of Year Chart 2006">[http://www.aria.com.au/pages/ARIACHarts-EndofYearCharts-Top100Albums2006.htm "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2006"]. ''[[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]]''. Retrieved 3 June 2007.</ref>
''I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)'' was the first song released from the album and topped the UK, Ireland Singles Chart for two weeks the Australian [[ARIA Charts|ARIA]] Singles Chart for ten weeks making it the highest selling single for 2006. It was accredited Double Platinum (140,000 units) by [[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]]. "[[What If I'm Right]]" was the second song released from the album and reached 22 in the UK and 30 in the Irish chart and top forty in Australia and New Zealand. "Lonely Girl" was the third song released from the album available for [[Music download|digital download]] only released in the UK on 4 December 2006 and did not chart.
==Track listing==
{{Track listing
| headline  = Standard Edition
| extra_column    =
| title1      = When Horsepower Meant What It Said
| writer1     = Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert
| extra1      =
| length1     = 3:05
| title2      = [[I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)]]
| writer2     = Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert
| extra2      =
| length2     = 2:31
| title3      = Lonely Girl
| writer3     = Sandi Thom
| extra3      =
| length3     = 3:10
| title4      = Sunset Borderline
| writer4     = Duncan Thompson; Jake Field; Sandi Thom
| extra4      =
| length4     = 3:36
| title5      = Little Remedy
| writer5     = Duncan Thompson; Jake Field; Sandi Thom
| extra5      =
| length5     = 2:53
| title6      = Castles
| writer6     = Jake Field; Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert
| extra6      =
| length6     = 4:25
| title7      = [[What If I'm Right]]
| writer7     = Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert
| extra7      =
| length7     = 2:58
| title8      = Superman
| writer8     = Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert
| extra8      =
| length8     = 2:43
| title9      = Human Jukebox
| writer9     = Sandi Thom; Tom Gilbert
| extra9      =
| length9     = 3:19
| title10     = Time
| writer10    = Simon Perry; Sandi Thom
| extra10     =
| length10    = 3:20
}}
{{Track listing
| headline  = First Pressing
| extra_column    =
| title11     = Under the Sun
| writer11    = John McLaughlin; Nick Cook; Sandi Thom
| extra11     =
| length11    = 3:22
}}
{{Track listing
| headline  = Japan Edition
| extra_column    =
| title11     = May You Never
| writer11    = John Martyn
| extra11     =
| length11    = 3:43
| title12     = Don't Think Twice
| writer12    = [[Bob Dylan]]; Hugues Aufray
| extra12     =
| length12    = 2:24
}}
{{Track listing
| headline  = Sandithom.com Bonus Track
| extra_column    =
| title1      = Soul Mining
| note1  =
| writer1     = Sandi Thom
| extra1      =
| length1     = 3:25
}}
==Charts and certifications==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2006)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Australia|11|artist=Sandi Thom|album=Smile... It Confuses People|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|Netherlands|75|artist=Sandi Thom|album=Smile... It Confuses People|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|France|43|artist=Sandi Thom|album=Smile... It Confuses People|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|42|id=34629|artist=Sandi Thom|album=Smile... It Confuses People|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|Ireland2|1|artist=Sandi Thom|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|New Zealand|5|artist=Sandi Thom|album=Smile... It Confuses People|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|Scotland|1|date=20060611|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|UK2|1|date=20060611|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2021}}
|}
{{col-2}}
===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2006)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/20060108/37502/|title=End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2006|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=9 May 2021}}</ref>
| 68
|}
{{col-end}}
==Certifications==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!align="left"|Chart
!align="left"|Certification
!align="left"|[[List of music recording certifications|Sales/shipments]]
|-
|align="left"|Australia ([[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]])
| style="text-align:center;"|Gold<ref name="ARIA Certification"/>
| style="text-align:center;"|35,000
|-
|align="left"|France ([[Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique|SNEP]])
| style="text-align:center;"|Silver<ref>[http://www.disqueenfrance.com/certifications/album.asp?forme_certif=28&annee=25 ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502182833/http://www.disqueenfrance.com/certifications/album.asp?forme_certif=28&annee=25 |date=2 May 2008 }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|50,000
|-
|align="left"|New Zealand ([[Recording Industry Association of New Zealand|RIANZ]])
| style="text-align:center;"|Gold
| style="text-align:center;"|7,500
|-
|align="left"|United Kingdom ([[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]])
| style="text-align:center;"|Platinum<ref name="BPI Certification"/>
| style="text-align:center;"|313,200
|}
==Release details==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country
! Date
! Label
! Format
! Catalog
|-
| United Kingdom
| 05 June 2006
| [[RCA Records]]
| [[Compact disc|CD]]
| 82876843432
|-
| Australia
| 29 July 2006
| [[Sony BMG]]
| CD
| 82876843432
|}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Sandi Thom}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:2006 debut albums]]
[[Category:Sandi Thom albums]]
[[Category:RCA Records albums]]