Pocketful of Sunshine

"This article is about the album Pocketful of Sunshine. For the song, see Pocketful of Sunshine (song)."

Infobox Album
Name = Pocketful of Sunshine


Type = Album
Artist = Natasha Bedingfield
Released = flagicon|US January 22, 2008
Recorded = 2006-2007
Genre = Pop, reggae, soul, pop-rock
Length = 48:09
Label = Epic/Phonogenic
Producer = Rodney Jerkins, Andrew Frampton, Steve Kipner, Wayne Wilkins, John Shanks, The Runaways, Toby Gad, J. R. Rotem, Patrick Leonard, Mike Elizondo, Greg Kurstin, Danja, Danielle Brisebois, Wayne Rodriguez
Reviews =
* About.com rating|3|5 [http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/natashabpocket.htm link]
* Allmusic rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fvftxzehld0e~T1 link]
* "Billboard" (Positive) [http://billboard.com/bbcom/content_display/reviews/albums/e3i5852afde016b362466bfb1e09c11b3e2?imw=Y link]
* "Blender" rating|3.5|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4954 link]
* "Entertainment Weekly" (B-) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20172380,00.html link]
* "Los Angeles Times" rating|2.5|4 [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/la-et-natasha20jan20,1,156704.story link]
* "Newsday" (C+) [http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/partii/ny-ettop5546853jan22,0,6980108.column link]
* "Patrol Magazine" (6.8/10) [http://www.patrolmag.com/index.php?id=270 link]
* "Rolling Stone" rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/18065996/review/18137481/pocketful_of_sunshine link]
* "Slant Magazine" rating|2.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1266 link]
* "USA Today" rating|3.5|4 [http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2008-01-21-natasha-bedingfield_N.htm link]
* "Washington Post" (Negative) [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012102336.html link]
Last album = "N.B."
(2007)
This album = "Pocketful of Sunshine"
(2008)
Misc = Singles
Name = Pocketful of Sunshine
Type = Studio
single 1 = Love like This
single 1 date = October 2, 2007
single 2 = Pocketful of Sunshine
single 2 date = February 11, 2008
single 3 = Angel
single 3 date = August 12, 2008

"Pocketful of Sunshine" is the second North American and third European album by pop singer songwriter Natasha Bedingfield. It was released by Epic Records on January 22, 2008 and received mixed reviews. [http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/bedingfieldnatasha/pocketfulofsunshine "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield"] . Metacritic.com. Retrieved January 30, 2008.] The album includes new songs as well as tracks from her second European album "N.B.", which was never released in the United States, but released in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2007. "Pocketful of Sunshine" was a top three album in the United States,Hasty, Katie. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003703770 "'Juno' Unseats Keys From Atop Album Chart"] . Billboard.com. January 30, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.] and both its lead single "Love like This", featuring Sean Kingston and second single "Pocketful of Sunshine" were top twenty hits, with the latter being a top five hit. [http://acharts.us/song/28693 "Love like This World Charts"] . aCharts.us. Retrieved January 30, 2008.]

The album featured collaborations with Jamaican American reggae artist Sean Kingston and Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine, and was influenced by hip hop music, electronic music, and reggae. [ [http://www.blender.com/news/comments.aspx?article=9183 "Natasha Bedingfield: Hottest Baby-Craving Stalker Ever"] . "Blender". Retrieved January 30, 2008.] Mason, Stewart. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fvftxzehld0e~T1 "Pocketful of Sunshine > Review"] . Allmusic. Retrieved January 26, 2008.] Most of the songs focus on love and relationships, as opposed to her debut album "Unwritten", which dealt with independence and opportunism. During a radio interview, Natasha said that this album will be released in the UK, towards the end of the summer of 2008. [http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ipM93hs5nGUBO8lcSVVHkaEdLkPg "Natasha Bedingfield talks love, recapturing 'Unwritten' success"] . The Canadian Press. January 23, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.]

Critical response

"Pocketful of Sunshine" received mostly positive reviews from pop music critics. Kerri Mason, "Billboard" reviewer, gave the album positive response. Mason wrote ,"The album has an undeniable flip-flop feel throughout; like the unplugged soul-chick hoedown Beyoncé tried to conjure at the end of the "Irreplaceable" video." [Mason, Kerri. [http://billboard.com/bbcom/content_display/reviews/albums/e3i5852afde016b362466bfb1e09c11b3e2?imw=Y "'Pocketful of Sunshine' Review"] . "Billboard". Retrieved January 26, 2008.] Christian Hoard of "Rolling Stone" wrote that "Bedingfield doesn't have much to say", but commented that "the packaging in which she wraps her openhearted thoughts makes "Sunshine" a decent little pop record". [Hoard, Christian. [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/18065996/review/18137481/pocketful_of_sunshine "Pocketful of Sunshine: Natasha Bedingfield: Review"] . "Rolling Stone". Retrieved January 26, 2008.] Bill Lamb of About.com noted that "unfortunately, her second solo album, massively reworked from her corresponding second album in the UK, is simply another professional, corporately polished pop record. Songs and vocals are reasonably solid..." but, he added, "it's hard to hear inspiration." [Lamb, Bill. [http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/natashabpocket.htm "Pocketful of Sunshine: Natasha Bedingfield: Review"] About.com. Retrieved January 29, 2008.]

Despite the positive responses, the album received some criticism as well. "Los Angeles Times" was disappointed that "I Wanna Have Your Babies" was not included on "Pocketful of Sunshine" and wrote that "as awkward as the song is, it fleshes out Bedingfield's vision better than Jerkins' Mary J. Blige "Angel" or Rotem's Fergalicious "Piece of Your Heart". The album ending up receiving 2.5 stars out of 4. [ [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/la-et-natasha20jan20,1,156704.story "Album: Natasha Bedingfield's 'Pocketful of Sunshine'"] . "Los Angeles Times". January 20, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2008.] . Allmusic gave the album a mixed review and described it as "awkwardly assembled", and added that it "feels inorganic in a way that "Unwritten" did not, less personal and more vetted by various A&R executives". Glenn Gambo in a review for "Newsday" gave the album C+ rating, and wrote that the album "barely registers" and was "full of pale copies of other successful pop [songs] that don't necessarily work for Bedingfield". [Gamboa, Glenn. [http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/partii/ny-ettop5546853jan22,0,6980108.column "'Pocketful of Sunshine' Review"] . "Newsday". Retrieved January 26, 2008.]

Chart performance and sales

"Pocketful of Sunshine" debuted on the "Billboard" 200 albums chart in the United States at number three, selling 49,000 copies. The first week sales surpassed her debut album, "Unwritten", which sold 34,000 copies its first week of release. The album has become the third highest debut by a United Kingdom-signed female artist in "Billboard" history, after Joss Stone, who entered at number two and now Leona Lewis, after her debut at number one. [ [http://www.natashabedingfield.com/news/pocketful_of_sunshine_goes_down_a_storm_in_the_us.html "Pocketful of Sunshine Goes Down a Storm in the U.S."] . NatashaBedingfield.com. January 30, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.] The album, however, quickly fell down the chart. After performing on American Idol, sales of the album and single "Pocketful of Sunshine" increased considerably. The album jumped from number ninety-seven to number twenty-four on the Billboard 200, while the single charted within the top ten on the Billboard charts. It has sold 433,442 copies in the U.S. up to September 2008. [Caulfield, Keith. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/ask_bb/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003849640 "Ask Billboard - UK Imports"] . "Billboard". September 12 2008.] In Canada, the album debuted at number thirteen.Williams, John. [http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2008/01/30/4801977-ca.html "'Juno' soundtrack hits No. 1"] . Jam!. Retrieved January 30, 2008.]

Track listing

# "Put Your Arms Around Me" - 3:43
# "Pocketful of Sunshine" - 3:23
# "Happy" - 3:40
# "Love like This" (featuring Sean Kingston) - 3:42
# "Piece of Your Heart" - 3:47
# "Soulmate" - 3:34 †
# "Say It Again" (featuring Adam Levine on backing vocals) - 3:32 †
# "Angel" - 4:08
# "Backyard" - 3:27 †
# "Freckles" - 3:46
# "Who Knows" - 3:46 †
# "Pirate Bones" - 3:52 †
# "Not Givin' Up" - 3:49 †

* † indicates a track taken from "N.B."

Bonus tracks

;Bonus tracks on the North American iTunes editions
#

"Unwritten" (Stripped acoustic version) - 4:08
#"Love like This" (Acoustic from Bleu Room) - 3:25 (Pre-order exclusive)
#"Cheer Me Up" - 3:22 (Pre-order exclusive)

;Bonus tracks on the Wal-Mart edition

#

"Love like This" (Live from Wal-Mart Soundcheck)
#"Unwritten" (Live from Wal-Mart Soundcheck)

;Bonus tracks on the Japanese edition
#

"Stepping Stone" [cite web|url=http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2694179|title=Pocketfull Of Sunshine product listing|work=HMV Japan|accessdate=2008-08-10]

ingles

"Love Like This" was the lead single of the album. It was solicited to radio stations on September 20, 2007. [Cite news |last=|first=|title=Available For Airplay Archive |url=http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=69239#2007 |publisher="fmbq.com"|date(2007)|accessdate=2008-07-29] It was released on online music store on October 2, 2007. The single was a top 20 hit in U.S. reaching number 11 in Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 in Pop 100. [Cite news |last=|first=|title=Natasha Bedingfield- Artist Chart History |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=622537&model.vnuAlbumId=1086031 |publisher="billboard.com"|date|accessdate=2008-07-29] The single was released in U.K. on April 7, 2008.

The title track of the album was chosen to be the second single. The song was sent to radio stations on February 11, 2008. [Cite news |last=|first=|title=Available for Airplay|url=http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16691 |publisher="fmbq.com"|date|accessdate=2008-07-29] The single reached number 5 on Billboard Hot 100 [Cite news |last=|first=|title=Natasha Bedingfield — Pocketful Of Sunshine|url=http://acharts.us/song/31779|publisher="acharts.us"|date|accessdate=2008-07-29] giving Natasha her second top 10 single. It also peaked number number 3 in Canadian Hot 100. The single release date in U.K. was cancelled.

"Angel" is the third single from the album and was sent to radio stations on August 11, 2008 . In its first official week at radio, Angel started at #59 on Mediabase's Top 40 Chart with 318 spins and jumped to #40 in its second week. Phil Griffin was booked to direct the music video. [Cite news |last=|first=|title=BOOKED: Natasha Bedingfield — Phil Griffin, director|url=http://www.videostatic.com/vs/2008/week31/index.html#entry-53347112|publisher="videostatic.com"|date|accessdate=2008-07-29] [Cite news |last=|first=|title=Phil/Natasha Bedingfield
url=http://www.rhfilms.com/news/?p=114|publisher="rhfilms.com"|date|accessdate=2008-07-29]

Charts

Personnel

The following people contributed to "Pocketful of Sunshine": ["Pocketful of Sunshine" (CD liner notes). Sony BMG. January 2008.]
*Natasha Bedingfield – lead vocals, backing vocals
*Danielle Brisebois, Ravaughn Brown, Steve Kipner, Rico Love, Meleni Smith — backing vocals
*Mike Elizondo - guitar, bass guitar, programming, keyboards
*Andrew Frampton — backing vocals, keyboards, programming
*Richard Altenbach - orchestra conductor, arranger, strings
*Toby Gad — producer, writer, instrumentation, programming, arranger, mixing
*J.R. Rotem — instrumentation, arranger
*Greg Kurstin — instrumentation, engineering
*Jeff Rothschild - drums, programming, engineering
*John Shanks — guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
*Wayne Wilkins — keyboards, backing vocals, drum programming, keyboard programming
*Trevor Lawrence — drums, cymbals
*Charles Judge — keyboards
*Nick Lashley, Wendy Melvoin — guitar
*Michael Valerio — bass guitar
*Julie Gigante, Neel Hammond, Natalie Leggett, Mark Robertson - violin
*Keith Greene - viola
*Victor Lawrence, Sebastian Toettcher - cello
*Jason Pennock — digital editing
*Greg Ogan — engineering, vocal engineering
*Jared Robbins — assistant engineer, mixing assistant
*Adam Hawkins, Brian Scheuble — engineering
*Daniel Frampton — vocal engineering
*Keith Gretlein, Nate Hertweck, Aaron Kasdorf, Matt Serrecchio — assistant engineer
*Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica, Manny Marroquin, Phil Tan — mixing
*Alex Dromgoole, Josh Houghkirk, Matt Paul — mixing assistant
*David Kutch — mastering
*John Akehurst — photography
*Michelle Holme — design

References