Letters is the debut studio album by English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

ist Matt Cardle

Matt Cardle

Matthew Sheridan "Matt" Cardle is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to fame after winning the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. He received a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music by winning, and his debut number one single "When We Collide" was released immediately...

. It was released on 14 October 2011 and charted at no.2, selling over 70,000 copies in its first week. The album is available in two editions; a standard disc edition, as well as a two-disc limited edition which includes acoustic re-workings of five tracks.

Background and composition

On 15 March 2011, it was reported by The Sun that Cardle has signed a record deal with Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell

Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...

's Syco Music in a joint venture with Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, becoming the first The X Factor winner not to be exclusively signed to Cowell's label. Cardle announced the name of his debut album on 18 August 2011. "Letters" is described by The Sun as a collection of guitar riffed and string sectioned smashes, "reminiscent of Snow Patrol

Snow Patrol

Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...

's biggest hits". Cardle explained that "Starlight" is "a depressing happy song about the insignificance of everything", while "Amazing" is "about finding someone when you've got no-one". He co-wrote "All for Nothing" with songwriter Eg White

Eg White

Francis Anthony "Eg" White is a British musician, songwriter and producer. White is primarily known for his work with successful commercial pop acts such as Adele, Duffy, Will Young and James Morrison...

. Cardle said: "I recorded it after a couple of cups of tea and a few cigarettes so it's quite raw." The title track "Letters" is described by The Sun showbiz columnist Gordon Smart as sounding reminiscent to Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

's "Fix You

Fix You

"Fix You" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third album, X&Y. The track is built around an organ, that is accompanied by slow tempo drums, and a vocals. It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from X&Y and...

", with Cardle employing a "Chris Martin

Chris Martin

Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...

-styled falsetto

Falsetto

Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...

". Lyrics in the chorus include: "Send a message to my heart."

Critical Reception

Upon its release, "Letters" received mixed reviews. The BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 gave an unfavourable review, calling "Letters" "over-produced" and "a barrage of formulaically chugging soft-rock structures and overwhelming strings." The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...

 claimed that Cardle's vocals sound "off-key" while Digital Spy

Digital Spy

Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....

 rated it 2 out of 5, faulting the album for "mushy, MOR soft-rock production."

The Financial Times

Financial Times

The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

 gave it 1 out of 5, calling it "woefully formulaic, instantly forgettable debut album full of manufactured drama." The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

 gave the album 2 out of 5, calling "Letters" "an album of triumphal power ballads." The Observer

The Observer

The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

 rated it 3 out of 5, calling the album "widescreen guitar pop based around overwrought choruses that demand gurning as they're belted."

The Daily Star rated it 6 out of 10, calling it a "disappointment" with "so many samey ballads that Matt himself starts to sound bored"; however, the review did concede that "he can do mature ballads to perfection," as evidenced by the song "Faithless." The Daily Express

Daily Express

The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...

 said that Cardle's vocals were "versatile and emotional" and the songs were "more than decent."

The Irish Independent

Irish Independent

The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...

 gave "Letters" 8 out of 10, noting Cardle's "impressive falsetto." The Daily Record (Scotland)

Daily Record (Scotland)

The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...

 called the album "fantastic" and "classic," saying it had "exceeded all expectations."

Pop Ledge rated "Letters" 3 out of 10, calling the over-all album "boring" and "too formulaic" while naming "Starlight" ("a good rock/pop vibe") and "Stars and Lovers" ("reminds us of Arcade Fire") as stand-out tracks. The Yorker

The Yorker

The Yorker is a student-run website that provides news, features, comments, university and college sports, and reviews for the University of York. As a private limited company, The Yorker is the only independent media outlet on campus...

 noted that while there was "nothing especially awful" about "Letters," tracks were "instantly forgettable" and "utterly boring." BigLiveActs said "Letters" was "a must for Matt Cardle and X Factor fans but not much here to interest the rest of us." Philip Elwood's blog Entertainment Focus rated it 4 out of 5, calling it a "solid debut" and a "fantastic record."

What Culture awarded the album 3 stars and stated that the album is "not that bad" with "some hidden gems" but "ultimately inconsistent and bland" with "too many forgettable, similar tracks which for me spoil the album." In its review, Female First, an online "celebrity gossip and lifestyle magazine," concluded that "'Letters', in all honesty, isn't a particularly adventurous record," but predicted it "will go some way to help [Cardle] establish himself as a serious musician and song-writer."

According to the reviewer for Cosmopolitan (magazine)

Cosmopolitan (magazine)

Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...

, "[t]he 13-track album is every bit the epic, power-ballad compilation I could’ve wished for. Big, belting choruses, meaningful lyrics and plenty of high notes to make women swoon." The opposite judgement was expressed by male British rapper Professor Green, who replied "Matt Cardle" when asked by Heat

Heat

In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...

 who annoyed him in music: "I don't know him from Adam so I haven't got any kind of personal problem with him, but his music is fucking horrendous." Appearing on Sky Arts 1’s The Jo Whiley Music Show, Professor Green said
“I’m not sure I can see a future for Matt Cardle".

Singles

"Run For Your Life

Run for Your Life (Matt Cardle song)

"Run for Your Life" is a song by British singer-songwriter Matt Cardle from his upcoming debut studio album, Letters. It was released as the album's lead single on 9 October 2011...

" was released as the album's first single on 7 October 2011. (The album also includes the X Factor winner's single "When We Collide," released on Syco Records in December 2010.) Written by Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...

, it became Cardle's second consecutive top 10 single when it peaked at number 6 during its first week of release. After four weeks of steadily diminishing sales, it ranked number 96 but climbed up to 91 in its fifth week

"Starlight" will be released as the second single recorded for the album on 4 December 2011.

Track listing

Chart performance

Chart (2011)	Peak position
Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...	2
Scottish Albums Chart	2
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	2
UK Download Chart	2

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Ireland	14 October 2011	Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... , CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...	Syco Music Syco Syco Entertainment, often known as simply Syco , is a global joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment focused on the production and exploitation of music, television, film and digital content... , Sony Music, Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
United Kingdom	17 October 2011