Our Version of Events (2012)

Our Version of Events is the debut studio album by Scottish singer Emeli Sandé. It was released on 13 February 2012 by Virgin Records, following Sandé's winning of the Critics' Choice Award at the BRIT Awards 2012. Though Our Version of Events is her first album release, Sandé has been active in the industry since 2009, most notably appearing on singles by Chipmunk ("Diamond Rings") and Wiley ("Never Be Your Woman"). The album features R&B, soul and pop music.

Sandé began working with Alicia Keys for the album, and for Keys' upcoming album. She also expressed interest in working with Nicki Minaj on the album. Naughty Boy was a major collaboration with Sandé from the day she began creating music professionally. She wrote every track on the album, saying that the key to a good song when writing is using "honesty" and "raw emotion". Upon release of the album, Sandé's vocal ability was compared to the likes of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Annie Lennox, Tracy Chapman, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill. Madonna also expressed interest in Sandé's music.

"Heaven" was released in August 2011 as the first single from the album, charting at number two on the UK Singles Chart and later became an international success, charting within the top ten in many European countries. Sandé released "Read All About It" with Professor Green in November 2011, which resulted in her writing "Read All About It, Pt. III". "Daddy" was released in November 2011, charting at number 21 in the UK and also becoming an international success. "Easier in Bed", a non-album promotional single was released onto iTunes in December 2011. "Next to Me" was the third single released, and became a global hit, reaching number two in the UK and number two and number one on the Irish Singles Chart. "My Kind of Love" was released as the fourth single from the album in June 2012, with Sandé appearing on The Voice UK to promote the single.

Upon release, Our Version of Events debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and remained at the top spot for five non-consecutive weeks. The British Phonographic Industry certified the album 2× Platinum, making it the fastest selling album by a British recording artist since Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream (2009). It was later certified 8× Platinum. The album also peaked at number one on the Irish Albums Chart. It won British Album of the Year at the 2013 Brit Awards.

Our Version of Events was re-released on 22 October 2012. It included three new tracks, a remix and a cover of "Imagine" (originally by John Lennon), replacing Sandé's version of "Abide with Me". "Wonder" (a song credited as Naughty Boy featuring Emeli Sandé featured on the US version of the album) was released as the lead single from the re-release. It also serves as the lead single from collaborator Naughty Boy's album Hotel Cabana. In September 2012, Our Version of Events became the best-selling album of 2012 in the UK, overtaking Adele's 21. It was also the second best-selling album of 2013 in the UK.

Background

Sandé first appeared in public when she sent a video into Trevor Nelson's BBC urban music competition, where she played piano while singing one of her favourite songs, "Nasty Little Man". It was later announced that she had won the competition and Sandé was offered a record deal. However, once she met the management to finalise the contract for the recording contract, the management decided against giving Sandé a deal. Her parents later sent BBC Radio 1Xtra a CD of her songs and Ras Kwame played the songs on his "Homegrown Sessions", and four artists that year were asked to do a show in Soho in the United States. She later met Shahid Khan, who has previously worked with Ms Dynamite and Bashy. Khan said "When we started together it took the music to something completely original. It took me out of my jazz piano niche, and it took him out of his urban scene. Then we started writing for pop people."