Elegant Slumming (1993)

Elegant Slumming is the second album by the British dance band M People. It was released on 4 October 1993 charting and peaking at number 2 on the UK Album Chart and spent 87 weeks in the Top 75. It re-entered the chart three times in October 1996 and March and September 1997. Its overall sales stand at 759,000 as of September 2020.

The four singles released from the album were all UK Top 10 hits: "One Night in Heaven" (#6) and "Moving On Up" (#2), as well as a cover version of the Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett song "Don't Look Any Further", which reached No. 9 in the UK. A fourth hit, "Renaissance", reached No. 5 in the same chart.

The US version was released in 1994 in a separate deal on the Epic label, and replaces 3 tracks with 3 hits from their debut album Northern Soul, which did not have a US release. The album was well received, and "One Night in Heaven" and "Moving On Up" were Billboard No. 1 hits on Hot Dance Club Play.

The original British album won the 1994 UK Mercury Music Prize.

Critical reception

The album was met with positive reviews from most music critics. Billboard magazine complimented it as "a sterling collection that is a delicious blend of cutting-edge club rhythms and classic pop/soul hooks." They praised Heather Small as "a formidable front woman who rises above the pack of iron-lunged divas with a well-rounded range and a regal grace. She exudes the ingredients necessary for major stardom on dandy ditties like 'One Night in Heaven', 'Colour My Life', and 'Moving On Up'". Alan Jones from Music Week named the album Pick of the Week, remarking that Small is "in commanding vocal form", while the band provide her "with infectious and real (no sampled) pads over which to strut her impressive stuff."

Iestyn George from NME wrote, "Everything, from the artwork onwards, is presented with flawless precision, blending Italia-house with breakbeats and subtle touches of latin percussion. Pickering's encyclopedic knowledge of music and priceless apprenticeship at the Hacienda are matched by Heather Small's mother-of-all vocals." Pete Stanton from Smash Hits named it Best New Album, adding, "If 'One Night in Heaven' had you wiggling then this album's your baby. 'Moving On Up' is a funky dancefloor filler and 'La Vida Loca' could make your cucumber rumba." Jonathan Bernstein from Spin said, "Don't wrinkle your nose in that unbecoming fashion. That stench to which you're so unused is called class and these U.K. clubland monarchs just reek of it." Music critic of The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album an A.