So Close (album)

So Close
Studio album by Dina Carroll
Released	18 January 1993
Genre	Jazz-pop[1] dance[2] R&B[3]
Length	53:47
Label	A&M
Producer	Nigel Lowis
Dina Carroll chronology
So Close (1993) Only Human (1996)
Singles from So Close
"Ain't No Man" Released: 29 June 1992 "Special Kind of Love" Released: 28 September 1992 "So Close" Released: 23 November 1992 "This Time" Released: 15 February 1993 "Express" Released: 3 May 1993 "Don't Be a Stranger" Released: 4 October 1993

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Music Week	[3]
NME	5/10[4]

So Close is the debut album by British soul–dance singer Dina Carroll, released in January 1993 on the A&M label.^[5] The album made its chart debut at #2 and remained in the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart for six months.^[6] It was shortlisted for the 1993 Mercury Prize. It ended 1993 as the fourth-best-selling album of the year in the United Kingdom, and its success continued into 1994 as it remained in the top 20 for another three months and again rose to a peak of #2. It eventually sold 1.5 million copies and was the highest selling debut album by a British female singer in UK chart history, a record it held until 2001 when it was overtaken by Dido's No Angel.

Among the session musicians on the album are the Blues Brothers' horn section, Mariah Carey's bass player Anthony Jackson and Cissy Houston's New Hope Baptist Choir. On the album release, Music & Media wrote, "Here we have a real soul singer, as sophisticated and sensual as Lisa Stansfield, who fits both the trendy club scene as well as the plush surroundings of chic nightclubbing."^[7]

Singles

Three tracks from So Close ("Ain't No Man", "Special Kind of Love" and "So Close") had already been Top 20 hits in the UK Singles Chart during 1992, before the album was released in January 1993. "This Time" and "Express" also became Top 30 hits after the release of the album; then towards the end of 1993 the ballad "Don't Be a Stranger" was released as a single and turned out to be the album's biggest seller, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listing

• All tracks composed by Dina Carroll and Nigel Lowis unless stated.

1. "Special Kind of Love" (David Cole, Robert Clivillés) 4:42
2. "Hold On" 4:51
3. "This Time" 5:21
4. "Falling" 3:33
5. "So Close" 4:54
6. "Ain't No Man" 3:54
7. "Express" 4:34
8. "Heaven Sent" 3:46
9. "You'll Never Know" 5:56
10. "Don't Be a Stranger" (Coral Gordon, Geoff Gurd) 4:22
11. "Why Did I Let You Go?" 3:29
12. "If I Knew You Then" 4:18

Personnel

• Arranged by [strings] – Nigel Lowis (tracks: 3 9)
• Design – Jeremy Pearce
• Drum programming – CJ Mackintosh (tracks: 4, 6 to 8), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 3 10)
• Engineer, producer [additional production] – Steve Boyer (tracks: 3, 8)
• Guitar – Nigel Lowis (tracks: 4 6 7)
• Keyboards – Nigel Lowis (tracks: 3 4 6 7 10)
• Leader [strings] – David Nadien (tracks: 3, 8)
• Mixed by – CJ Mackintosh (tracks: 2 4 6 7 9), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 2, 4 to 7, 9, 10)
• Mixed by [Assistant] – Howie B. (tracks: 6 7 9), Niall Flynn (tracks: 4, 7, 10, 11)
• Performer [all instruments] – CJ Mackintosh (tracks: 2 9), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 2 5 9)
• Photography by – Simon Fowler (2)
• Producer – CJ Mackintosh (tracks: 2 9), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 2 to 12)
• Saxophone – Jimmy Gallagher (tracks: 2 9)
• Written by – Dina Carroll (tracks: 2 to 9), Nigel Lowis (tracks: 2 to 9)

Weekly charts

Chart (1993-94)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8]	19
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9]	69
Scottish Albums (OCC)[10]	10
UK Albums (OCC)[11]	2

Year-end charts

1993 year-end chart performance for So Close

Chart (1993)	Rank
UK Albums (OCC)[12]	3

References

1. Sharon Mawer. So Close at AllMusic. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
2. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 211.|quote=upbeat dance album "So Close" by British R&B and dance diva Dina Carroll
3. Jones, Alan (23 January 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums — Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 25. Retrieved 29 January 2023. set of mediocre R&B songs.
4. McCann, Ian (30 January 1993). "Long Play". NME. p. 31. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
5. Dina Carroll — So Close
6. "Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
7. "A&M Tries To Break Carroll With First Album" (PDF). Music & Media. 13 February 1993. p. 10. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
8. "Dutchcharts.nl – Dina Carroll – So Close" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
9. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
10. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
11. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
12. "Top 100 Albums 1993" (PDF). Music Week. 15 January 1994. p. 25. Retrieved 21 May 2022 – via World Radio History.