Child of the Universe

Child of the Universe is the fourth album by Delta Goodrem. It peaked at number two in Australia. It had three singles, but none of them went to number one. The album spawned three singles : Sitting on Top of the World, Wish You Were Here and Dancing With a Broken Heart.

B-sides: Uncovered, Waiting For Forever, Daughter, Rise, Alcohol, No Communication, Heart Hypnotic

Content
Child Of The Universe is a return to form for Delta Goodrem as she experiments with RNB on "Hunters And the Wolves", and deeper Stevie Nicks sounds, on most of the tracks. "Safe To Believe" is Mariah Carey-esque ballad and "When My Stars Come Out" is big band jazz. "Touch" experiments with new age Stevie Nicks production. and "Hypnotized" is a poppy 50's track. "I Lost All Love 4 U" is a raw ballad about dealing with toxic influences in her life. "Control" finishes the album in a dark EDM RNB Lana Del Rey moment.

The classic Delta ballads are still on here, with "War On Love" and "Speed Of Life" taking center stage. "Wish You Were Here" is dedicated to her late friend, another ballad. "Sitting on Top of the World" and "Knocked Out" round out the pop celebration songs for her fans.

Experimental in the extreme involving: big band elements ("Hypnotized", "When My Stars Come Out"), early pop ("Hypnotized", "Child of the Universe"), rock ("Touch", "Alcohol"), 90's pop ("Child Of the Universe", "Speed Of Life"), Kate Bush ("Hunters And the Wolves", "Dancing With A Broken Heart") and Lana Del Rey ("Control", "Touch") moments.

She worked with Gary Clark (Touch, Child Of the Universe, Wish You Were Here, Alcohol), Chris Braide (Hunters and The Wolves, Speed Of Life, Control) John Shanks (Sitting On Top Of the World, Dancing With A Broken Heart, War On Love), Martin Tarefe (I Lost All Love 4 U), and her long term collaborator Vince Pizzinga (Speed Of Life, Safe To Believe) and a new friend, Nick Jonas (Safe to Believe), as well as new collaborators, Olivia Waithe & Steve Booker (When My Stars Come Out)

The album deals with growing up and experimenting with life and love (Speed Of Life, Hunters and the Wolves), grief (Wish You Were Here), celebrating freedom (Dancing With A Broken Heart, Hypnotized, Hunters And The Wolves, Touch, Child of the Universe), spiritual questions (Child Of the Universe, Touch, Speed Of Life) and standing up for yourself (Control, I Lost All Love 4 U, When My Stars Come Out, Hunters And the Wolves, Alcohol, Knocked Out)

Reviews:
Tania Zeine from Australian Recording Industry Association mentioned how the time off between albums allowed Goodrem to compose one of her greatest albums yet. They also praised Goodrem's "diversity of style and genre with her tracks" and that she "shows off vocally with her broad range of soulful harmonies like power solos." Emily Booth from The AU Review rated the album 7.8/10. She noted highlights of the album include Child of the Universe, Touch, Hunters and the Wolves in which she noted that it was "excellently produced and wildly atmospheric and arguably the best track on the album", and Control. However she did point out that "Dancing with a Broken Heart" is still one of the weakest songs of her career. Booth said that, "The best thing about the new record is the diversity of styles, because she can really show off her best asset, from the rock-tinged vocals on 'When My Stars Come Out' to the Mariah Carey-style harmonies on 'Safe to Believe'. There are plenty of songs which pay their respects to her musical roots, for the fans of her older stuff, but Delta has always had a versatile voice."

Tracklisting

 * 1) Child of the Universe
 * 2) Touch
 * 3) Wish You Were Here
 * 4) Knocked Out
 * 5) Sitting on Top of the World
 * 6) I'm Not Ready
 * 7) Hunters and the Wolves
 * 8) Dancing With a Broken Heart (Album Version)
 * 9) Hypnotized
 * 10) Safe to Believe
 * 11) The Speed of Life
 * 12) War On Love
 * 13) I Lost All Love 4 You
 * 14) When My Stars Come Out
 * 15) Control
 * 16) Alcohol (iTunes-Only Bonus Track)
 * 17) No Communication (iTunes Only Bonus Track)