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"Angel"
"Angel"
Single by Kirsty MacColl
from the album Titanic Days
B-side	"Angel (Jay's Edit)"
Released	December 1993
Length	3:40
Label	ZTT
Songwriter(s)	Kirsty MacColl
Producer(s)	Steve Lillywhite; Gregg Jackman
Kirsty MacColl singles chronology

"Angel" is a song by British singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl, released in 1993 as the lead single from her fourth studio album Titanic Days. It was written by MacColl and produced by Steve Lillywhite. For its release as a single, "Angel" was remixed with additional production by Gregg Jackman.^[2] The song reached number 87 in the UK Singles Chart and number 26 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.^[3]^[4]

Background

Speaking to Melinda Newman of Billboard, MacColl said of the song: "It's a euphoric song. It's kind of a feeling of being protected. It makes me feel better when I hear that one."^[5] The artwork on the single's sleeve is from the 1989 painting "Guardian Angel" by Holly Johnson.^[6]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Music & Media commented, "The holiday season will last a little longer with this folk song in a Christmas atmosphere. Traditional instruments and the modern rhythm track are living in perfect harmony."^[7] Andrew Hirst of the Huddersfield Daily Examiner picked "Angel" as the newspaper's "single of the week" and wrote, "Kirsty is one of Britain's top songstresses with the voice to match. Starts with mournful bagpipes and then gets better and better. Sincere, sensitive, honest – in short, first-rate."^[8] Jane Downing of the Sunday Sun awarded a 5 out of 10 rating and commented, "I used to like Kirsty MacColl but she seems to have lost it in recent years."^[9]

In a review of Titanic Days, Peter Holmes of The Sydney Morning Herald noted that the song, with its "gentle hip hop rhythm and floating vocal", "sounds as if it were written for her by Single Gun Theory, no small compliment".^[10] Dave Hall of the Tampa Bay Times commented that it "soars amid a hypnotic dance tempo".^[11] Ira Robbins of Trouser Press remarked that the "evanescent" "Angel" has a "bustling club beat and pizzicato violin plucks".^[12] Gary Graff, in his book MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide noted the "mutant dub/hip-hop beat supporting MacColl's ethereal vocals".^[13]

Track listing

7" single

"Angel" - 3:40
"Angel" (Jay's Edit) - 3:52

12" single

"Angel" - 3:40
"Angel" (Apollo 440 Remix) - 8:08
"Angel" (Jay's Edit) - 3:52
"Angel" (Stuart Crichton Remix) - 5:33

CD single

"Angel" - 3:40
"Angel" (Jay's Edit) - 3:52
"Angel" (Apollo 440 Remix) - 8:08
"Angel" (Stuart Crichton Remix) - 6:24
"Angel" (Into The Light Mix) - 5:33

Personnel

Kirsty MacColl - vocals, guitar
Mark E. Nevin - guitar
Pete Glenister - guitar
Gary Tibbs - bass
David Ruffy - drums
Ken Rice - violin

Production

Steve Lillywhite - producer
Gregg Jackman - additional production and remixing on single version of "Angel"
Apollo 440, Stuart Crichton - remixes

Other

Holly Johnson - cover painting

Charts

Chart (1993–1994)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart^[3]	87
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks^[4]	26

References

^ "Angel". Kirsty MacColl. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
^ MacColl (1993-10-05). "Titanic Days - Kirsty MacColl | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
^ ^a ^b "Hit Singles 2" (PDF). Hit Music!. No. 64. 18 December 1993. p. 4. Retrieved 23 February 2023 – via World Radio History.
^ ^a ^b Billboard. "Kirsty MacColl Angel Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
^ Newman, Melinda (11 December 1993). "Kirsty MacColl follows her 'Titanic Days' with (relatively) blissful nights of touring". Billboard.
^ "Kirsty MacColl - Angel / Angel (Jay's Edit) - ZTT - UK - ZANG46". 45cat. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
^ "New releases: Singles". Music & Media. 8 January 1994.
^ Hirst, Andrew (11 December 1993). "Beyond the Beat: Single of the Week". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. p. 3.
^ Downing, Jane (5 December 1993). "Jane Downing's Street Buzz: Single Select". Sunday Sun. p. 14. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Holmes, Peter (3 January 1994). "Time to wake-e up-e boys-e". The Sydney Morning Herald.
^ Hall, Dave (5 November 1993). "Songwriter no longer a ghost". Tampa Bay Times.
^ Robbins, Ira A. (1997). The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock: The All-new Fifth Edition of The ... - Ira A. Robbins - Google Books. ISBN 9780684814377. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
^ Graff, Gary (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide - Google Books. ISBN 9780787610371. Retrieved 2019-07-08.