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Down to Earth
Studio album by Jem
Released	16 September 2008
Recorded	2006–2008
Studio	Detroit and Los Angeles
Genre	Trip hop pop Electronica
Length	47:18
Language	English Spanish Japanese
Label	ATO
Producer	Greg Kurstin Lester Mendez Jeff Bass Mike Bradford
Jem chronology
Finally Woken (2004) Down to Earth (2008) Beachwood Canyon (2016)
Singles from Down to Earth
"It's Amazing" Released: 3 June 2008 "Crazy" Released: 26 August 2008 "And So I Pray" Released: 26 May 2009 "I Want You To..." Released: 26 October 2009

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	54/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
ArtofRhyme	3.75/5
Billboard	(positive)
Digital Spy
The Guardian
musicOMH
Paste	6.1/10
The Phoenix
The Times

Down to Earth is the second studio album by Welsh musician Jem, the follow-up to Finally Woken. The first single, "It's Amazing", was featured on the soundtrack to the Sex and the City movie. The album spawned four singles.

The press release states that Jem co-wrote the album with a variety of people including Jeff Bass, Lester Mendez and Greg Kurstin and sings in Japanese on the track, "Aciiid!". The album also includes a collaboration with South African singer-songwriter and poet-activist Vusi Mahlasela on the track "You Will Make It" which was dedicated to the memory of D12 member Proof. Although the collaboration never happened, Jem wanted to work with Eminem for the song, saying "The track is about losing someone and I wrote it the day after his friend Proof was murdered. I was in Detroit with Eminem's friends, who I happened to be recording with, when it happened".

Critical reception

Down to Earth was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 7 reviews.

In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer Andrew Leahey wrote: "Down to Earth's title depicts Jem as a grounded musician, but its wide-ranging sound suggests something different, as the singer has yet to find a style that fully suits her capabilities."

Track listing

Personnel

• Hiroko Aoyagi – vocals
• Jeff Atmajian – piano, string arrangements, piano arrangement
• Jeff Bass – bass, guitar, keyboards, producer, drum programming, tracked by
• Kevin Beber – drum programming
• Brian Berryman – engineer, fader engineer
• Mick Bolger – trombone, trumpet, euphonium, mellophonium, E flat cornet
• Mike Bradford – producer, string arrangements, instrumentation
• Del Casher – sounds
• Bryan Cook – engineer
• Nick Cuchinella – trombone
• Nabil Elderkin – photography
• Johnny Evans – saxophone
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Jem Griffiths – vocals, producer, vocal engineer, poetry reading
• Justin Griffiths – acoustic guitar
• John Hanes – mixing
• Mark Aaron James – design
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Shinobu Lee – vocals
• David Levita – acoustic guitar, guitar
• Lester Mendez – piano, producer, string arrangements, brass arrangement, instrumentation
• Monica Mendez – sound design
• Milan, Derrick & The Krew – chorus
• Eddie Miller – vocal engineer
• Rafael Padilla – percussion
• Phillip Ramos – studio assistant
• Tim Roberts – mixing assistant
• Ken Robinson – trumpet
• Sonus – strings
• Welsh Choir of Southern California – chorus
• Joe Wohlmuth – engineer

Charts

Release history

Notes

1. Italy's release was originally planned for 6 march 2009, as announced on Jem's official MySpace, but it was later postponed.

References

1. ^ "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
2. ^ Leahey, Andrew. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
3. "ArtofRhyme review". Artofrhyme.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
4. Billboard review
5. "Digital Spy review". Digitalspy.co.uk. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
6. Caroline Sullivan (30 January 2009). "The Guardian review". London: Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
7. "Jem – Down to Earth – review". Musicomh.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
8. "Paste review". Pastemagazine.com. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
9. "The Phoenix review". Thephoenix.com. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
10. "The Times review". The Times. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
11. Raible, Allan. "Review: Jem's "Down To Earth". ABC News. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
12. Jem - Down To Earth (CD liner notes). ATO Records. 88088-21630-2
13. Kilkelly, Daniel. "Jem hopes to team up with Eminem". digitalspy.com. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
14. "Down to Earth by Jem". Apple Music. ATO Records. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
15. "Official UK Albums Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
16. "Jem | The Official Website of Jem". Jem-music.net. Retrieved 18 October 2016.

• 2008 albums
• Albums produced by Greg Kurstin
• Albums produced by Michael Bradford
• ATO Records albums
• Jem (singer) albums