Life in a Beautiful Light

Macdonald began to write Life in a Beautiful Light after having a "lovely year off" following touring in support of A Curious Thing. Macdonald had no time to write songs on her second album as she was touring with This Is the Life. However, Macdonald said she felt that the creation of Life in a Beautiful Light was a more natural process.^[3] Two songs from Life in a Beautiful Light were begun before Macdonald's break. "In the End" was written with Macdonald questioning herself whether being a musician was a worthwhile occupation.^[3]

Macdonald wrote "Human Spirit" inspired by the Chilean miners' rescue.^[3] The song "Left That Body Long Ago" described her grandmother's decline into Alzheimer's disease whilst "Across the Nile" is a response to the conflict of the Arab Spring.^[4]

On 14 June 2012 Life in a Beautiful Light entered the Irish Albums Chart at number 5, making it her highest-charting album in Ireland. On 17 June 2012 the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 2, making it the second highest-charting album that week, only beaten by Gary Barlow's album Sing. Only 1,000 copies separated the top three albums.^[5] The album fared better in Scotland, where it debuted at number one.

It was awarded Platinum status in both Germany and Switzerland, indicating sales in excess of 200,000 and 30,000 copies respectively,^[6][7] and in the United Kingdom was awarded Gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), indicating sales in excess of 100,000.^[8] Additionally, in Poland, it was also certified Gold, indicating sales of over 10,000 copies.^[9]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	60/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Daily Express	[12]
Hot Press	[13]
musicOMH	[14]
Sputnikmusic	[15]
The Scotsman	[16]
The Tech	[17]

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"Slow It Down" was released as the albums lead single on 20 April 2012. It achieved considerable commercial success across Europe, particularly in the continent, where it reached the top five in Poland,^[18] top twenty in Belgium and Scotland,^[19][20] and also the top forty in both Germany and Switzerland. It was eventually certified Gold in Germany, indicating sales in excess of 150,000 copies.^[21] In the United Kingdom, it missed the official UK Top 40 by five places, debuting and peaking at number forty five on the official UK Singles Charts, before falling to number forty eight in its second week. In its third week on the UK Singles Chart, it stood at number eighty four, before falling out of the UK Top 100 entirely.^[22] Moderate success was achieved in Ireland, where it reached number fifty seven on the Irish Singles Chart.^[23]

"Pride" was released as the second single from the album on 13 August 2012. In an interview with BBC Breakfast Macdonald said that the song was inspired from signing the national anthem of Scotland at Hampden Park, saying "it is an honor and it is something that she always gets nervous about, but it is such a buzz afterwards that she loves to do it".^[24] It reached the top 100 of the Scottish Singles Charts, peaking at number eighty-seven,^[25] and thirty-nine on the Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders Charts in Belgium.^[26] "4th of July" was released as the third and final single from the album on 22 October 2012.

The album up to now has gathered mixed reviews, earning a collective score of 5.1 out of 10 at AnyDecentMusic?.^[27] The Upcoming described the album as a "strong return from Macdonald, interweaving her distinctive voice with splashing cymbals and burbling electronica, but still intermittently flirting with folky affectations".^[28] The album received 60/100 on Metacritic, a review aggregator website, signifying "mixed or average reviews".^[10]

All songs written by Amy Macdonald