The Turn is the seventh studio album by the British singer-songwriter Alison Moyet, released by W14 Music in 2007. The album includes the singles "One More Time" and "A Guy Like You", as well as three tracks first written and performed in 2006 for stage play Smaller, in which Moyet starred with comedian and long-time friend Dawn French. The Turn was the singer's first release on the W14 Music label and debuted at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart on 22 October 2007, lasting four weeks in the chart. A deluxe edition of The Turn was released by Cooking Vinyl on 2 October 2015.
Background
After the release and promotion of the 2004 covers albumVoice, Moyet began rehearsals to play a leading role in the stage play Smaller, alongside Dawn French. The play, written by Carmel Morgan and directed by Kathy Burke, was toured across the UK for six weeks before opening at West End's Lyric Theatre in April 2006. In addition to her role in the play, Moyet wrote three songs for the play; "World Without End", "Home" and "Smaller". Following Smaller, Moyet began writing new material with her songwriting partner Pete Glenister before returning to the studio to record The Turn, which included the three songs penned for Smaller. The album was released in October 2007 and reached No. 21 on the UK Albums Chart. Two singles were released from the album; "One More Time" and "A Guy Like You". Speaking to FemaleFirst in 2007, Moyet said of the album: "The Turn is an album of crafted song. We started building it from a core of Chansons, the shapes of Roy Orbison that grow from a gentle place to an impassioned climax. It is about melody and intelligent lyrics. We let it fray outwards from there. It is in turn progressive and reflective." She told PopMatters in 2008: "One of the things I wanted to do with The Turn was write a production of songs that could be stripped down to one or two instruments if you chose to do it."
Critical reception
Upon release, Chris Long, writing for the BBC, commented: "The Turn is no blistering return to form to sit proudly alongside the real gems of her career, but it is satisfying nonetheless, and it's a welcome reminder that Moyet still has one of the most emotive and intoxicating British voices ever." Cheryl Arrighie of 33rpm.com described the album as a "strong collection of songs" and a "marked improvement" over Voice, but was critical of the inclusion of the three songs from Smaller. She added: "You can't help feeling that it's all been done and heard before." Indie London felt the album was an "acquired taste", with a diversity that "creates an uneven experience". They concluded: "The Turn's most obvious asset is its voice - but given that it's the first album of new material from Moyet in five years it fails to generate the levels of excitement we'd been anticipating." John Murphy of musicOMH felt the album "certainly delivers substance", with "several of the tracks deserv special mention". He concluded: "Quite possibly the red wine album of the year so far." Richie Unterberger of AllMusic felt the material on The Turn "mixes orchestrated pop/rock with a blue-eyed soul sensibility" and considered it "adult contemporary pop that's far above the usual standards for that genre". Billboard wrote: "The Turn proffers all sides of the smoky, blues-soaked singer/songwriter's persona." In a review of the 2015 deluxe edition, Paul Scott-Bates of Louder Than War noted the album's "incredible depth of material" and Moyet's "superb performances".
