Wings of the Wild

Wings of the Wild is the fifth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem. It was released on 1 July 2016, through Sony Music Australia. A follow-up to her last studio album, Child of the Universe (2012), it was her first studio album in four years.

Wings of the Wild
Studio album by Delta Goodrem
Released	1 July 2016
Recorded	2013–2016
Genre	Pop[1]
Length	49:15
Label	Sony Music
Producer	Dave Bassett DNA Delta Goodrem David Hodges Jon Hume Martin Johnson Nathaniel Motte Pete Nappi Vince Pizzinga Johnny Powers
Delta Goodrem chronology
Innocent Eyes: Ten Year Anniversary Acoustic Edition (2013) Wings of the Wild (2016) I Honestly Love You (2018)
Singles from Wings of the Wild
"Wings" Released: 24 July 2015 "Dear Life" Released: 6 May 2016 "Enough" Released: 24 June 2016 "The River" Released: 6 October 2016

The album was preceded by the release of its lead single, "Wings", which entered at number eight on the ARIA Singles Chart, ultimately topping the chart for two consecutive weeks. The album's second single, "Dear Life", was released on 6 May 2016, where it debuted and peaked at number three on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Background and development

In June 2013, eight months after the release of Child of the Universe, Goodrem released "Heart Hypnotic" as a stand-alone single, which peaked at number seven in the ARIA Singles Chart in Australia, while appearing as a judge on The Voice Australia. This was followed by a cover of Martika's "Love... Thy Will Be Done in support of her tour with Italian singer Andrea Bocelli.

She then released "Only Human" in March 2015 to tie in with her appearance in soap opera Neighbours as her former character Nina Tucker, to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary. The album's first official single "Wings" was released in Australia in July 2015 and reached number one. Later in 2015, Goodrem was announced to star in the Australian production of the musical Cats in the role of Grizabella.

In a 2015 interview with Official Charts Company, Goodrem confirmed that she was working on her fifth studio album, stating "I've written a lot of songs for it already, but I'm going to finish it while I'm doing Cats, because I'll be stationed in the same place for three months, which for me is unheard of. I'll be tweaking every piano riff and guitar line and make sure it's the best record I've ever done. That's the ambition."[2]

On 23 June 2016, Goodrem announced the album's title and release date. She described the album's themes as wildness, rawness and freedom.[3][4]

The lack of romantic relationships as a theme for the album was described by Goodrem as "exactly what [she] wanted", explaining "I've been clear moving forward about what I want to share as a musician and in public. It was never me to share that side of me and that's a lesson I've learned along the way. In future, it will be private, I will be able to find the better balance. This chapter wasn't about (love), it was about me. If someone had walked into my life during that time, it still would have been about me, me having my time to be free, to be myself."[5] For this reason, Goodrem had originally planned not to include her 2015 single "Only Human" on the album's track list, describing the song as sounding "broken", but later decided to "put it in the middle, it's the heart of the album and now it can connect with someone else going through that."

Singles

"Wings" was released as the album's lead single on 24 July 2015. The song debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number eight in the week ending 9 August 2015; the following week, the track reached number one on the chart, keeping its position for two consecutive weeks. Not long afterwards, it became a Number One single in Latvia. The album's second single, "Dear Life" was released on 6 May 2016. The song debuted and peaked at number three, and became a surprise Number One in Ukraine. "Enough" was released as the album's third single on 24 June 2016, alongside the pre-order of the album.[3] The song peaked at number 27. "The River" was released as the fourth single from the album; its music video premiered via-Facebook on 23 September 2016.[6] The song, "Only Human", was released as a stand-alone single on 13 March 2015, but was later included on the final track listing. The single peaked at number 46.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Renowned for Sound	[7]
Herald Sun	[8]
auspOp	[1]
Sydney Morning Herald	[9]

The album received generally positive reviews from critics. Jessica Mule from Renowned For Sound said "You’d have to be deaf not to pick up on the less than subtle, ‘you can't pull me down anymore’, brazen, self-empowered motif of Deltas newest album" adding "We come to find through the albums deliberate lack of tracks about romantic love, that Delta is at her strongest in songs that resemble a need to uplift and encourage, motivate .. that it helps set her apart from the major players in the industry." adding "Wings of the Wild might just be Delta's strongest album since Innocent Eyes".[7]

Cameron Adams from Herald Sun said "Wings of the Wild is her most confident and empowered release." Adams complimented the 'risks and experiments no one saw coming'".[8]

David from auspOp said Goodrem has "created a great album of pop music. From start to finish, the album is a classic and timeless collection of tracks." adding "this is an album from a truly stunning Australian artist and is Delta's most consistent to date."[1]

Bernard Zuel from Sydney Morning Herald was less favourable. He questioned 'who is Delta Goodrem?' particularly criticising the lyrics is "Dear Life", the 'meaningless strut' of "The River", the 'bombast' of "I'm Not Giving Up" and the 'bizarrely misunderstood cover' of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love".[9]

Track listing

Wings of the Wild track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Feline"	Delta Goodrem Nathaniel Motte Vince Pizzinga Sean Foreman	Goodrem Pizzinga Motte	4:15
2.	"Wings"	Goodrem Anthony Egizii David Musumeci	DNA	3:25
3.	"Dear Life"	Goodrem Egizii Musumeci	Goodrem DNA	3:09
4.	"Just Call"	Goodrem Jon Hume Egizii	Goodrem Hume	4:01
5.	"In the Name of Love"	Goodrem Egizii Musumeci	Goodrem DNA	3:12
6.	"Enough" (featuring Gizzle)	Goodrem Glenda "Gizzle" Proby Johnny Powers Pizzinga Ameerah Roelants Zac Poor	Powers	4:28
7.	"Heavy"	Goodrem Martin Johnson	Johnson	4:19
8.	"Only Human"	Goodrem Pizzinga Pete Nappi	Goodrem Nappi Pizzinga	3:27
9.	"The River"	Goodrem David Hodges Steven Solomon	Hodges	3:04
10.	"I'm Not Giving Up"	Goodrem Dave Bassett Solomon	Bassett	4:36
11.	"Encore"	Goodrem Johnson Sam Hollander	Johnson	4:04
12.	"Hold On"	Goodrem Egizii Musumeci Pizzinga	Goodrem DNA	3:40
13.	"I Believe in a Thing Called Love"	Justin Hawkins Dan Hawkins Ed Graham Frankie Poullain	Goodrem Pizzinga	3:35
Total length:				49:15

Australian tour edition DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Born to Try" (music video)
2.	"Lost Without You" (music video)
3.	"Innocent Eyes" (music video)
4.	"Not Me, Not I" (music video)
5.	"Predictable" (music video)
6.	"Out of the Blue" (music video)
7.	"Almost Here" (music video)
8.	"Mistaken Identity" (music video)
9.	"Be Strong" (music video)
10.	"A Little Too Late" (music video)
11.	"In This Life" (music video)
12.	"Believe Again" (music video)
13.	"You Will Only Break My Heart" (music video)
14.	"I Can't Break It to My Heart" (music video)
15.	"Sitting on Top of the World" (music video)
16.	"Wish You Were Here" (music video)
17.	"Dancing with a Broken Heart" (music video)
18.	"Wings" (music video)
19.	"Dear Life" (music video)
20.	"Enough" (music video)
21.	"The River" (music video)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 1 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11] 8 Scottish Albums (OCC)[12] 97 UK Albums (OCC)[13] 129 UK Album Downloads (OCC)[14] 28 UK Album Sales (OCC)[15] 94

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 26

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[17]	Gold	35,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

List of release dates, showing formats, label and reference

Date	Format(s)	Label	Edition	Catalogue	Ref.
1 July 2016	CD digital download	Sony Music Australia	Standard	88985352572	[18]
28 October 2016	CD + DVD		Tour Edition	88985386952	[19]

See also

• List of number-one albums of 2016 (Australia)

References

1. unknonwn, David (7 April 2017). "ALBUM REVIEW : Delta Goodrem – Wings of the Wild". auspOp. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
2. "Delta Goodrem interview: "I've always run my own race"". Official Charts Company. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
3. McCabe, Kathy (23 June 2016). "Delta Goodrem announces new album Wings of the Wild featuring popular US hip hop rapper Gizzle". News.com.au. Australia: News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
4. Bowie, Jac (24 June 2016). "Australian singer/ songwriter Delta Goodrem has announced her 5th studio album titled Wings of the Wild, will be released on Friday July 1 with pre-orders available now!". Mix 104.9. Australia: Grant Broadcasters. Archived from the original on 27 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
5. "Why Delta Goodrem's love life is off her new record Wings Of the Wild". www.news.com.au. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
6. Adams, Cameron (22 September 2016). "Delta's steamy new music video". News.com.au. Australia: News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
7. Mule, Jessica (7 April 2017). "ALBUM REVIEW: DELTA GOODREM – WINGS OF THE WILD". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
8. Adams, Cameron (7 April 2017). "Latest album reviews: Delta Goodrem, Metronomy, Grace, Oh Pep! & Blood Orange". Herald Sun. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
9. Zuel, Bernard (7 April 2017). "Wings of the Wild review: Who is Delta Goodrem, really?". Reowned for Sound. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
10. "Australiancharts.com – Delta Goodrem – Wings of the Wild". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
11. "Charts.nz – Delta Goodrem – Wings of the Wild". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
12. July 2016/40/ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
13. Chart Log UK: "CLUK Update 9.07.2016 (wk27)". UK Albums Chart. Zobbel.de. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
14. "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
15. "Official Albums Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
16. "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2016". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
17. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
18. Various citations concerning the 1 July 2016, release date for 'Wings of the Wild:
    • "Wings of the Wild by Delta Goodrem on iTunes". Australia: iTunes Store. 1 July 2016.
    • "Wings of the Wild by Delta Goodrem on iTunes". New Zealand: iTunes Store. 1 July 2016.
    • "Wings of the Wild by Delta Goodrem on iTunes". United Kingdom: iTunes Store. 1 July 2016.
    • "Wings of the Wild by Delta Goodrem on iTunes". United States: iTunes Store. 1 July 2016.
    • "Wings of the Wild DELTA GOODREM". JB Hi-Fi. Australia. 1 July 2016.
    • "Wings of the Wild (SIGNED COPY) by Delta Goodrem". Sanity.com.au. Australia. 1 July 2016.
19. "Wings of the Wild (Tour Edition)". JB HiFi. Retrieved 3 November 2016.