Back from the Edge

For other uses, see Back from the Edge (disambiguation).

Back from the Edge is the second studio album by British singer and songwriter James Arthur. It was released on 28 October 2016 by Columbia Records. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum—denoting 300,000 sales—the following year, in September 2017. It includes the multi-platinum number-one single "Say You Won't Let Go".

Back from the Edge
Studio album by James Arthur
Released	28 October 2016
Genre	Pop folk R&B rock
Length	47:44
Label	Columbia
James Arthur chronology
James Arthur (2013) Back from the Edge (2016) You (2019)
Singles from Back from the Edge
"Say You Won't Let Go" Released: 9 September 2016 "Safe Inside" Released: 10 February 2017 "Can I Be Him" Released: 15 April 2017

Background

Following his self-titled debut studio album being released on 1 November 2013, peaking to number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, on 5 April 2014, several media outlets began to report that Arthur had been dropped from Syco, following a dispute regarding a song entitled, "Follow the Leader".^[1] He took to Twitter to deny the claims,^[2] however on 11 June 2014, Arthur announced via Twitter that he and Syco had parted ways by mutual agreement. During the summer of 2014, Arthur stated that he was working on his second album and was close to signing a new record deal. On 6 September 2015, he announced that he had signed with Columbia Records and that a new album was on the way.^[3]

Singles

On 9 September 2016, he released "Say You Won't Let Go" as the official lead single from the album. The single peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart, a position it maintained for three weeks. Outside the United Kingdom, the single has topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Singapore, Indonesia and the Republic of Ireland.^[4] The music video was released in the same month and was directed by Felix Urbauer.^[5]

On 10 February 2017, "Safe Inside" was released as the album's second single.^[6] The music video was released slightly before on 25 December 2016 and was directed by Frank Hoffman.^[7] Arthur performed the song at the 2017 National Television Awards.

Four years later, the album track "Train Wreck" entered the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart after becoming popular in videos on the video app TikTok.^[8][9]

Promotional singles

On 8 January 2016, Arthur released a new song called "The Truth" on iTunes in the United States.^[10] Following the song's release, he took to Twitter and clarified that the song would feature on Family Therapy with Dr. Jenn,^[11] and that it was not the lead single, only a promotional single.^[12] On 21 October, a duet version of "Let Me Love the Lonely" was released as a promotional single only in Poland, featuring Polish singer Marina.^[13] The song was certified double Platinum in the country.^[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
Auspop	[16]
Blasting News	[17]
Digital Spy	[18]
The Up Coming	[19]

Digital Spy gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, labeling it "the anti-X Factor album" and further stating that "This is the winner we all wanted".^[18]

Commercial performance

Back from the Edge debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 40,906 copies during its first week of release.^[20] The album was certified platinum in September 2017 by the British Phonographic Industry, denoting sales of 300,000 in the UK.^[21]

Track listing

Back from the Edge – Standard edition^[22]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Back from the Edge"	James Arthur Jonathan Quarmby Emma Rohan	Alex Beitzke Quarmby Bradley Spence	3:53
2.	"Say You Won't Let Go"	Arthur Steve Solomon Neil Ormandy	Beitzke Spence	3:31
3.	"Prisoner"	Arthur Quarmby Rohan	Beitzke Spence	3:58
4.	"Can I Be Him"	Arthur George Tizzard Rick Parkhouse Negin Djafari	Red Triangle	4:06
5.	"I Am"	Arthur Adam Argyle Andrew Jackson	Argyle	3:11
6.	"Train Wreck"	Arthur Argyle Jackson	Argyle	3:28
7.	"Safe Inside"	Arthur Quarmby Rohan	Beitzke Spence	3:42
8.	"Sober"	Arthur Pete "Boxsta" Martin Steve McEwan	Martin	3:06
9.	"Phoenix"	Arthur Tizzard Parkhouse	Red Triangle	4:06
10.	"Let Me Love the Lonely"	Arthur Argyle Jackson	Argyle	2:52
11.	"Sermon" (featuring Shotty Horroh)	Arthur Dave Gibson Jean-Yves "Jeeve" Ducornet	Jeeve Beitzke Spence	4:32
12.	"Remember Who I Was"	Arthur	Beitzke Spence	2:58
13.	"Finally"	Arthur	Beitzke Spence Argyle	4:21

Back from the Edge – Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"The Truth"	Arthur Tizzard Parkhouse	Red Triangle	4:20
15.	"Skeletons"	Arthur Tizzard Parkhouse	Red Triangle	3:57
16.	"If Only"	Arthur Martin McEwan	Martin	4:03
17.	"Coming Home for Summer"	Arthur Quarmby Rohan	Beitzke Spence	3:49

Back from the Edge – Polish bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Let Me Love the Lonely" (featuring MaRina)	Arthur Argyle Jackson	Argyle	2:49

Back from the Edge – 5th Anniversary Vinyl release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Train Wreck (Acoustic)"	Arthur Argyle Jackson	Argyle

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016–2021) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 8 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 38 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 19 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[26] 50 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[27] 13 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[28] 13 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[29] 44 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 48 French Albums (SNEP)[31] 53 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 38 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[33] 40 Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 2 Latvian Albums (LaIPA)[35] 84 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[36] 17 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[37] 12 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[38] 14 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[39] 30 Scottish Albums (OCC)[40] 3 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 9 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 7 UK Albums (OCC)[43] 1 US Billboard 200[44] 39 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[45] 8

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position UK Albums (OCC)[46] 30 Chart (2017) Position Canadian Albums (Billboard)[47] 37 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[48] 45 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[49] 61 UK Albums (OCC)[50] 43 US Billboard 200[51] 66 Chart (2020) Position Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[52] 100 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[53] 81 Chart (2021) Position Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[54] 60 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[55] 94 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[56] 40 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[57] 44

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[58]	2× Platinum	80,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[59]	2× Platinum	160,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[60]	3× Platinum	60,000‡
France (SNEP)[61]	Gold	50,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[62]	Gold	25,000‡
Mexico (AMPROFON)[63]	Gold	30,000‡
Singapore (RIAS)[64]	Platinum	10,000*
Sweden (GLF)[65]	Gold	20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[21]	Platinum	300,000[21]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Release date	Format	Label
Various	28 October 2016[66]	CD digital download	Columbia
Various	26 November 2021[67]	Vinyl	Columbia