High is the fourth studio album by Scottish band The Blue Nile, originally released on 30 August 2004 on Sanctuary Records. A single, “I Would Never”, was released one week prior to the album: a second song, “She Saw the World”, was made available as a promotional single, but never released officially.
The album received generally favourable reviews, with many critics considering High to be a stronger album than their previous effort Peace at Last. AllMusic said “the Blue Nile have returned with a more balanced album [than Peace at Last] and Buchanan is broken-hearted again, thank the stars. He’s been struggling with fatigue and illness and as selfish and inconsiderate as it sounds, it’s brought the spark back to his writing … given the time to sink in, the album fits well in their canon.”
The Guardian believed that with High “the emotional commitment of Peace at Last is combined with the observational detachment of the earlier work … In pop, most people do their best work within five or six years. How extraordinary, then, that after more than two decades of activity, the Blue Nile remain on course, their range expanded, their focus more refined, unshaken in their determination to proceed at their own measured pace.”
To complete their reissue programme The Blue Nile again worked alongside long term producer/engineer partner Calum Malcolm.
01. The Days Of Our Lives
02. I Would Never
03. Broken Loves
04. Because Of Toledo
05. She Saw The World
06. High
07. Soul Boy
08. Everybody Else
09. Stay Close