Dreamchaser is the eleventh studio album by English singer and songwriterSarah Brightman. This album is Brightman's first collaboration with producer Mike Hedges and centres on the concept of space. The offering was inspired by Brightman's decision to become the first singer in outer space, as she intended to launch on an orbital spaceflight mission to the International Space Station in partnership with Space Adventures, Ltd., a private space experiences company. Nevertheless, in March 2015 it was announced that Brightman had postponed the flight due to personal reasons. It was released in Japan on 16 January 2013 and in the United Kingdom on 8 April 2017 and in the North America on 16 April 2013 to critical acclaim. The Dreamchaser World Tour was Brightman's eighth concert tour and served as a major promotion of the album. The tour lasted for a period of two years and became her second largest world tour, performing in over twenty countries. In November 2013, PBS aired the live-concert Dreamchaser in Concert, filmed in Elstree Studios, and was later released in Japan on 18 December of the same year as DVD and Blu-ray format. Dreamchaser entered at the Top 20 of seven countries and the Top 60 of another five. The album peaked at number 17 in the United States, being Brightman's third top-twenty album in the country.
Singles
The first single "Angel" was released on Brightman's official website on 26 September 2012 and it was later released for purchase on 15 October 2012 in Europe and Mexico. The second single, a cover of Elbow band's song "One Day Like This", was released on 19 November 2012.
Songs and Composition
The album's first single, "Angel" was written by Sally Herbert and Jerry Burns specifically for Brightman. It features strings, electronic percussion, bassline, backing voices, guitars and harp. The second single, a cover Elbow's "One Day Like This." is an indie-pop song composed by sequenced synths, strings, and ambient textures. Following is Brightman's rendition of Sigur Rós' "Glosoli," with English lyrics by Squeeze's Chris Difford. The melody features ambient sounds, layers of cellos and violincellos, a backing chorus, and drums. "Lento e Largo" is extracted from Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3 and "A Song of India" is a cover of Rimsky-Korsakov's song. Brightman also covers Sia's "Breathe Me", Cocteau Twins' "Eperdu" and Paul McCartney's "Venus and Mars".
Promotion
To promote Dreamchaser Sarah Brightman appeared in several TV shows, starting in January 2013. She performed "One Day Like This" live on Japan's news program News Zero. She also made several appearances and interviews in TV shows such as El Mañanero, Loose Women, The One Show, CJAD 800 Radio, Breakfast BBC1, FOROtv Mexico and Last.fm. She sang "One Day Like This" on the Hallmark Channel's The Home and Family Show. She performed the same song "Time to Say Goodbye" with Andrea Bocelli in the German television program Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel. Later, Brightman went to China and Japan in February, Germany in March, the United States in April and to Mexico at the beginning of May where she signed autographs and held press conferences.
Critical reception
Dreamchaser has received acclaim from critics, many considering it Brightman's strongest work to date. Many pointed out the coherence of the song choices and the quality of Brightman's vocals. Bernard Perusse of the Montreal Gazette described the album as "expertly-executed" and added "Brightman confirms what we have always suspected: less is not necessarily more." AllMusic commented that Brightman "gets points for even attempting some of these songs. That she pulls off her most daring choices is a testament to her artistry." Stephen Unwin of the Daily Express wrote that the album is "an almost surreal, often heartbreaking record that is stirringly epic." Similarly The Sun in a 5-star review described the album as "much more original and involving than standard popera fare". Polari Magazine in another 5-star review described the album as "stunning" and continued that "instead of playing it safe and releasing yet another Mother's Day Opera-By-Numbers album like most classical singers, Sarah's general lunacy helps her to take risks most artists in her genre wouldn't take."
Commercial reception
Dreamchaser became Brightman's seventh No. 1 album in the Billboard Classical Crossover chart. It also reached the third spot on the Top Independent Albums chart, marking Brightman's first appearance on this list. Dreamchaser peaked at number five on the Canadian Albums Chart, the second place on the Australian Classical Albums Chart and number 17 on the Billboard 200, moving 20,358 copies on its first week. In Japan, the album debuted in the top 20. It entered the chart at No. 16, selling 7,183 copies during its first week.
World Tour
Sarah Brightman began a world tour, the eighth of her career, to promote her Dreamchaser album. The tour was created and promoted under the name of the Dreamchaser World Tour. The tour started on 16 June 2013 and ended on 14 14 December 2014. The tour included stops in twenty-four countries of four different continents, Asia, Europe, North and South America. The World Tour consisted of 106 shows in total over a year and a half time span, being her largest tour since the Harem World Tour.
