Call Off the Search

British songwriter, producer and arranger Mike Batt signed Melua to his Dramatico recording and management label after she performed at a showcase at the Brit School for the Performing Arts in early 2003. Batt was looking for a young artist capable of "performing jazz and blues in an interesting way". Melua went into the studio soon after with Batt as the producer. She recorded songs written by Batt, John Mayall, Delores J. Silver, herself, Randy Newman, and James Shelton. Melua wrote "Faraway Voice" about singer Eva Cassidy. "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" refers to Melua's upbringing in Belfast, Northern Ireland: "Penguins" referring to Protestants and "Cats" to Catholics.

Call off the Search was released in the United Kingdom on 3 November 2003. It became a hit, reaching number one on the UK album chart in January 2004 and the top twenty of the Australian album chart in June 2004. It spent 87 weeks in the ARIA Top 100, certified Platinum for shipments of 70,000+. First single "The Closest Thing to Crazy", written by Batt, reached the top five in Ireland, top ten in the UK, top twenty in Norway, and top fifty in Australia. The second single from the album was the title track, "Call Off the Search", which gave Melua her second UK top twenty hit. The third single, a cover of Mayall's "Crawling up a Hill", was released on 18 July as the third single in the UK. In the UK the album sold 1.8 million copies within its first five months of release, making it six times platinum.BPI figures It spent six weeks at the top of the UK chart.

In the United Kingdom, Call off the Search was the 5th best selling album of 2004 with 1,356,962 copies sold,[http://www.zobbel.de/ Chartwatch Annual Chart Booklets->Year 2003] Retrieved August 4, 2010. and has sold over 1.9 million copies in the UK as of January 2013.{{cite news|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-biggest-selling-easy-listening-albums-of-the-millennium__2722/|title=The biggest selling Easy Listening albums of the millennium revealed!|last=Barstein|first=Brand|date=15 January 2013|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=27 December 2016}}

{{track listing

|title1=Call Off the Search|writer1=Mike Batt|length1=3:24

|title2=Crawling Up a Hill|writer2=John Mayall|length2=3:25

|title3=The Closest Thing to Crazy|writer3=Batt|length3=4:12

|title4=My Aphrodisiac Is You|writer4=Batt|length4=3:34

|title5=Learnin' the Blues|writer5=Delores J. Silver|length5=3:23

|title6=Blame It on the Moon|writer6=Batt|length6=3:47

|title7=Belfast (Penguins and Cats)|writer7=Katie Melua|length7=3:21

|title8=I Think It's Going to Rain Today|writer8=Randy Newman|length8=2:30

|title9=Mockingbird Song|writer9=Batt|length9=3:06

|title10=Tiger in the Night|writer10=Batt|length10=3:07

|title11=Faraway Voice|writer11=Melua|length11=3:13

|title12=Lilac Wine|writer12=James Shelton|length12=4:11

}}

The Japanese release has the extra track "Deep Purple".

{{Div col|colwidth=40em}}

• Katie Melua – guitar, vocals
• Mike Batt – organ, piano, conducting, arrangements, production
• Jim Cregan – guitar
• Tim Harries – bass
• The Irish Film Orchestra – orchestra
• Michael Kruk – drums
• Alan Smale – leader
• Chris Spedding – guitar
• Henry Spinetti – drums

;Technical

• Steve Sale – engineering
• Simon Fowler – photography
• Michael Halsband – cover photo

{{Div col end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|certyear=2004}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=2003|relmonth=11|certyear=2005|id=48|source=chart}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|nocert=true|salesamount=100,000|salesref={{cite web|url=https://www.chartsinfrance.net/Katie-Melua/news-71548.html|publisher=Charts in France|title=Katie Melua dévoile "To Kill You With A Kiss"|first=Jonathan|last=Hamard|date=27 November 2010|accessdate=13 March 2024}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|relyear=2003}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Netherlands|title=Call Of the Search|artist=Katie Melua|id=1238131|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2003}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|id=2007-05-18|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|award=Platinum}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Norway|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=2003|certref={{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XhYEAAAAMBAJ&q=katie+melua+billboard&pg=PA44|publisher=Billboard|title=When Katie Comes To Call|first=Paul|last=Sexton|date=3 June 2006}}|salesamount=145,000|salesref={{cite web|url=https://www.dagbladet.no/magasinet/katue-med-lua/66387440|publisher=Dagbladet|title=Katie Med Lua|date=1 October 2007|accessdate=13 March 2024}}}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=South Africa|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2003|certref=|accessdate=9 February 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=2003|relmonth=11|certyear=2007|accessdate=9 February 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=2003}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=Call Off the Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|number=6|relyear=2003|certyear=2009|id=1157-3276-2|salesamount=1,900,000|salesref=}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=Call Off The Search|artist=Katie Melua|type=album|nocert=true|salesamount=66,000|salesref={{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ow4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64|magazine=Billboard|title=Hits By Royal Appointment|page=64|issn=0006-2510|date=13 October 2007|via=Google Books|first=Andre|last=Paine|accessdate=13 March 2024}}}}

{{Certification Table Summary}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Europe|title=Call Off the Search |artist=Katie Melua|type=album|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=2005}}

{{Certification Table Bottom}}

• 2003 in music

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Katie Melua}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Katie Melua albums

Category:2003 debut albums

Category:Albums produced by Mike Batt

Category:European Border Breakers Award–winning albums