Nut (album)

Tunstall announced the release of Nut on 28 May 2022, completing her trilogy of albums based on "soul, body and mind", with Nut being about the mind.[2] Tunstall started working on the record during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, alongside writing music for a musical.[1]

The album was written and recorded during a profound period of change for Tunstall, including hearing loss, heightened self-awareness, love and a global pandemic.[3]

The album artwork was created by Josh McCartney.[4] On naming the album, Tunstall declared "nut" is a word that refers to mind or brain in Scottish slang. She also states "I love that the word also means a seed – the album artwork is all about the brain being a garden; you reap what you sow, you need to keep the weeds at bay, and there is an almost supernatural beauty to when things blossom".[5]

Tunstall released three singles from the album prior to its release: "Canyons", "I Am the Pilot" and the lead single "Private Eyes" – a true story "of a starlet lost in her own fame, and my getting a glimpse of her gilded prison..."[6] A music video was released for each single.

Tunstall announced her first UK tour since the pandemic to accompany the album, including shows in York, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow.[7][8]

Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic cited two of the singles, "I Am the Pilot" and "Canyons" as highlights, as well as the album opener "Out of Touch" and "Synapse".[3]

John Apice from American Highways described Tunstall's vocals as "sumptuous" and mentioned the songs "tease with danceable energy & keep the commercial silliness in check". His highlights include "Dear Shadow", "Demigod" and "All the Time".[9]

All tracks produced by Martin Terefe, except where noted.

• KT Tunstall – vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1–5, 7–9), bass guitar (1), synthesizer (2, 7, 8), programming (2), electric guitar (5, 6)
• Martin Terefe – bass guitar (1–8), electric guitar (1, 2, 4–8), acoustic guitar (1, 3–6), synthesizer (2, 4, 7), piano (2, 4, 9), percussion (2, 5, 6), backing vocals (2), vocoder (6), keyboards (7, 8), Mellotron (7)
• Kevin Cormack – bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizer solo (1)
• Jimmy Hogarth – electric guitar, percussion, programming, synthesizer (1)
• Nikolaj Torp Larsen – PCM synthesizer (1), synthesizer (3, 5, 6, 8); keyboards, sequencer drums (3); piano (5, 6)
• George Murphy – programming (1, 2, 4–6, 8), electric guitar (1, 8), percussion (2, 8); backing vocals, piano (8)
• Andy Burrows – drums, percussion (1, 4–8)
• Johnny Lynch – drums (1)
• Liam Howe – programming (6, 7)
• Clem Cherry – programming (7)
• Oliver Roman – acoustic guitar (9)
• Solomon Dorsey – bass (9)

Technical

• Dyre Gormsen – mastering
• Martin Terefe – mixing, recording
• George Murphy – recording
• Clem Cherry – recording
• Jordan Brooke Hamlin – recording (9)
• Oliver Liu – mixing assistance
• Liam Howe – additional recording (1, 4–8)
• Jimmy Hogarth – additional recording (1)

Visuals

• Josh McCartney – art direction
• Piper Ferguson – photography
• Andrew Whitton – photography
• Cortney Armitage – photography
• Muhr Design – layout

• Nut at Discogs (list of releases)