"You Are the Universe" is a song by British acid jazz and funk group the Brand New Heavies, released in June 1997. The composition was issued as the third single taken from their fourth album, Shelter (1997), which remains the only Brand New Heavies album recorded with American singer Siedah Garrett, who afterwards left the group to concentrate on her own songwriting. The song charted at number twenty-one in UK, and at number eleven within the British Chart-Track.
Critical reception
British magazine Music Week rated the song four out of five, writing, "Their sound is as retro as ever, but this funky soul tune is hugely uplifting and deserves to be a big pop, as well as club, hit."[2] Daisy & Havoc from the RM Dance Update gave it five out of five. They added, "If 'Sometimes' is starting to drive you crazy then this next single (surely the best song on the Shelter album) is here to take you to a higher plane. The remixers have a job competing with the huge uplift value of the album version (which is on a par with the original of Nu Yorican Soul's 'It's Alright')".[3]
"You Are the Universe" was covered by Rob Derbyshire and Paul Mullings, the Birmingham's R&B production duo better known as Full Flava. It features vocals by CeCe Peniston. The Flava's version was remixed by DJ Hasebe, a Japanese hip-hop producer, and issued only on vinyl in the Japan.
The song was included on the Flava's album Music Is Our Way Of Life, which reconstructed eleven dancefloor classics performed by various female vocalists, released on Dôme Records the following year, in 2007.
^Daisy & Havoc (May 17, 1997). "Hot Vinyl"(PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 8. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
^ abcdefghijkFor reviewing track lists, covers and/or additional notes regarding the all releases of the single "You Are The Universe" by The Brand New Heavies issued to date, follow the discogs link. "The Brand New Heavies - "You Are The Universe" - Releases". Discogs. Zink Media. discogs.com. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
^For peak positions of "You Are The Universe" by The Brand New Heavies single in UK, choose the singles link, or the OfficialCharts link to view full run of the single in England.
