The Sweetest Illusion is the third studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by Polish jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 singer–songwriter Basia

Basia

Basia Trzetrzelewska is a Polish singer-songwriter and record producer. She established a successful international recording career featuring characteristically Latin-flavoured jazz-pop crossover songs during the late 1980s and early 1990s and the late 2000s and 2010s, particularly in the United...

, released in the United States on May 3, 1994 by Epic Records

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

. It was her final major-label release of the 1990s, though a live album and a greatest hits collection followed. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

 on December 14, 1994 for sales in excess of 500,000 units within the U.S., and earned Basia her first (and so far only) chart-topper on Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s Hot Dance Club Play chart with "Drunk on Love".

Track listing

All songs written by Basia Trzetrzelewska and Danny White, except where noted.

1. "Drunk on Love" (Trzetrzelewska, White, Peter Ross
   Immaculate Fools
   Immaculate Fools were a pop group formed in 1984, who had their biggest success in 1985 with the single "Immaculate Fools", and continued until 1997, releasing six studio albums before splitting up.-History:...
   
   ) – 4:46
2. "Third Time Lucky" – 5:01
3. "Yearning" – 5:22
4. "She Deserves It/Rachel's Wedding" (featuring Trey Lorenz
   Trey Lorenz
   Trey Lorenz is an African American singer and songwriter. He was born in Florence, South Carolina and is a graduate of Wilson High School.-Biography:...
   
   ) – 4:52
5. "An Olive Tree" (Kevin Robinson, Trzetrzelewska, White) – 5:01
6. "The Sweetest Illusion" (Trzetrzelewska, White, Ross) – 4:58
7. "Perfect Mother" – 3:50
8. "More Fire Than Flame" (Trzetrzelewska, White, Ross) – 4:13
9. "Simple Pleasures" – 4:53
10. "My Cruel Ways" – 4:54
11. "The Prayer of a Happy Housewife" – 4:56

Charts

Chart (1994)	Peak position
French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...	39
Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...	6
U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	27

Credits

• Arranged By [Strings] - Nick Ingman (tracks: 3, 10)
• Artwork By [Design & Artwork] - Blii Smith Studio, London
• Artwork By [Paintings] - Halina Tymusz
• Backing Vocals - Basia (tracks: 3, 11) , Mark Anthoni (tracks: 3, 11)
• Bass - Andres Lafone (tracks: 2, 5, 7) , Julian Crampton (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 9, 11) , Randy Hope-Taylor (tracks: 8, 10)
• Drums - Andy Gangadeen
• Flugelhorn - Kevin Robinson (4) (tracks: 2, 5, 9 to 11)
• Guitar - Andy Ross (tracks: 6, 10, 11) , Peter White (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 11)
• Keyboards - Danny White
• Leader [Strings] - Gavyn Wright (tracks: 3, 6, 10)
• Management - Dee Anthony
• Mastered By - Vlado Meller
• Mixed By - Dave Bascombe
• Other [Make-up] - Helen Whiting
• Percussion - Bosco De Oliveira* (tracks: 2, 7) , Karl Vanden Bossche (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 to 11)
• Photography - Paul Cox
• Producer, Arranged By - Basia Trzetrzelewska , Danny White
• Recorded By - Mark Chamberlain
• Recorded By [Assistant] - Jason Scott Westbrook*
• Recorded By [Pianos - Assistant] - Lee Phillips*
• Recorded By [Pianos] - Paul Mortimer
• Trombone - Fayyaz Virji (tracks: 2, 5, 8 to 10)
• Trumpet - Kevin Robinson (4) (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8)
• Vocals - Basia Trzetrzelewska* , Trey Lorenz (tracks: 4)
• Words By - Basia Trzetrzelewska* (tracks: 2 to 5, 7, 9 to 11) , Peter Ross (tracks: 1, 6, 8)

Recording studios

• Recorded at Whitfield Street Recording Sudios, London.
• Pianos recorded at Westside Studios, London.
• Mastered at Sony Music studios, New York.