Renditions of the Soul is the fifth studio album by Filipina singer Nina, released in the Philippines on August 27, 2009 by Warner Music Philippines. The album contains a selection of the most requested songs from her "all-male hits special" weekly acoustic radio show of the same title, which aired on Wave 89.1 during Friday and Sunday evenings. The idea and concept of the project came from Nina herself, and she approached the station's manager to carry it out. She is co-executive producer of the album, with Warner head manager Jim Baluyut, and produced all the tracks herself (a first time for the singer). All the tracks are the actual recordings from Nina's Renditions of the Soul radio sessions.
Upon release, the album received positive response from music critics who stated that Nina's voice fits perfectly to each song. In 2010, she won Best Female Recording Artist on the Box Office Entertainment Awards, where the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation named her as the best-selling female recording artist of 2009—having sold 100,000 copies of her Nina Live!, Nina Sings the Hits of Diane Warren and Renditions of the Soul albums. Additionally, the album was surprisingly a commercial hit. Despite having the least promotion, it managed to reach Platinum by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) in July 2010, denoting 20,000 units sold. In December 2010, it became one of the best-sellers in the country during Christmas season.
Three singles were released from the album. "She's Out of My Life" was the first official single. It did not have a music video to be solicited to music channels, and therefore, lacked promotion. The second single was "Cold Summer Nights", originally recorded by Francis Magalona. Like the first single, it was not given enough promotion, but it managed to pick up airplay on TV and radio. "I'm Yours" was released as the third and last single off the album. Unlike the two releases, it had a music video that came up from Warner's Nina sing-along contest. Since, Nina has left the label during the time, she had no participation on the video's release.
Background
Since Nina entered the Philippine music industry in 2000, she has been known for doing cover versions of popular classic hits. In 2002, her debut album Heaven was released along with two chart-topping singles, "Foolish Heart" and "Loving You", which are both revivals. Aside from performing well commercially, both singles were critically acclaimed. In 2003, she covered three more songs on her second studio album Smile, namely "A Girl Can Dream", "Shoo-Bee-Doo" and "I'll Always Stay in Love This Way". "A Girl Can Dream" was released as an official single, while the other two were released as radio-only singles due to warm reception. In 2005, Nina proved herself as the great cover-girl, when she released her first live cover album Nina Live!. The album was a huge commercial success, certifying Diamond by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI). The album's lead single, "Love Moves in Mysterious Ways", also became her most successful single when it topped the charts for twelve consecutive weeks in record time. In 2006, her self-titled album was released and it contains two revivals, namely "I Can't Make You Love Me" and "Love Is Contagious". Both songs received positive response from critics. The album was then re-issued in 2007, containing a second disc of Barry Manilow classic songs. The re-issue showcases Nina's renditions of Manilow hits such as "Somewhere Down the Road" and "If I Should Love Again". In 2008, she released her second cover album entitled Nina Sings the Hits of Diane Warren, wherein she took on Warren-penned ballads. She released "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "There You'll Be" as commercial singles.
Development and recording
[[File:Thb WAVE 891 official NEW LOGO.png|left|thumb|200px|Wave 89.1, Renditions of the Soul'''s radio station.]]