Studio Stratosphere Sound Artist Ivy Label NETTWERK | Length 42:46 Release date 20 September 2011 Genre Indie pop | |
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Released September 20, 2011 (2011-09-20) Producers Andy Chase, Adam Schlesinger Similar In the Clear, Guestroom, Apartment Life, Long Distance, The Orange Juice | ||
All Hours is the sixth studio album by American indie pop band Ivy. It was released on September 20, 2011 by Nettwerk. It was the band's first record since In the Clear (2005), ending a six-year hiatus after becoming "bored" and "worried" that Ivy's success would fade away. Musically, the album explored new genres, such as EDM and electronic music, while maintaining the indie pop themes that Ivy is recognized for.
Contents
All Hours received mixed reviews from music critics, who applauded Ivy's choices for singles, but questioned their attempts at electronic music. Compared to Ivy's previous efforts, the album was successful; it became their first album to chart, peaking at No. 12 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart, where it lasted for two weeks.
Three singles were released from All Hours: lead single "Distant Lights", followed by "Fascinated" and "Lost in the Sun". The song "Suspicious" received attention after being featured in the ABC television series Body of Proof in 2011.
Background
After the release of In the Clear (2005), Ivy embarked on an extended hiatus to focus their time on their children and solo careers. Member Adam Schlesinger was busy with his side project Fountains of Wayne, while Andy Chase was working on his second album with the band Brookville. Ivy worked on a new record briefly in 2008, even completing roughly 80 percent of the project. However, Chase, Schlesinger and lead singer Dominique Durand all disliked the completed material, and decided to scrap it altogether. Afraid that Ivy would become "unrecognizable" and "boring", Durand stated, "I really can't stand when I see musicians, great songwriters, and after having kids they become so boring, I talk about that all day. I don't need to talk about that in my songs," concluding, "I need escape". Durand was determined to create "the best album yet", and set up dates and recording sessions with Chase and Schlesinger to work on what would become All Hours.
Promotion
To further promote All Hours, Ivy embarked on a series of promotional live shows where they performed a variety of songs from the album.
Singles
Ultimately, three singles were released from All Hours. Lead single "Distant Lights" was released on June 7, 2011 as a free download, before being available for purchase. The song received generally favorable reviews from critics, with one calling it the "perfect choice for a lead single". A remix EP featuring three different versions of the single was released on January 30, 2012, in the United States and France. "Fascinated" was made available as the album's second single on July 26, 2011, via iTunes. The album's final single, "Lost in the Sun", was also released to iTunes, on April 10, 2012, featuring a previously unreleased B-side, "We Try".
Critical reception
After its release, All Hours received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Evan Tokarz, writing for Creative Loafing, claimed that "the album teeters between being impressive and frustratingly simple", but concluded that "there's something to be said for their subtlety"; Tokarz further praised "Suspicious" for "stand[ing] out most". In Matt Collar's AllMusic review, he stated that the album "is not as warm or immediately enticing as much of Ivy's previous work", but commended the "detached electronica" feeling from songs "Fascinated", "Lost in the Sun" and "She Really Got to You".
In a mixed review, John Bergstrom of PopMatters criticized the songwriting on All Hours, calling Durand a "near-liability" on "flat-out boring songs". However, Bergstrom applauded the album for being "deceptively effortless", and Ivy for "trying something a bit different". Shawn Connelly of Secret Sound Shop appreciated the "new sound" of the record, but found it incomparable to "today's indie electro-pop scene". Similarly, Frank Mojica of Consequence of Sound disliked the album, calling it "ultimately forgettable", minus tracks "Distant Lights" and "Make It So Hard".
Chart performance
Compared to Ivy's previous efforts, All Hours was commercially successful. The album became Ivy's first to peak on a record chart, but only in the United States. On the US Dance/Electronic Albums component chart, it peaked and debuted at No. 12 for the week ending October 8, 2011, before dropping off of the chart two weeks later. On the Heatseekers Albums chart, it peaked and debuted at position 25, where it lasted for only one week.
Track listing
All tracks written by Ivy.
Songs
1Distant Lights5:23
2Fascinated4:21
3How's Never3:45