Calling All Lovers

Background

On October 7, 2014, Braxton's single, "Let Me Know" featuring Future, was released. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard's Trending 140 Chart, less than an hour, after its premiere on Braxton's official SoundCloud account and it eventually reached at number one by 12:00 AM. Billboard.com gave the song 4 out of 5 stars in its review of "The Best and Worst Singles of the Week" for the second week of October 2014.

Release

On September 6, 2015, Target confirmed that Calling All Lovers would miss its scheduled release date of September 11, 2015 due to a "street date change". On September 11, 2015, the deluxe version of the album became available for pre-order on iTunes with a track listing of 16 items and a new release date of October 2, 2015.

Singles

"Let Me Know" was released on October 7, 2014 as the album's lead single. The song samples late R&B singer Aaliyah 1994 hit single "At Your Best (You Are Love)".

"If I Don't Have You" was released as the album's second single on May 27, 2015, . The music video for "If I Don't Have You" was released on VEVO on July 9, 2015. The song peaked at number 19 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts on the week of August 15, 2015.

"Catfish" was released as the first promotional single on September 12, 2015. "Angels & Demons", was released as the second promotional single on September 18, 2015. The music video for "Angels & Demons" was released on VEVO on September 17, 2015. "Circles" was released as the final promotional single from Calling All Lovers on September 25, 2015.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 5 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 43,000 units (38,000 in album sales) in the United States. The album also peaked at number 2 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 16 on the UK R&B Albums charts. Its second single "If I Don't Have You" was nominated for "Best R&B Performance" at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

Critical response

Calling All Lovers was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Andy Kellman of AllMusic gave the album three and a half out of five stars, saying, "The album starts in scattered fashion with some neo-reggae, a retro-modern midtempo groove that evokes breakbeat-driven early-'90s productions, and a church-ified ballad. After those three songs, the album stabilizes, sliding between a number of plush ballads and sophisticated but bumping slow jams. Heartache prevails during the first half and crests with 'Never,' an authoritative and elegantly paced kiss-off of an inappreciative lover. The latter half is mostly about devotion and awe, while the back-to-back 'Love It' (all booming bass, tapping keyboards, and rattling percussion) and 'Must Be Good to You' (light and springy disco-funk) turn it up several degrees with Braxton offering firm declarations of her sexual power."

Performances

Braxton performed "If I Don't Have You" at the BET's 15th Annual Awards 2015 on June 28, 2015 and at Mega Fest 2015 on August 21, 2015. Braxton performed "King" on the daytime show, The Real on September 14, 2015. Braxton performed "Circles" on The Wendy Williams Show on October 1, 2015.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.