Contrast (Conor Maynard album)

Background

On 20 May 2006, Maynard signed up to online video-sharing website YouTube and uploaded his very first video of him singing "Breathe" by fellow British musician Lee Carr. Throughout 2009–present, Maynard uploaded cover versions of songs with rapper and close friend, Anthony "Anth" Melo who resides in Virginia. Together they have covered a variety of songs, including: Chris Brown ("Crawl"), Taio Cruz ("Dynamite"), Rihanna ("Only Girl (In the World)"). Maynard was brought to label attention when American singer/songwriter Ne-Yo watched a cover version of his track "Beautiful Monster" – who contacted the musician soon afterwards, and Ne-Yo became Maynard's mentor.

In November 2011, Maynard received a nomination for MTV's Brand New for 2012 award, competing alongside Delilah, Michael Kiwanuka, Lana Del Rey and Lianne La Havas. It was announced on 31 January 2012 that Maynard had been crowned winner of the award, having received approximately 48% of the public vote. February 2012 saw the reveal that Maynard had been signed to label EMI subsidiary, Parlophone in late 2011 and that work would begin in the coming months on his debut studio album, Contrast. Maynard released the music video for his debut single "Can't Say No" on 1 March 2012, which by September 2012 had already surpassed fourteen million views. The single was met with positive reviews, with Lewis Corner (of Digital Spy) describing it as "playful, fun and immediately leaves you wanting another go", whilst others compared Maynard to Canadian singer Justin Bieber; both vocally and career-wise. However Conor disputes this claim, saying "I'm not like Justin Bieber." but - while insisting his music has a more mature R&B flavour to it than Bieber's - recognises that they both gained popularity from being young and from being found through YouTube.

Singles

"Can't Say No" was released on 2 March 2012 as the first single from the album. It was produced by The Invisible Men and The Arcade, and written by The Invisible Men, Sophie Stern, Jon Mills, Joe Dyer, Kurtis McKenzie and Maynard. "Vegas Girl" was released on 20 July 2012 as the second single from the album. "Turn Around" was confirmed as the third single to be released from the album. The music video premiered on September 10, 2012 and was released on 8 October 2012.

"Animal" was confirmed to be the fourth single from the album. The music video was released on 10 December 2012 and was released to radio on 21 January 2013. The song was released as a remix with UK rapper Wiley.

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. DigitalSpy criticized his lyrics for being "mismatch with his boy-next-door persona", ultimately stating the songs feel "like a by-product of his mentors rather than an expression of his teenage self." DigitalSpy also commented that the album's sound is more like Justin Timberlake as opposed to Justin Bieber, a common comparison for Maynard, specifically referring to the tracks "Can't Say No" and "Animal".

The Guardian, however, noted that the "British Justin Bieber" label fits Maynard as the album "follows the Bieber template of fitting a breathy teenage voice to cleancut urban pop." Nick Levine of BBC Music felt the album has "class" and complimented it for being a "credible collection of electronic RnB tracks." Levine also states Justin Timberlake's influence on Maynard, specifically referring to the song "Glass Girl" as being an "attempt to rewrite JT's Cry Me a River for the dubstep generation."