Recorded 2012–13 Metal & Dust(2013) Release date 6 September 2013 | Length 43:22 | |
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Released 6 September 2013 (2013-09-06) Studio State of the Ark Studios (Richmond, London)Sofa Sound Studios (London)Smecky Music Studios (Prague) Producer Tim BranRoy KerrLondon Grammar Label Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. Nominations World Music Award for World’s Best Album Similar Settle, Wild Life, The Very Best of Supertramp, Mechanical Bull, Greatest Hits 1970‑2002 | ||
If You Wait is the debut studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar, released on 6 September 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings and Ministry of Sound. Seven singles have been released from the album: "Metal & Dust", "Wasting My Young Years", "Strong", "Nightcall", "Hey Now", "Sights" and "If You Wait". The album debuted at number two the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 33,130 copies.
Contents
Background
After the band signed with Ministry of Sound and Big Life Management they began the first sessions of the album in early 2012 with Cam Blackwood. Later that year he was replaced by Tim Bran and Roy Kerr. Hannah Reid described the collaboration as 'Tim is amazing at recording, of finding the best way of recording a guitar or my vocal. Roy had the strongest relationship with Dot and they worked on production together'.
The album's lyrics are mainly based upon vocalist Hannah Reid's personal life, in particular her troubled teenage years, prompting The Guardian to suggest that this was "the first quarter-life-crisis album."
Critical reception
If You Wait received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 19 reviews.
Andy Gill of The Independent summarised the album's production and instrumentation as "all beautifully sketched to evoke the crepuscular intimacies of the songs."
A large quantity of praise went to the vocal ability of Reid, whose husky contralto vocals have been described as "defining and soulful" by Clash magazine and "emotive" and "folky" by Drowned in Sound. Her voice has been compared to artists like Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, Annie Lennox, and Julee Cruise. Benji Taylor of Pretty Much Amazing wrote a favourable review of the album, calling it "an enthralling, stunning, deeply emotive album that perfectly marries understated electronica to sublime vocals and melodies." Vocalist Hannah Reid's voice was particularly praised: "underscored by an enduring brittle beauty and an underlying otherworldliness, as if she honed her craft singing amidst the gardens of Lothlorien, or some far-flung corner of Westeros."
Commercial performance
If You Wait entered the UK Albums Chart at number two, selling 33,130 copies in its first week. In the United States, the album debuted at number ninety-one on the Billboard 200 with 4,000 copies sold.
Track listing
All songs produced by Tim Bran, Roy Kerr and London Grammar, except where noted.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of If You Wait.
Songs
1Hey Now3:27
2Stay Awake3:06
3Shyer3:07