Letting You In

Background

Letting You In was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2015 and serves as Allen's fourth release since winning American Idol in season eight (2009) and second since being dropped by RCA Records in 2012. Allen co-wrote every song on the record and worked on over 70 songs with multiple producers before narrowing it down the ten tracks that make up the album' final track listing. Inspired in part by his traumatic 2013 car crash (as was 2014's Horizons), the record has been described by Allen as his "most personal" yet. After re-learning the guitar, Allen also revised his songwriting strategy for this album, writing that on Letting You In he focused on "making music that was completely true to me" instead of drawing inspiration from other artists and songwriters.

Promotion

"Waves" was streamed exclusively by People on February 18, 2016 as the first taste of the then-upcoming album and was released to digital retailers the following day. The album was also made available for pre-order at that time (February 19, 2016). "Waves" serves as the lead single. The music video for "Waves" was released April 19, 2016. The video was directed, filmed, edited, and graded by Matthew DeLisi and featured Elliott Sikes and Brett Taylor as actors.

Two more songs were released as promotional tracks over the next month - "Love Will Find You" on February 26, 2016 and "If We Keep Doing Nothing" on March 3, 2016.

Allen launched the Letting You In 2016 Tour in support of the album on March 31, 2016 in Birmingham, AL.

"Love Will Find You" was released to American hot adult contemporary radio on September 19, 2016 as the second single.

Critical reception

Letting You In received generally positive reviews from critics. Markos Papadatos of Digital Journal rated the album an A, writing that "one can tell that [Allen] poured his heart on this project," and that it is "filled with raw emotions." He further described the album as "remarkable". Jason Scott, writing for music blog Popdust, praised the varied musical influences on the album and noted that "by the hands of anyone else, it would certainly be boring," but Allen makes the eclectic soundscape work. He summed up his review with the following statement: "Where Letting You In falls short in Top 40-ready sharpness, it makes up in cutting honesty and powerful images."

A more mixed review came from Madison Vain of Entertainment Weekly, who bestowed the album a B- rating. Vain noted the lack of personality developed by Allen in his post-Idol releases, which Letting You In is "unlikely to help." She praised Allen's vocals but criticized his "relentless cheerfulness," deeming the album too one-note.

Personnel