Glorious (Foxes album)
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Glorious is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Foxes, originally due for release on 28 February 2014, but was pushed back to 12 May 2014, in favour of releasing the album simultaneously worldwide.[1][2] The album is available in three versions; the standard album, a deluxe version, and a limited edition vinyl. [3]
Background and release
After a spate of successful songs, appearing as a "featured" artist alongside Zedd, Fall Out Boy, Sub Focus and Rudimental as well as a successful single in "Youth", Foxes (Allen) showed intent at releasing a full album to steer away from the "featured artist" title. In an interview with Billboard, she stated the reason was "[...]Because I also have my music that's my baby."[4] In an interview during the "Making of the Album" video featured on her VEVO page on YouTube, Allen calls the album "extremely personal", as well that its influence is from her childhood as well as growing up. She also claims the album is "me talking to myself", as music to her is a "form of therapy".
From the same video, Allen described her process for making the songs, in which she stated "I feel like the song already exists" and "I start with a big white piece of paper and I'll just write things I'm feeling[...]It kind of comes out of nowhere."[5]
The track list features several new songs, as well as two songs featured on her first EP Warrior (2012) ("In Her Arms" and "White Coats").
The album is set for a May 12 release, on both digital and physical formats.
Promotion
Although not classed as part of the promotion to the run up to Glorious, "Holding onto Heaven" was made available for free on iTunes during the month of December 2013.
On April 17, 2014, Amazon Artist Lounge - EP was released to download from Amazon for free. It contains live versions of "Let Go for Tonight", "Youth" and "Holding onto Heaven".[6]
Tour
Foxes is currently on a 16-date tour in England, Scotland and Ireland, which started 24 February 2014 and will end on 24 May.
| Tour dates | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | City | Country | Venue | ||||||||
| United Kingdom | |||||||||||
| 24 February 2014 | Liverpool | England | East Village Arts Club | ||||||||
| 25 February 2014 | Birmingham | The Institute | |||||||||
| 26 February 2014 | Glasgow | Scotland | King Tut's Wah Wah Hut | ||||||||
| 28 February 2014 | Oxford | England | O2 Academy | ||||||||
| 1 March 2014 | Nottingham | Stealth | |||||||||
| 2 March 2014 | Brighton | The Haunt | |||||||||
| 4 March 2014 | London | Scala | |||||||||
| 6 March 2014 | Leeds | The Cockpit | |||||||||
| 7 March 2014 | Bristol | Thekla | |||||||||
| 8 March 2014 | Manchester | The Ruby Lounge | |||||||||
| Ireland | |||||||||||
| 10 March 2014 | Dublin | Ireland | O2 Academy 2 | ||||||||
| United Kingdom | |||||||||||
| 19 May 2014 | Portsmouth | England | The Wedgewood Rooms | ||||||||
| 20 May 2014 | Brighton | Concorde 2 | |||||||||
| 21 May 2014 | London | Koko | |||||||||
| 23 May 2014 | Sheffield | Leadmill | |||||||||
| 24 May 2014 | Edinburgh | Scotland | Potterrow | ||||||||
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Guardian |   [7] |
| PressPLAY | [8] |
| The Independent | [9] |
| Financial Times | [10] |
| Fortitude Magazine | [11] |
Glorious received generally positive reviews upon release. The Guardian gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, stating "Everything about this debut from Southampton singer-songwriter Louisa Rose Allen, better known as Foxes, strains to be huge", going on to conclude "Though the album is formulaic and polished, there is enough crackle in its dark, lustrous soundscapes and tales of nocturnal romance to intrigue – and Allen's voice has the power to match those booming drums."
Fortitude Magazine was very positive, giving the album 5 stars, and stating "From past collaborations, I wouldn’t blame you if you were expecting an album full of club bangers with EDM-drops aplenty where it’s more about the music and the singer feels like a guest on her own album. But that’s not the case… At all!", whilst going on to conclude "It’s been a long time coming, but Foxes has executed a near-perfect album that remains cohesive without each song sounding like one another. Hitting the nail on the head, this album is very much a glorious effort."
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times said Glorious a "ZEDD-free zone", saying Foxes was "swapping [Electro Dance Music] for Florence and the Machine-style drama", finishing with "Designed for maximum exposure, it's a big-screen production; but the drama isn't overcooked like Florence and the Machine".
In the review for Glorious on PressPLAY, Glorious received the site's first five-star review of 2014. The review concludes "go ahead and file Glorious under 'surprisingly near-perfect', go ahead and send Foxes stratospheric."
Not all reviews were positive though. In her review, Holly Williams, of The Independent, was a little more negative, saying "Glorious sits firmly in the big-vocal dance-pop category, an arena already overfilled with the likes of Miley, Rihanna, Ellie, Florence … It has the statutory blend of ballads and bangers, though it fails to make me either blub or buzz.", as well as "Admittedly, the girl’s got serious pipes and her voice sounds less Auto-Tuned than most – even if it’s transatlantically devoid of any hint of British idiom. Unremarkable lyrics are delivered with a sultry croon, a hands-in-the-air belt, or a sweet whisper. There are fun dance tracks, but few real earworms. It adds up to a shallowly appealing, summery package; glossily produced and personality free." She gave the album 3 stars.
Singles
"Youth" was released on 6 September 2013, and was classed as the lead single from the album.[12] as the album's first single. The song reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Let Go for Tonight" was released as the album's second single on 23 February 2014, which received moderate success in the UK.[13] The song reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Holding Onto Heaven" was released as the album's third single on 4 May 2014.[14]
Other songs
If Glorious was pre-ordered on iTunes, "Shaking Heads" was available to download alongside the pre-order of the album.[15]
The live version of "Clarity" was made available to download for free on the Amazon MP3 store.[16]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talking to Ghosts" |
| Trevor Horne, Howe | 4:21 |
| 2. | "Youth" |
| Harris | 4:19 |
| 3. | "Holding Onto Heaven" |
| Mike Spencer | 3:31 |
| 4. | "White Coats" |
| Harris | 4:06 |
| 5. | "Let Go for Tonight" |
| 3:58 | |
| 6. | "Night Glo" |
| Howe | 4:25 |
| 7. | "Night Owls Early Birds" |
| Rogers | 3:29 |
| 8. | "Glorious" |
| Harris | 4:21 |
| 9. | "Echo" |
| Harris | 4:04 |
| 10. | "Shaking Heads" |
| Howe | 4:47 |
| 11. | "Count the Saints" |
| 3:36 | |
| Total length: | 44:57 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Clarity" (Live) | Zedd | 3:33 | |
| 13. | "Beauty Queen" |
| Utters | 4:22 |
| 14. | "Home" |
| Harris | 3:35 |
| 15. | "In Her Arms" |
| Utters | 4:45 |
| 16. | "The Unknown" |
| Harris | 4:14 |
| Total length: | 65:26 | |||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 9 May 2014 | Sony | [1] | |
| Singapore | 12 May 2014 | Sign of the Times | ||
| Spain | [18] | |||
| United Kingdom | [19] |
References
- ^ a b "Glorious: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de.
- ^ "Foxes - I wanna make sure I get my album out to as many of..." Facebook. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
- ^ "Foxes "Featured" @ Foxes Store GB". MyPlayDirect. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Lipshutz, Jason. "Foxes: 'I Don't Want To Be That 'Featured' Artist' | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ "Foxes - Making The Album -- Stripped -- (VEVO LIFT UK) - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ "Amazon Artist Lounge - P: Foxes: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com, Inc.
- ^ Fox, Killian. "Glorious review - Foxes brings power and polish to her debut album". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ "Review: Foxes - Glorious". PressPLAY. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ Williams, Holly. "Album reviews: Black Keys, Foxes, Michael Jackson, Santana". The Independent. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic. "Foxes: Glorious review". Financial Times. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ Molotov-Smith, Maxie. "Album Review: Foxes - Glorious". Fortitude Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Youth by Foxes". iTunes. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Let Go for Tonight by Foxes". iTunes. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
- ^ "Foxes - Holding On To Heaven (Kove Remix)". SoundCloud. 2014-03-23.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Glorious (Deluxe Version) by Foxes". iTunes. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
- ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00J4KD44Q
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Glorious (Deluxe Version) by Foxes". iTunes UK.
- ^ "Glorious: Foxes: Amazon.es: Tienda MP3". Amazon.es.
- ^ "Glorious (Deluxe): Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk.