You & Me (The Walkmen album)

You & Me
Studio album by The Walkmen
Released	July 29, 2008 (digital) August 19, 2008 (US CD) September 29, 2008 (UK CD)
Recorded	Gigantic Studios, Manhattan Water Music, Hoboken Sweet Tea Studios, Oxford
Genre	Indie rock
Length	51:01
Label	Gigantic (US) Fierce Panda (UK)
Producer	The Walkmen, Chris Zane
The Walkmen chronology
Pussy Cats (2006) You & Me (2008) Lisbon (2010)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The Austin Chronicle
The A.V. Club/The Onion	(A)
Drowned in Sound	(8/10)
Filter	(86%)
The Guardian
NME	[citation needed]
Pitchfork Media	(8.5/10)
Q
Rolling Stone

You & Me is the fourth album of new original material by The Walkmen. The album was released on August 19, 2008 in the US, and on September 29, 2008 in the UK.

You & Me was made available to download on July 29, 2008, in an exclusive charitable pre-release on indie music website Amie Street. The Walkmen made their album available for US$5 at AmieStreet.com/thewalkmen, with all the proceeds from each sale being donated to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. During its first week of sales, the album charted at #29 on Billboard's Top Digital Albums. The album was made available on CD on August 19, 2008, and on limited edition heavyweight red-colored vinyl on September 2, 2008.

Fierce Panda released You & Me in the UK, and also released two singles from the album: "The Blue Route"/"Canadian Girl" on November 10, 2008, and "In the New Year" on February 23, 2009.

The song "Red Moon" featured in Season 2, Episode 2 of Breaking Bad. The song "New Country" was also featured in 50/50 (2011 film).

Critical reception

You & Me was released to positive critical acclaim. Turntable Kitchen described it as "a thoughtful album that bares witness to a band that is comfortable in their own skin having learned the value of subtlety." Spin gave the album four stars out of five, calling the album "a bittersweet, but emboldened fairy tale of New York City rock." The Guardian awarded the album a full five out of five stars, warmly stating "[The album is] intimate, intense and beautiful...You & Me demands repeat plays and The Walkmen deserve a new respect." Drowned in Sound gave the album an 8 out of 10, saying "It's not a showy record, but one that when peeled apart reveals itself to be a darker and more engaging album than on first listen. But not only that, as it might also be the best thing they've ever done.".

Track listing

1. "Dónde está la playa" – 3:55
2. "Flamingos" (for Colbert) – 1:11
3. "On the Water" – 3:10
4. "In the New Year" – 4:22
5. "Seven Years of Holidays" (for Stretch) – 3:40
6. "Postcards from Tiny Islands" – 4:04
7. "Red Moon" – 4:02
8. "Canadian Girl" – 4:05
9. "Four Provinces" – 4:02
10. "Long Time Ahead of Us" – 3:47
11. "The Blue Route" – 4:26
12. "New Country" – 3:44
13. "I Lost You" – 3:32
14. "If Only It Were True" – 3:07

Singles

• "The Blue Route" b/w "Canadian Girl" (double A-side 7" single, November 10, 2008; Fierce Panda)
• "In the New Year" (Edit) b/w "Ride Down the Highway" (7" single, February 23, 2009; Fierce Panda)

Credits

• The Walkmen are:
  • Hamilton Leithauser – vocals, guitar
  • Paul Maroon – guitar, piano
  • Walter Martin – organ, bass
  • Peter Bauer – bass, organ
  • Matt Barrick – drums
• Recorded by Chris Zane at Gigantic Studios, Manhattan; and John Agnello at Water Music, Hoboken and Sweet Tea Studios, Oxford, Mississippi.
• Alex Aldi – second engineer at Gigantic Studios.
• "Flamingos" recorded and mixed by Paul Maroon at Brutalis Studios, Philadelphia.
• All songs mixed by Chris Zane at Gigantic Studios, Manhattan, 2008.
• Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge.
• Assistant mastering engineer – Joe LaPorta.
• All photographs by Fred Maroon.
• Design by Elizabeth Spiridakis.

References

General

• The Walkmen's official MySpace page
• Gigantic Music's website

Specific