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To Lose My Life...

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Untitled

To Lose My Life... (also known by extended title of To Lose My Life Or Lose My Love, or shortened as To Lose My Life) is the debut album by the British alternative rock band White Lies. It was released on 19 January 2009, through Fiction Records.[1] The album was produced by Ed Buller and Max Dingel, between ICP Studios in Belgium and Kore Studios in west London.

The album produced four singles; "Unfinished Business", "Death" and "To Lose My Life", prior to its release, and "Farewell to the Fairground" in the months following. "Death" was re-issued in June 2009, with "From the Stars" appearing as iTunes's "Single of the Week" during December 2008.[2] The album was released in the United States on 17 March 2009.[3]

History and production

The album was recorded at ICP Studios in Brussels, Belgium,[4] and Kore Studios, Acton, west London.[5] It was produced by Ed Buller and Max Dingel, who have previously worked with Suede, The Killers and Glasvegas. Further mixing was completed by Alan Moulder.[6] The album includes a 20-piece orchestra,[7] later stated as a 25-piece, composed by Buller.[8] Upon entering the studio, the band only had five early demo versions of tracks "Death", "E.S.T.", "Farewell to the Fairground", "From the Stars" and "Unfinished Business"; the rest were written and recorded during studio time.[9]

Promotion and release

On 22 September 2008, the band played nine of the ten released tracks at Manchester's Night and Day Café. Reviewing the gig, NME described the album by its provisional title of To Lose My Life Or Lose My Love.[10]

The album was released on 19 January 2009 in the United Kingdom on CD and 12-inch vinyl, as well as in a number of other limited edition forms including one housed in a green cardboard box. Pre-orders bought from online retailer Play.com were packaged in a slipcase exclusive to that website, whilst the iTunes Store released the album with a number of bonus tracks and remixes previously only found as b-sides. White Lies' official website packaged the first 500 purchases with a green companion booklet, containing studio pictures and individual essays written by members of the band and production team. The site also published the album in a deluxe boxset, which contained the album on six 7-inch vinyls, along with an extra 7" containing demo versions of "The Price of Love" and "Nothing to Give". On 13 February 2009, the band announced the release of an instrumental version of the album, free with iTunes and physical purchases.[11] The album's artwork was nominated alongside 49 others for Best Art Vinyl 2009 by website artvinyl.com. Finishing seventh in the overall poll,[12] the artwork was displayed in multiple exhibitions in Birmingham and London during November 2009.[13]

On 17 April 2010, the band released The Remixes, an EP containing remixes of songs from To Lose My Life.... The five track EP was limited to 500 copies and released as part of Record Store Day 2009.[14]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash(positive)[15]
Drowned in Sound(7/10)[16]
The Fly[17]
The Guardian[18]
The Independent(favourable)[19]
NME(8/10)[20]
Pitchfork Media(4.0/10)[21]
Spin[22]
The Sunday Times[23]
Yahoo! Music[24]

Critical

Initial critical response for To Lose My Life... was mixed. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 58, based on 17 reviews.[25]

Chart performance

To Lose My Life... debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, became the first British act in 2009 to achieve a number one album,[26] and the first album to debut at number one.[27] Worldwide, the album charted in eleven countries, including four top forty positions in Europe.[28]

Track listing

All music is composed by White Lies

No.TitleLength
1."Death"5:01
2."To Lose My Life"3:11
3."A Place to Hide"5:01
4."Fifty on Our Foreheads"4:21
5."Unfinished Business"4:18
6."E.S.T."5:01
7."From the Stars"4:52
8."Farewell to the Fairground"4:16
9."Nothing to Give"4:11
10."The Price of Love"4:38
iTunes Store bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
11."You Still Love Him" ("Unfinished Business" b-side)3:22
12."Black Song" ("Death" b-side)3:47
13."Taxidermy" ("To Lose My Life" b-side)3:17
Limited 6 x 7" edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Nothing to Give" (demo version)4:12
2."The Price of Love" (demo version)3:44

Chart history

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[29] 57
Belgian Albums Chart[30] 24
Danish Albums Chart[31] 10
Dutch Albums Chart[32] 31
European Top 100 Albums Chart[33] 99
French Albums Chart[34] 119
German Albums Chart[28] 50
Irish Albums Chart[35] 23
New Zealand Albums Chart[36] 40
Norwegian Albums Chart[37] 22
Swiss Albums Chart[38] 73
UK Albums Chart[39] 1
US Billboard Top Heatseekers[40] 4
US Billboard 200[33] 146

References

  1. ^ Gregory, Jason (2009-01-05). "White Lies - 'To Lose My Life' (Fiction) Released: 19/01/09". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  2. ^ Simpson, Matt (30 December 2008). "A.M. Nuggets: Free Download on iTunes - From the Stars by White Lies". wnew.com. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
  3. ^ Horowitz, Steven (2009-03-10). "White Lies Exclusive Interview". kiwibox.com. Retrieved 2009-03-22. [dead link]
  4. ^ "White Lies announce album details - exclusive". NME. 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2008-11-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "White Lies - Artists - Biography". Polydor Records. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  6. ^ Crowther, Sophie Ann (2009-11-04). "Interview with White Lies". State. Retrieved 2009-11-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "White Lies 'proud' of debut album". BBC News. 2008-11-07. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  8. ^ Gregory, Jason (2009-01-14). "The Truth Is Out - White Lies". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  9. ^ Doherty, Niall (January 2009). "The Great Depression". The Fly. pp. 21–24. Retrieved 2010-03-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "White Lies preview debut album at Manchester show". NME. Retrieved January 27, 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "White Lies - To Lose My Life". pushentertainment.com. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  12. ^ "Best Art Vinyl 2009 : The Winners". artvinyl.com. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  13. ^ "Art Vinyl - Coming Events". artvinyl.com. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  14. ^ Pledger, Paul (2010-04-21). "The Remixes - White Lies EP Review". allgigs.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  15. ^ Diver, Mike (2008-12-18). "White Lies - To Lose My Life". Clash. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Dourlay, Dom (2009-01-27). "White Lies - To Lose My Life". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  17. ^ Thomsett, Sophie (2009-01-09). "Album Review: White Lies / 'To Lose My Life' (Fiction)". The Fly. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Rogers, Jude (2009-01-16). "White Lies: To Lose My Life". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  19. ^ Price, Simon (2009-01-11). "Album: White Lies, To Lose My Life, (Fiction)". The Independent. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Beaumont, Mark (2009-01-16). "White Lies". NME. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Hogan, Marc (2009-03-16). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: White Lies: To Lose My Life..." Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  22. ^ Walters, Barry (2009-02-28). "White Lies, 'To Lose My Life...' (Fiction/Geffen)". Spin. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ Edwards, Mark (2009-01-18). "White Lies: To Lose My Life review". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ Kharas, Kev (2009-01-12). "White Lies To Lose My Life Album Review". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  25. ^ "White Lies:To Lose My Life... (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  26. ^ Murray, Robin (2009-06-08). "White Lies Reveal Massive UK Tour". Live. Clash. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
  27. ^ Richardson, Jay (2009-05-06). "Gig review: White Lies". Gig Reviews. The Scotsman. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  28. ^ a b "White Lies - To Lose My Life - Music Charts". αCharts.us. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  29. ^ "Austria Albums Top 75". αCharts.us. 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  30. ^ "Belgium Albums Top 50". αCharts.us. 2009-07-18. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  31. ^ "Denmark Albums Top 40". αCharts.us. 2009-09-11. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  32. ^ "Dutch Albums Top 100". αCharts.us. 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  33. ^ a b "White Lies Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-11-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  34. ^ "France Albums Top 150". αCharts.us. 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  35. ^ "Irish Albums Top 75". αCharts.us. 2009-01-22. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  36. ^ "NZ Albums Top 40". αCharts.us. 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  37. ^ "Norway Albums Top 40". αCharts.us. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  38. ^ "Swiss Albums Top 100". αCharts.us. 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  39. ^ "White Lies' debut album goes straight to Number One in the charts". NME. 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2009-11-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  40. ^ "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-11-23. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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