2013 studio album by London Grammar
If You Wait Released 6 September 2013 (2013-09-06 ) Recorded 2012–2013 Studio
Genre
Length 43 :22 Label
Producer
If You Wait is the debut studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar . It was released on 6 September 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings and Ministry of Sound . Seven singles were 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 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 33,130 copies.
Background
After signing with Ministry of Sound and Big Life Management, the band 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 commented on the collaboration, saying, "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."[ 6]
The album's lyrics are mainly based upon vocalist Hannah Reid's personal life, in particular her troubled teenage years,[ 7] prompting The Guardian to suggest that this was "the first quarter-life-crisis album."[ 7]
Critical reception
If You Wait received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic , which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 19 reviews.[ 9]
Andy Gill of The Independent summarised the album's production and instrumentation as "all beautifully sketched to evoke the crepuscular intimacies of the songs."[ 13]
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[ 20] and "emotive" and "folky" by Drowned in Sound .[ 3] Her voice has been compared to artists like Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine ,[ 21] Annie Lennox ,[ 13] [ 22] and Julee Cruise .[ 13] 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."[ 1]
If You Wait entered the UK Albums Chart at number two, selling 33,130 copies in its first week.[ 23] As of June 2017, it had sold 642,301 copies in the United Kingdom.[ 24] In the United States, the album debuted at number 91 on the Billboard 200 with 4,000 copies sold.[ 25]
Track listing
All tracks produced by Tim Bran , Roy Kerr and London Grammar , except where noted.
Title Lyrics Music 1. "Hey Now " Hannah Reid Reid Daniel Rothman Dot Major 3:27 2. "Stay Awake" Reid 3:05 3. "Shyer" Reid 3:07 4. "Wasting My Young Years " Reid Reid 3:24 5. "Sights" Reid 4:13 6. "Strong " Reid 4:35 7. "Nightcall " 4:30 8. "Metal & Dust " Reid 3:28 9. "Interlude" (live) Reid Reid 4:04 10. "Flickers" 4:45 11. "If You Wait" Reid Reid 4:44 Total length: 43:22
US edition bonus tracks[ 26] [ 27] Title Lyrics Music Producer(s) 12. "High Life" Reid 4:03 13. "Maybe" Reid 4:23 14. "Strong" (US radio edit) Reid 4:10 Total length: 55:58
Japanese edition bonus tracks[ 28] Title Lyrics Music Producer(s) 12. "Help" Reid 3:53 13. "Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me" Reid 3:02 14. "High Life" Reid 4:03 15. "Maybe" Reid 4:23 16. "When We Were Young" Reid 3:06 17. "Feelings" 3:46 18. "Everywhere You Go" 3:42 Total length: 69:17
Deluxe edition and French collector's edition bonus disc[ 29] [ 30] Title Lyrics Music Producer(s) 1. "Help" Reid 3:53 2. "Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me" Reid 3:02 3. "Help Me Lose My Mind " (Disclosure featuring London Grammar) Reid Disclosure 4:06 4. "High Life" Reid 4:03 5. "Maybe" Reid 4:23 6. "When We Were Young" Reid 3:06 Total length: 22:33
Notes
^a signifies a co-producer
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of If You Wait .[ 31]
Musicians
Tim Bran – additional programming (all tracks) ; additional keyboards (tracks 4, 7)
Roy Kerr – additional programming
Dot Major – additional programming (tracks 4, 7)
Wil Malone – string arrangements, string conducting (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
Tony Stanton – strings preparation (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – strings (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
Technical
Tim Bran – production
Roy Kerr – production
London Grammar – production
Manon Grandjean – engineering
Ben Siegal – engineering (tracks 3, 8, 10, 11) ; vocal recording, piano recording (track 11)
Jan Holzner – string recording (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
James Fitzpatrick – orchestra contractor (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing
Tom Coyne – mastering
Artwork
Mat Maitland – art direction
Markus Karlsson – art direction
Lee Kirby – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications
Release history
Notes
^ Vocals on tracks 2–10
^ Strings on tracks 4, 5, 8 and 11
References
^ a b Taylor, Benji (9 September 2013). "Review: London Grammar – If You Wait " . Pretty Much Amazing . Retrieved 4 March 2015 .
^ Bracaglia, Kate (28 January 2015). "Our weekly concert picks: January 28–February 3" . Philly.com . Retrieved 4 March 2015 .
^ a b Fenwick, Tom (5 September 2013). "London Grammar – If You Wait" . Drowned in Sound . Retrieved 8 September 2013 .
^ "Sights: London Grammar: MP3 Downloads" . Amazon (UK). Retrieved 7 March 2015 .
^ "If You Wait: London Grammar: MP3 Downloads" . Amazon (UK) . Retrieved 7 March 2015 .
^ [1] Russell Dean Stone, London Grammar', BEAT Magazine, 16 October 2013
^ a b Wolfson, Sam (5 September 2013). "London Grammar: 'A lot of our friends are really lost' " . The Guardian . Retrieved 8 September 2013 .
^ "If You Wait by London Grammar reviews" . AnyDecentMusic? . Retrieved 31 December 2019 .
^ a b "Reviews for If You Wait by London Grammar" . Metacritic . Retrieved 14 September 2013 .
^ Kerr, Scott. "If You Wait – London Grammar" . AllMusic . Retrieved 27 June 2015 .
^ Porter, Zander (10 September 2013). "Album Review: London Grammar – If You Wait" . Consequence of Sound . Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013 .
^ Sullivan, Caroline (5 September 2013). "London Grammar: If You Wait – review" . The Guardian . Retrieved 7 May 2019 .
^ a b c d Gill, Andy (29 July 2013). "Album: London Grammar, If You Wait (Metal & Dust)" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013 .
^ Moore, Ralph (25 October 2013). "London Grammar" . Mixmag . Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2019 .
^ Levine, Nick (5 September 2013). "London Grammar – 'If You Wait' " . NME . Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013 .
^ Mardles, Paul (8 September 2013). "London Grammar: If You Wait – review" . The Observer . Retrieved 14 September 2013 .
^ Pagnani, Renato (17 September 2013). "London Grammar: If You Wait" . Pitchfork . Retrieved 17 September 2013 .
^ Lathan, Ryan (12 September 2013). "London Grammar: If You Wait" . PopMatters . Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013 .
^ "London Grammar: If You Wait". Q . No. 328. November 2013. p. 111. ISSN 0955-4955 .
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^ Jones, Alan (16 September 2013). "Official Charts Analysis: Arctic Monkeys' AM doubles predecessor's week-one sales" . Music Week . Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018 .
^ a b Jones, Alan (16 June 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: London Grammar enter at No.1" . Music Week . Retrieved 16 June 2017 .
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^ If You Wait (CD liner notes). London Grammar . Metal & Dust Recordings. 2013. MADART1.{{cite AV media notes }}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link )
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