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It's About Us

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It's About Us
Studio album by
Alex & Sierra
ReleasedOctober 7, 2014
Recorded2014
Genre
Length42:03
LabelColumbia, Syco
Producer
Alex & Sierra chronology
It's About Us
(2014) 		As Seen On TV
(2016)
Singles from It's About Us
  1. "Scarecrow"
    Released: June 23, 2014
  2. "Little Do You Know"
    Released: October 6, 2014

It's About Us is the only studio album by American duo Alex & Sierra, released on October 7, 2014 by Columbia Records.[2] Their debut single and the album's lead single "Scarecrow" was written by the duo along with Martin Johnson and Sam Hollander and was released on June 23, 2014, while "Little Do You Know" was released as the second single from the album.

The album debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 selling 27,000 copies within its first week of release.[3]

Background and development

In 2013, Alex & Sierra won Season 3 of The X Factor. Their prize included a $1 million recording contract from Sony Music Entertainment. Following their win on The X Factor, Alex & Sierra announced they would be making their debut album 'quick' and 'right'.[4] They've worked with Julian Bunetta, Sam Watters, John Shanks, Toby Gad, Jason Mraz and One Direction member Harry Styles,[5] Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter John Legend also made a contribution to the early stages of the album, however the track was not selected to be on the album.[6] On May 3, 2014, Alex & Sierra revealed their debut single, "Scarecrow".

Alex & Sierra have commonly described the album as one that is not just filled with slow or upbeat songs. They hope it becomes one of those albums that you can listen to without the songs ever sounding the same. Also, in an interview with Glamour.com the two shared that they had never written a song before. The duo described it as a really laid-back and magical experience and added that they wrote a total of twenty songs in five days.[7]

The first single "Scarecrow" was released on June 23, 2014 and was written by the duo, Martin Johnson and Sam Hollander. They described the single as "a song about hope, It's about believing in a relationship so strongly that a lack of communication isn't enough for you to give up on the other person. Everyone has trouble communicating sometimes... Or all the time, and everyone deserves to be believed in."[8]

Promotion

Alex & Sierra began promoting the album by performing on Today and Yahoo! Music on June 23, 2014 as part of the promotion for their single "Scarecrow".[9] They also promoted the single on popular blogging sites such as perezhilton.com[10] and rickey.org[11] A lyric video featuring puppets instead of the singers themselves was released on May 27, 2014.[12] While they released the official music video for the song on July 11, 2014.[13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Critical

Matt Collar of AllMusic gave a positive review of the album stating "Alex & Sierra have delivered an album that showcases their crowd-pleasing musical chemistry."[1]

Commercial

It's About Us debuted at number 9 on the New Zealand Albums Chart the week ending October 13, 2014. The album debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 with 27,399 copies sold within its first week of release.[14] The album has sold 86,000 copies in the United States as of August 2016.[15]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Scarecrow"
Johnson3:26
2."Give Me Something"
  • Julian Bunetta
  • Ryan
3:12
3."Bumper Cars"
Mac4:00
4."Almost Home"
Shanks3:23
5."Here We Go"
  • Kinsey
  • Deaton
  • Cunningham
  • Shanks
  • Julian Bunetta
  • Shanks
  • Bunetta
3:23
6."It's About Us" (Interlude)
 1:01
7."Little Do You Know"
Gad3:05
8."Cheating"
  • Bunetta
  • Gad
  • Tamposi
  • Bunetta
  • Ian Franzino[a]
2:27
9."Just Kids"
  • Kinsey
  • Deaton
  • Hollander
  • Tamposi
  • John Ryan
Steve Shebby3:28
10."I Love You"
Carlsson3:49
11."Broken Frame"
  • Kinsey
  • Deaton
  • Hollander
  • Tamposi
  • Ryan
  • Bunetta
  • Ryan
3:40
12."Back to You"
Scott3:52
13."All for You"
  • Kinsey
  • Deaton
  • Cunningham
  • Ryan
Ryan3:11

Notes

  • ^[a] significes a co-producer

Personnel

  • Lead vocals – Alex & Sierra
  • Background vocals – John August, Johan Carlsson, Sam Hollander, Martin Johnson, Kyle Moorman, Brandon Paddock, Ali Tamposi
  • Violin – Paul Cartright, Stephan Hovsepian, Carrie Kennedy, Emily Moore, Joel Pargman, Jen Simone, Audrey Solomon, Ina Velli
  • Guitar – Josh Cumbee, Toby Gad, Martin Johnson, Alex Kinsey, Jamie Scott, John Shanks
  • Piano – Sierra Deaton, Toby Gad, Martin Johnson, Steve Mac, Jamie Scott, John Shanks,
  • Cello – Ira Glansbeek, John Krovoza
  • Trumpet – Sean Eric
  • Percussion – Martin Johnson
  • Rhythm/string arrangements – Nick Squires, Steve Mac
  • Producers: Julian Bunetta, Johan Carlsson, Ian Franzino, Toby Gad, Steve Mac, John Ryan, John Shanks
  • Vocal producers: Steve Shebby, Peter Carlsson, Steve Mac, David "DQ" Quinones
  • Engineers: Nico Grossfield, John Hanes, Sam Holland, Martin Johnson, Paul Lamalfa, Chris Laws, Edwin Menjivar, Brandon Paddock, Dann Pursey, John Ryan, John Shanks
  • Assistant engineers: Ian Franzino, Keith Munson
  • Programming: Toby Gad, Martin Johnson, Kyle Moorman, Brandon Paddock, John Ryan, John Shanks, John August, Julian Bunetta, Johan Carlsson, Josh Cumbee
  • Mixing: Michael H. Brauer, Serban Ghenea, Ash Howes, Joe Zook
  • Mixing assistant: Ryan Lipman, Brandon Paddock
  • Photography: Sierra Deaton, Sami Drasin, Alex Kinsey, Chris Whittle
  • Artwork: Pamela Littky, Sierra Deaton, Alex Kinsey

Charts

Chart (2014–16) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[16] 97
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17] 199
Canadian Albums Chart[18] 11
New Zealand Albums Chart[19] 9
US Billboard 200[3] 8
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[20] 3

Release history

Region Date Label Format
Australia October 7, 2014 Columbia Digital
Brazil
United Kingdom
United States

References

  1. ^ a b c Collar, Matt (2014-10-07). "It's About Us - Alex & Sierra | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  2. ^ "iTunes - Music - It's About Us by Alex & Sierra". Itunes.apple.com. 2014-07-15. Archived from the original on 2015-07-07. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  3. ^ a b Christopher Morris (2014-10-15). "Country Keeps Its Hold on U.S. Album Charts With Jason Aldean in Top Spot". Variety.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-28. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  4. ^ Murphy, Shaunna. "Alex & Sierra: 'X Factor' Winners Plan To Do 1st Album 'Quick' & 'Right'". Hollywood life. Archived from the original on December 22, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  5. ^ Robertson, James. "Harry Styles secretly co-writes song with idol John Legend for US X Factor duo". Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  6. ^ Parker, Lyndsey. "'X Factor' Winners Alex & Sierra Writing With John Legend for Debut Album". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  7. ^ Melby, Leah (2014-06-23). "The X-Factor's Alex and Sierra: Their New Album, Scarecrow, Jason Mraz, and More". Glamour.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  8. ^ "Alex & Sierra's 'Scarecrow' Premiere: Watch The Exclusive Acoustic Video". Billboard.com. 2014-06-24. Archived from the original on 2015-06-08. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  9. ^ "Alex & Sierra perform "Scarecrow" - Today Show - VIDEO". Mjsbigblog.com. 2014-06-23. Archived from the original on 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  10. ^ "EXCLUSIVE! Alex & Sierra Perform An Acoustic Version Of Scarecrow!". PerezHilton.com. 2014-10-01. Archived from the original on 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  11. ^ Yaneza, Rickey (2014-06-24). "Alex and Sierra release 'Scarecrow' acoustic performance official video". Rickey.org. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  12. ^ "Alex & Sierra - Scarecrow (Lyric Video)". YouTube.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Alex & Sierra - Scarecrow". YouTube.com. 2014-07-11. Archived from the original on 2015-05-15. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  14. ^ Cantor, Brian (2014-10-15). "Jason Aldean Wins Album Sales Race with 278K; Hozier Sells 58K". Headlineplanet.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  15. ^ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016.
  16. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2014-10-25). "Slipknot Land No 1 Album On ARIA Chart". Noise11. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Alex & Sierra – It's About Us" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  18. ^ "Canadian Albums: Top Albums Chart". Billboard.com. 2015-03-28. Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  19. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  20. ^ "Digital Albums Chart". Billboard.com. 2015-03-28. Archived from the original on 2015-03-29. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
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