Sunshine Kitty
Sunshine Kitty | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 20 September 2019 | |||
Recorded | January–April 2019 | |||
Studio | MXM Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) MXM Studios (Los Angeles, US) House Mouse Studios (Stockholm) Jack & Coke Studios (Stockholm) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:27 | |||
Language |
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Label | Island | |||
Producer | ||||
Tove Lo chronology | ||||
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Singles from Sunshine Kitty | ||||
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Sunshine Kitty is the fourth studio album by Swedish singer Tove Lo, released on 20 September 2019 by Island Records. It includes the singles "Glad He's Gone", "Bad as the Boys" featuring Alma, "Jacques" with Jax Jones, "Really Don't Like U" featuring Kylie Minogue and "Sweettalk My Heart". It was her final album under Island Records, as she became an independent artist on her following releases.[5]
Background
[edit]The album was recorded in Los Angeles and Stockholm, Sweden[6] and was called a "new chapter" for Lo, "marked by reclamation of confidence, hard-earned wisdom, more time, and a budding romance". Lo also said the album title is a "play on pussy power", calling the cartoon cat "an extension of me and part of the new music".[7] Lo also said the songs are "happier" than her previous material, that the album will feature "dirty pop, sad bangers, and badass collabs",[8] and "There's definitely some club bangers on there, but some of it is a bit more acoustic".[9]
Paw Prints Edition
[edit]On 18 May 2020 the Taiwanese audio streaming website corp.com.tw released the tracklist for Sunshine Kitty: Paw Prints Edition.[10] Paw Prints Edition features the same songs as Sunshine Kitty, plus eight more tracks. The lyrics website Genius also released a tracklist for the Paw Prints Edition, featuring the same tracks as on corp.com.tw.[11] Lo also released the cover for the song "Sadder Badder Cooler" on her social media, announced the release date for the song with a special animated snippet of Sunshine Kitty (the lynx present on the album cover) and her animated as Disney characters walking to the rhythm of the song.[12][13] Lo can be seen walking with a sword on her shoulder and dressed in an unbuttoned jacket, with her hair blue like in the "Bikini Porn" music video. Sunshine Kitty can be seen with sunglasses walking next to Lo.[14] On May 19, Lo announced on her social media that Sunshine Kitty: Paw Prints Edition was going to be released on 22 May 2020.[15][16]
Promotion
[edit]The promotion for Sunshine Kitty unofficially began on 25 May 2019, with Lo posting pictures of doodles to her social media accounts over three days. On 28 May, she posted a short video which introduced the character Sunshine Kitty and contained a snippet of "Glad He's Gone", as well as its release date at the end of the video.[17] Lo also posted a picture of herself in a kitchen along with a lyric from the track[18] before revealing the title and precise time and date of the first single's release.[19] "Glad He's Gone" received three videos: a lyric video, which premiered on the same day as the track,[20] a vertical video,[21] and the official music video.[22] Lo also talked about the album in a few interviews, such as one with Billboard, BUILD Series LDN, and MTV News.[23][24][25][26] "Glad He's Gone" was performed at iHeartRadio, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Szigest Festival 2019, as well as some other festivals and small shows.[27][28][29]
On 30 July, Lo posted a teaser of Sunshine Kitty's next single, "Bad as the Boys", which included its release date and time.[30] The album's tracklist was revealed in a short video and a photo posted to Lo's social media.[31][8] On 26 August, Lo teased the release of another song, "Jacques", a collaboration with Jax Jones.[32] The song premiered as the album's third single two days later.[33] The Sunshine Kitty Release Show took place on 19 September at Bowery Ballroom, New York City.[34]
Every song released as a single from the album received a lyric video, while "Glad He's Gone", "Jacques", "Are U Gonna Tell Her?" and "Sweettalk My Heart" received music videos.[22][35][36][37]
Critical reception
[edit]Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 6.8/10[38] |
Metacritic | 75/100[39] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [40] |
The Arts Desk | [41] |
Evening Standard | [42] |
Exclaim! | 7/10[4] |
The Guardian | [43] |
NME | [44] |
Pitchfork | 7.2/10[45] |
Q | [46] |
The Times | [47] |
Sunshine Kitty received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 75 based on six reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[39] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[38] It was rated 72 out of 100 at Album of the Year.[48]
AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the album's musical direction, writing, "As Lo puts her stamp on all of Sunshine Kitty's different sounds and emotions, there's a breeziness that hasn't been present in her music since Queen of the Clouds".[40] Hannah Mylrea of NME complimented Lo's use of her already known musical formula, stating that it is "no bad thing: [the album] features some of her best work in years as she boldly embraces new sounds and unusual collaborators".[44] The Arts Desk's Thomas H Green praised the album's mature tone and songwriting.[41] Mick Jacobs of Spectrum Culture classified the album as an improvement over the singer's previous ones, highlighting its songwriting.[49] Similarly, Louise Bruton of The Irish Times noted that the album "feel[s] like the light at the end of the drug-fuelled tunnel that she resided in" on her previous releases,[50] while Max Russell of The Young Folks wrote "With the success of her last three moonlit albums, Tove Lo could have continued chasing the night highs, but Sunshine Kitty shines a light on a wiser yet still wild side of her".[51]
Beth Bowles of Exclaim! considered the number of tracks to be large, but stated that "Essentially, every song on this album would bring anyone to their feet".[4] Writing for The Guardian, Laura Snapes criticized Lo's nihilism throughout Sunshine Kitty, stating that it "dominated the latter half of the decade and no longer sounds as fresh as it did".[43] Evening Standard's Harry Fletcher wrote that the album's "often forgettable collection of songs doesn’t do justice to Tove Lo’s obvious charisma and lyrical candor".[42]
Year-end rankings
[edit]Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Esquire | 50 Best Albums of 2019 | — | |
Gaffa | 20 best foreign albums of the year | 18
|
|
Idolator | The 20 Best Pop Albums Of 2019 | 15
|
Track listing
[edit]No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Gritty Pretty" (intro) | The Struts | 0:45 | |
2. | "Glad He's Gone" |
|
| 3:16 |
3. | "Bad as the Boys" (featuring Alma) |
| The Struts | 3:06 |
4. | "Sweettalk My Heart" |
|
| 2:59 |
5. | "Stay Over" |
|
| 3:09 |
6. | "Are U Gonna Tell Her?" (featuring Zaac) |
| The Struts | 2:38 |
7. | "Jacques" (with Jax Jones) | 3:23 | ||
8. | "Mateo" |
| The Struts | 2:49 |
9. | "Come Undone" |
|
| 2:57 |
10. | "Equally Lost" (featuring Doja Cat) | Mattman & Robin | 2:14 | |
11. | "Really Don't Like U" (featuring Kylie Minogue) | Kirkpatrick | 3:45 | |
12. | "Shifted" |
|
| 3:12 |
13. | "Mistaken" | Little | 2:56 | |
14. | "Anywhere U Go" |
|
| 3:09 |
Total length: | 40:19 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Sadder Badder Cooler" |
|
| 2:51 |
2. | "Bikini Porn" |
|
| 2:42 |
3. | "I'm Coming" (Spotify Studios Recording) |
|
| 3:16 |
4. | "Passion and Pain Taste the Same When I'm Weak" |
|
| 4:00 |
5. | "Gritty Pretty" (intro) |
| The Struts | 0:45 |
6. | "Glad He's Gone" |
|
| 3:16 |
7. | "Bad as the Boys" (featuring Alma) |
| The Struts | 3:06 |
8. | "Sweettalk My Heart" |
|
| 2:59 |
9. | "Stay Over" |
|
| 3:09 |
10. | "Are U Gonna Tell Her?" (featuring MC Zaac) |
| The Struts | 2:38 |
11. | "Јacques" (with Jax Jones) |
|
| 3:23 |
12. | "Mateo" |
| The Struts | 2:49 |
13. | "Come Undone" |
|
| 2:57 |
14. | "Equally Lost" (featuring Doja Cat) |
| Mattman & Robin | 2:14 |
15. | "Really Don't Like U" (featuring Kylie Minogue) |
| Kirkpatrick | 3:45 |
16. | "Shifted" |
|
| 3:12 |
17. | "Mistaken" |
| Little | 2:56 |
18. | "Anywhere U Go" |
|
| 3:09 |
19. | "Are U Gonna Tell Her?" (Heavy Baile Remix) (featuring MC Zaac) |
|
| 2:45 |
20. | "Sweettalk My Heart" (Team Salut Remix) |
|
| 2:59 |
21. | "Sweettalk My Heart" (Live at Vevo) |
| Lo | 3:24 |
22. | "Mistaken" (Live at Vevo) |
| Lo | 2:59 |
Total length: | 59:33 |
Notes
- ^a signifies a co-producer
- "Sweettalk My Heart" is stylized as "Sweettalk my Heart".
- "Are U Gonna Tell Her?" is stylized as "Are U gonna tell her?".
- "Really Don't Like U" and "Anywhere U Go" are stylized in sentence case.
- "Sadder Badder Cooler" is stylized in all lowercase.
Personnel
[edit]- Tove Lo – primary artist, composer, creative director, executive producer, lyricist, vocals
- Samuel Burgess-Johnson – art direction, design
- Tom Fuller – assistant engineer, engineer
- Gustav Weber Vernet;– band/crew member, producer, keyboards
- Rickard Göransson – bass, acoustic guitar
- Jack & Coke – bass, background vocals, beatbox, drums, guitar, keyboards, producer, programmer, programming
- A Strut – bass, background vocals, beatbox, drums, guitar, keyboards, producer, programming
- Mattias Larsson – bass, composer
- Robin Fredriksson – bass, composer, drums, flute, keyboards, percussion, producer, programming, ukulele
- Shellback – bass, composer, guitar, keyboards, percussion, producer, programming
- Mattman – bass, drums, flute, keyboards, percussion, producer, programming, ukulele
- The Struts – bass, composer, drums, keyboards, producer, programming
- Caroline Ailin – composer
- Jakob Hazell – composer
- Jakob Jeristrom – composer
- Max Martin – composer
- Ludvig Söderberg – composer, executive producer, keyboards, programming
- MC Zaac – composer, featured artist
- Timucin Lam – composer, instrumentation
- Mark Ralph – composer, instrumentation, mixing, producer
- Ian Kirkpatrick – composer, instrumentation, producer, programming
- Joel Little – composer, producer
- Umberto Tavares – composer, vocal engineer
- Jefferson Junior – composer, vocal engineer
- Charlie Twaddle – creative director
- Jax Jones – featured artist, producer
- Alma – featured artist, vocals
- Kylie Minogue – featured artist, vocals
- Doja Cat – featured artist, vocals, lyricist
- Harley Jones – illustrations
- Stuart Hawkes – mastering
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- John Hanes – mixing engineer
- Moni Haworth – photography
- Elvira Anderfjärd;– producer
- Club Ralph – producer, mixing
- Fera DoMar – vocal engineer
- Henrik Michelsen – vocal engineer
- Kalle Keskikuru – vocal engineer
- Yeti Beats – vocal engineer
Charts
[edit]Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[58] | 54 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[59] | 75 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[60] | 117 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[61] | 49 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[62] | 51 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[63] | 20 |
French Albums (SNEP)[64] | 169 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[65] | 57 |
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[66] | 7 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[67] | 22 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[68] | 90 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[69] | 97 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[70] | 19 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[71] | 88 |
UK Albums (OCC)[72] | 59 |
US Billboard 200[73] | 61 |
References
[edit]- ^ Mylrea, Hannah (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo – 'Sunshine Kitty' review: glittering, expertly crafted pop and bold new sounds". NME. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ Fletcher, Harry (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty review: Obvious charisma lost in forgettable Scandi pop". MSN. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ Green, Thomas H. (16 September 2019). "CD: Tove Lo - Sunshine Kitty". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Bowles, Beth (23 September 2019). "Tove Lo Sunshine Kitty". Exclaim!. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ Kenneally, Cerys (31 July 2019). "Tove Lo shares four track titles from forthcoming album Sunshine Kitty". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ Zemler, Emily (18 July 2019). "Watch Tove Lo's Wry Performance of 'Glad He's Gone' on 'Colbert'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo Returns With New Single, 'Glad He's Gone'; Fourth Album SUNSHINE KITTY On The Way". BroadwayWorld. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ a b Lo, Tove. "DA TRACKLIST! I'll keep dropping you some lyrics from all these tunes. All dirty pop, sad bangers and BADASS collabs I can't wait to share on sept 20th❤️". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Skinner, Tom (31 July 2019). "Tove Lo announces new single 'Bad as the Boys' in Karaoke-inspired teaser – watch". NME. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
- ^ "Taiwanese Streaming service Paw Prints edition". song.corp.com.tw. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ "Genius.com Paw Prints edition". genius.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ "Tove Lo teases her Instagram fans with the release of her new song "sadder badder cooler"". Instagram. 18 May 2020. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ "Tove Lo teases her Twitter fans with the release of her new song "sadder badder cooler"". Twitter. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ "sadder, badder, cooler - Teaser". Universal Music Group. 18 May 2020. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ "Tove Lo announces on Instagram the release of her her deluxe album "Sunshine Kitty - Paw Prints Edition"". Instagram. 19 May 2020. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ "Tove Lo announces on social media the release of her her deluxe album "Sunshine Kitty - Paw Prints Edition"". Twitter. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "Guys. Meet #SunshineKitty. She's a little freaky". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "🔥you're better off i'm glad that he's gone🔥". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "tits up #GLADHESGONE drops at midnight may 31st". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "#gladhesgone is out all over everything everywhere ❤️ ALSO you can not only listen to it, you can sing karaoke while watching me shake my peach in the new lyric video 👍". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "Babes I'm loving all the clips of you getting down with Sunshine Kitty to #GladHesGone 🐾🔥 Keep 'em coming and check out the vertical video out now!". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ a b Tove Lo (@ToveLo). "I'm so proud of this video, and so grateful to the directors & our outstanding teams. If there's anything you babes should take away from this video (besides it being EPIC) it's that I'm clearly a really supportive friend 😂 ENJOOOYYYY!!! #gladhesgone". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Schiller, Rebecca. "Tove Lo Talks Admiration For Billie Eilish, How a 'Girls' Episode Inspired New Album Title 'Sunshine Kitty': Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo, Swedish Sweetheart Stronger Than Ever!". YouTube. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ "@ToveLo found inspiration for the title of her latest album from her childhood, "P-ssy Power," and an episode of @girlsHBO . She talked to us about how it all came together as #SunshineKitty 🌈☀️🐱". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ "@ToveLo is as happy as ever, and she talks about it all on her new album #SunshineKitty. 😻 She gave us the lowdown on its visuals, getting personal in her music, and how #GladHesGone represents the rest of the album". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo Performs 'Glad He's Gone'". YouTube. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo just hit the stage with "Glad He's Gone" and the crowd is LOVING it! 💙 #LiveAtiHeart @ToveLo". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "Tove Lo - Glad He's Gone (Live)". Retrieved 5 September 2019 – via YouTube.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "#badastheboys feat. @almacyber 🐾". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "🐾". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "oh la la la #jacques aug 28. @JaxJones #sunshinekitty". Twitter. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ "Jacques by Jax Jones, Tove Lo". Spotify. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- ^ Lo, Tove. "NYC🐾 September 19🐾 @boweryballroom 🐾 #SunshineKitty 🐾 Release Show🐾 I cannot fucking wait to play these new songs for you 😘 Pre-order Sunshine Kitty for pre-sale password". Twitter. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^ Jax Jones (9 September 2019). "Jax Jones, Tove Lo - Jacques (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Tove Lo (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo - Sweettalk my Heart (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ Tove Lo (@ToveLo) (27 January 2020). "Here in the aftermath of Grammys 2020 I've decided to give you guys another FIRE video :) BOOM #AreUgonnatellher? Jan 29th @ 1pm est / 3pm brt / 7pm cet 🔥 @mczaac". Twitter. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ a b "Sunshine Kitty by Tove Lo reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Sunshine Kitty by Tove Lo". Metacritic. United States: CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ a b Phares, Heather. "Sunshine Kitty - Tove Lo". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ a b Green, Thomas H (16 September 2019). "CD: Tove Lo - Sunshine Kitty review - catchy, sexy, polished pop". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ a b Fletcher, Harry (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo's charisma is lost in Sunshine Kitty's forgettable Scandi pop". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ a b Snapes, Laura (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty review – pop nihilist peers out of the shadows". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ a b Mylrea, Hannah (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo – 'Sunshine Kitty' review: glittering, expertly crafted pop and bold new sounds". NME. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Blum, Dani (24 September 2019). "Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- ^ Cragg, Michael. "Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty". Q. No. 404 (November 2019 ed.). p. 112.
- ^ Hodgkinson, Will (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty review — a frank attitude to sexuality". The Times. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo - Sunshine Kitty". Album of the Year. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- ^ Jacobs, Mick (30 September 2019). "Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ Bruton, Louise (20 September 2019). "Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty – Shaking off past with pulsating synths". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ Russell, Max (30 September 2019). "Album Review: Tove Lo - "Sunshine Kitty" | The Young Folks". The Young Folks. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ Ovenden, Olivia (23 December 2019). "The 50 Best Albums Of 2019". Esquire. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ "Redaktionen har talt: Her er årets 20 bedste udenlandske album" [The editors have spoken: Here are the 20 best foreign albums of the year]. Gaffa (in Danish). Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ Wass, Mike (3 January 2020). "From 'Magdalene' To 'Madame X': The 20 Best Pop Albums Of 2019". Idolator. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- ^ "Sunshine Kitty - Paw Prints Edition track list by genius". genius.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
- ^ "Sunshine Kitty - Paw Prints Edition on Spotify". Spotify.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ "Sunshine Kitty - Paw Prints Edition on iTunes/Apple music". music.apple.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #544". auspOp. 28 September 2019. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Tove Lo". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Tove Lo – Sunshine Kitty". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Tove Lo Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 October 2019.