You Once Told Me is the first official studio album from Andain to see a release, after ten years since their debut in the music industry.
Overview
Released on September 24, 2012 through Black Hole, You Once Told Me had been written over a span of four years, from 2007 to 2011.[1][i] The album was promoted with three singles prior to its release, starting with "Promises" in June 2011, "Much Too Much" by the end of January 2012, and "Turn Up the Sound" on June 18, 2012. After much patience following unsettled circumstances, the album was officially announced on August 10, 2012, on Andain's official Facebook page.[5] With a complementary note about album previews to come the following week, a teaser of the album track "Like" was posted on Facebook, on August 17, 2012.[6] Soon after, an official album preview was exclusively announced to readers of the online promotion portal Beatsmedia, which was made available on August 21, 2012, through Andain's official SoundCloud page. The announcement also included an exclusive video message from Mavie, where she shares a few words about the album, including the meaning behind the chosen title.[7]
...it's about words and the meaning of words, and how they change over time, as we as people can change over time.
— Mavie Marcos
With a track list of eleven songs, the album revolves around a style of hybrid electronica with acoustic elements and slight influences from rock music. Some songs lean more towards one direction than the other, where for instance "Like" and "Ave Maria" are more based around electronic sounds, while "After" and "What It's Like" are significantly characterised by electric guitar and acoustic percussion instruments. Mavie's vocal performances permeate throughout the album with emotive and soulful lyrics. Likewise, every song on the record is characterised by varying levels of vocal harmonics, reflecting upon Mavie's choral background and love for harmonies.[8] While the songs explore a musical pallet of strings, bells and melodies blended with dark textures, guitar and distorted sounds, the album was composed with an intent of maintaining a level of coherency.[9] As such, some sounds and elements can be found recurring between tracks, where for instance "Turn Up the Sound" and "Find Your Way" have the sound of a certain synth sweep in common, while the synth of the lead melody in the latter is also heard in "Forget Your Face". Similarly, "Taken Away" is built upon many of the elements heard in "Promises", finishing the album with a reminiscent touch of the middle.
Deluxe Version
In addition to the standard physical and digital formats, You Once Told Me was also released as an exclusive iTunes LP Deluxe Version.[1] In addition to the content presented with the physical pressing, the interactive version also featured bonus material, including the original version of "Summer Calling"; the Gabriel & Dresden remix of "Beautiful Things"; six additional remixes taken from the three promotional singles, including an exclusive remix of "Promises" by Jaytech; the three music videos from the respective singles; exclusive artwork; and photos from the making of the different music videos.[ii]
Bonus tracks
Aside from the Deluxe Version, additional bonus tracks were also offered with the digital release from select retailers. For the Beatport release, two additional remixes of "Promises" by Jaytech and Maor Levi were added as bonus tracks.[11] Alternatively, Amazon.com offered three of the bonus tracks from the Deluxe Version, including KOAN Sound's remix of "Promises", Rido's remix of "Much Too Much", and Stratus' remix of "Turn Up the Sound".[12]
"Beautiful Things - Gabriel & Dresden's Unplugged Mix"
David Penner
Gabriel & Dresden
10:45
14.
"Promises - KOAN Sound Remix"
Dave Dresden, David Penner
KOAN Sound
3:59
15.
"Promises - Jaytech Remix"
Dave Dresden, David Penner
Jaytech
5:52
16.
"Much Too Much - Zetandel Chill Remix"
Dave Dresden
Zetandel
4:29
17.
"Much Too Much - Rido Remix"
Dave Dresden
Rido
4:32
18.
"Turn Up the Sound - Gabriel & Dresden Remix"
Dave Dresden
Gabriel & Dresden
7:24
19.
"Turn Up the Sound - Stratus Remix"
Dave Dresden
Stratus
3:19
Video
"Promises"
4:00
Video
"Much Too Much"
4:18
Video
"Turn Up the Sound"
4:19
Total length:
118:01
Amazon bonus tracks
No.
Title
Co-writer(s)
Remixer(s)
Length
12.
"Promises - KOAN Sound Remix"
Dave Dresden, David Penner
KOAN Sound
3:59
13.
"Much Too Much - Rido Remix"
Dave Dresden
Rido
4:32
14.
"Turn Up the Sound - Stratus Remix"
Dave Dresden
Stratus
3:19
Total length:
72:15
Beatport bonus tracks
No.
Title
Co-writer(s)
Remixer(s)
Length
12.
"Promises - Jaytech Remix"
Dave Dresden, David Penner
Jaytech
5:52
13.
"Promises - Maor Levi's Analog Emotion Remix"
Dave Dresden, David Penner
Maor Levi
7:52
Total length:
74:09
Credits and personnel
All songs written and produced by Josh Gabriel and Mavie Marcos. Additional writing by Dave Dresden on tracks 1–3, 5–9, and 11 (plus 13 on Deluxe Version), and David Penner on tracks 4, 5 and 10 (plus 12 and 13 on Deluxe Version).[iii]
Notes
^Writing started by the end of 2006,[2] with the first bulk of songs done during 2007.[3] The album was handed in to the label in early April 2011.[4]
^For the complete Deluxe Version track list, see the album profile on iTunes;[1] for additional content, see the official video preview on YouTube.[10]
^For You Once Told Me writing credits, see the album's profile at Allmusic.[13] For "Summer Calling" writing credits, see the song's profile at Discogs.[14] For "Beautiful Things" writing credits, see the song's profile at Discogs.[15]
^Dave Dresden (September 27, 2007). "checking in". MySpace.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
^Andain (April 4, 2011). "Well we...". Facebook. Retrieved September 24, 2012. "Well we successfully turned in the album to the label late last night."
