''American Candy'' is the fifth studio album by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band The Maine, released on March 31, 2015, through 8123 Records. The album debuted at number 37 on the

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. The album sold 15,000 copies in its first week.

Background and composition

The Maine were teasing a new album in summer 2014, and then proceeded to announce that they would be writing new material in Heber, Arizona. Recording took place at Joshua Tree in California with

Colby Wedgeworth Colby Tyler Wedgeworth (born July 27, 1985, Sacramento, California, United States) is an American pop/alternative music producer based in Nashville, Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the ...

acting as the producer. He also engineered and mixed the sessions. Recording place between November 12 and December 12. Ross Garfield was the drum technician at Drum Doctors. Tom Coyne mastered the recordings at

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

. The album's sound has been described as

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

, new wave, pop,

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

and

. "American Candy" was originally written for ''Forever Halloween''. Drummer Pat Kirch explained that the song "didn't really fit" ''Forever Halloween'', but the band revived it for ''American Candy'' "and made it fit."

Release

On January 6, 2015, the group revealed that their new album was titled ''American Candy'', and would be released in the spring. "English Girls" was made available for streaming on February 9, and was released as a single on February 10. The song garnered more than 92,000 streams in less than 4 days on Soundcloud. On the same day, ''American Candy'' was announced for release, and the track listing and artwork was revealed. "Miles Away" was made available for streaming on March 10. The song debuted at number 16 on the iTunes Alternative Chart. "Same Suit, Different Tie" was made available for streaming on March 30. ''American Candy'' was released through 8123 Records on March 31. To help promote the release, the band released an acoustic version of "Miles Away" and did a 24-hour live stream. In April and May, the group went on a headlining North American tour with support from

Real Friends Real Friends may refer to: *Real Friends (band) Real Friends is an American pop punk band from Tinley Park, Illinois. To date, the band has released seven EPs and three studio albums. Previously signed to Fearless Records, the band is currentl ...

Knuckle Puck Knuckle Puck is an American rock band, formed in 2010 in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The group released several EPs, one of which, '' While I Stay Secluded'' (2014), peaked at number 5 on the Heatseekers Albums chart. The band released a sp ...

and the Technicolors. On June 1, a music video for "English Girls" was premiered via

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

which was directed by Daniel Gomes. Tyler Sharp of ''

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'' said the video features the band members "enduring an interesting night out, which is concluded with an unforeseen twist." From late August to early October, the band went on The Free For All Tour; every show of the tour was free-of-charge. The shows took place at out-of-the-ordinary areas such as radio stations, parks and malls. Kirch explained the band wanted the tour to be "a big party and an opportunity" for fans "who can't afford to buy a ticket to come". In between the dates for the tour, the band performed intimate shows where they played ''American Candy'' in full. Kirch revealed the band "felt like it was important to do and our fans wanted to hear it". The band supported

Mayday Parade Mayday Parade is an American Rock music, rock band from Tallahassee, Florida. Their debut EP ''Tales Told by Dead Friends'' was released in 2006, and sold over 50,000 copies without any label support. In July 2007, Mayday Parade released their de ...

in the UK and Europe in January and February 2016. In March and April, the band went on a co-headlining US tour with Mayday Parade with support from

Better Off Better Off is an American rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2011 under the name Friends. They changed their name in early 2013 to Better Off due to another group sharing the Friends name. They have released two albums, ''(I Think) I' ...

. On March 28, a music video was released for "Am I Pretty?". The band went on the 2016 edition of

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

Critical reception

''American Candy'' received mostly positive feedback from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. Mark Deming of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

rated the album three and a half stars out of five, writing that it is "a polished contemporary pop sound that meshes with the band's strong but tuneful approach, and the lyrics are often thoughtful and frequently witty meditations on relationships, popular culture, and the world around us."

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is an American music journalist and author. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The A.V. Club and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio where she has won firs ...

of ''

'' gave the album four out of five stars and writes: "''American Candy'' is full of the classic-sounding pop-rock they do so well." ''American Candy'' was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2016

Alternative Press Music Awards The Alternative Press Music Awards was an annual music awards show in the United States, founded by the music magazine ''Alternative Press''. History On April 24, 2014, ''Alternative Press'' announced they were organizing an award show to be h ...

Track listing

All songs written by The Maine. #"Miles Away" – 3:38 #"Same Suit, Different Tie" – 3:18 #"My Hair" – 3:15 #"English Girls" – 3:13 #"24 Floors" – 3:43 #"Diet Soda Society" – 3:00 #"Am I Pretty?" – 3:02 #"(Un)Lost" – 3:45 #"American Candy" – 3:48 #"Another Night on Mars" – 4:26

Personnel

Personnel per booklet. ;The Maine *

John O'Callaghan John O'Callaghan may refer to: * John O'Callaghan (Medal of Honor) (1850–1899), American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient * John O'Callaghan (politician) (died 1913), secretary of the United Irish League * John O'Callaghan (musician), Irish ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

* Jared Monaco – lead guitar * Kennedy Brock – rhythm guitar * Garrett Nickelsen –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Pat Kirch –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Production *

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing * Tom Coyne – mastering * Ross Garfield – drum tech * John O'Callaghan, Tim Kirch –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

, design * Dirk Mai – photography

Chart performance

Release history

References

; Citations ;Sources *

External links

''American Candy''
at

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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control The Maine (band) albums 2015 albums