''Before Nightfall'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter
Robert Francis, released on October 9, 2009, by
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. It was released in 2009 with "
Junebug" as
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
, followed by "Keep On Running". Both were also released as
video clip
Video clips refer to mostly short videos, most of the time called memes, which are short videos of silly jokes and funny clips, most of the time coming from movies or any entertainment videos such as YouTube. The term is also used more loosely to ...
s. ''Before Nightfall'' is Francis' first album on a major label. In an interview with
Redefine magazine, Francis said that darkness was a major theme on the album.
Critical reception
Andrew Leahey 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 ...
summarized it as a "grounded, no-frills album, sometimes sweeping in scope."
''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' Marc Hawthorne found producer Sardy's presence intruding, writing, "he and
ardyhave given his music a sheen that adds too much distance between performer and listener."
Michael Hann at ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' felt the album's contents artificial, commenting, "It's a pleasant haze of guitars, bass and drums, sliding by like
midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
plains viewed from a car window
..but there's little of the sense of sincere connection that lifts the very best American
heartland rock
Heartland rock is a genre of rock music characterized by a straightforward, often roots musical style, often with a focus on blue-collar workers, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment.
The ge ...
out of its homeland and makes it universal."
Track listing
References
{{Authority control
2009 albums
Albums produced by Dave Sardy