''Ben Haenow'' is the self-titled debut studio album by English singer

Ben Haenow Benjamin Bernard Haenow (born 6 January 1985) is a British singer-songwriter and former van driver. In 2014, he was crowned as the winner of the eleventh series of ''The X Factor'' UK after beating Fleur East. Following his win, his debut singl ...

, released on 13 November 2015, through

Syco Music Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. After winning the eleventh series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2014, Haenow travelled to Los Angeles to immediately begin development of the album by collaborating with established musicians such as

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

, Julian Bunetta,

Iain James Iain James Farquharson, more commonly known as Iain James or Sparx, is a British singer, songwriter and vocal producer from Bristol, but based in London. He started as part of the British boyband Triple 8 in 2003 as their lead singer and known ...

Kodaline Kodaline () are an Irish rock band. Originally known as 21 Demands, the band adopted their current name in 2012 to coincide with the changing of their music. The group comprises Steve Garrigan, Mark Prendergast, Vincent May and Jason Boland. G ...

Anne Preven Anne Preven (born February 25, 1965) is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer. As a member of the alternative rock band Ednaswap, she co-wrote "Torn" which was covered by Lis Sørensen (Danish), Trine Rein (Norwegian), and then N ...

, Red Triangle,

Steve Robson Steve Robson is an English songwriter and record producer who has sold in excess of 138 million records around the world. He has written and produced 12 no 1 UK/US singles, 38 no 1 UK/US albums and a further 41 top 5 UK/US albums and singles. H ...

, J.R. Rotem, and

Amy Wadge Amy Victoria Wadge (born ) is an English singer and songwriter. She has co-written tracks with Ed Sheeran, including " Thinking Out Loud" for which she won the 2016 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. Early life Wadge was born and brought up i ...

. Haenow described the record as a mélange of uptempo

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 ...

anthems and pop ballads, making a departure from the rock album he was expected to release following his tenure on ''The X Factor''. ''Ben Haenow'' was preceded by the release of its

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 ...

, " Second Hand Heart", which became a

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

hit on the Official UK Singles Chart. The album's supporting tour, the One Night Tour, commenced in April 2016.

Background and recording

Upon winning the eleventh series of ''

'', Haenow released his debut single, a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of OneRepublic's "

Something I Need "Something I Need" is a song recorded by American pop rock band OneRepublic. It was released on August 25, 2013, through Mosley Music and Interscope Records as the third single from their third studio album, ''Native'' (2013). The song was wri ...

" in December 2014. The track debuted at the top of the Official UK Singles Chart while simultaneously becoming the UK Christmas number one single of the year. In January 2015, Haenow signed a recording contract with his mentor

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

's record company

; and in October 2015, he entered into a US record deal with

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

label. Immediately after signing his contract with Syco, Haenow travelled to Los Angeles began recording tracks for his debut studio album. He also began to write new material for the album with

, J.R. Rotem,

, Julian Bunetta, and

. Much of the album was recorded on the Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, with Haenow amassing over 60–70 recorded songs for potential selection.

Composition

Haenow described the album as a

record, saying that "About half of the album is in that uptempo pop rock reign, the other half is a mix of ballads and different stuff", while also describing it as "something a bit more organic and more singer-songwriter stuff." Despite being expected to release a rock album due to rock-oriented roots during his season on ''The X Factor'', he felt that recording a full-on rock record would fail to achieve commercial success. " Second Hand Heart" will open the album as the lead track, featuring

. Produced by Afterhrs and Julian Bunetta, it was written by Afterhrs members Ian Franzino and Andrew Haas, who co-wrote it with Artist vs. Poet members Joe Kirkland & Jason Dean, with additional writing by Neil Ormandy. "Slamming Doors", which Haenow co-wrote with Amy Wadge and

Jim Duguid Jim Duguid is a Scottish musician and songwriter best known for co-writing the Alex Clare song " Too Close". Biography A native of Glasgow, Duguid cut his teeth playing drums in a number of bands which centred around the vibrant 90's Glasgow mus ...

, follows as a piano-driven ballad. The third track, "All Yours", was produced by Rotem, who also co-wrote it with Haenow and Wadge. Written by Haenow with

and Robson, "Start Again", follows as the fourth track. Produced by Robson, it was the first song to be written for the album. Haenow co-wrote the ninth track, "Brother", about his sibling, a guitarist whom Haenow had worried about being neglected while he was competing on ''The X Factor''. Haenow's version of "Something I Need" was included as the tenth track and the closing song on the album's standard edition.

Release and promotion

''Ben Haenow'' was released on 13 November 2015, by

and

, making him the first male winner of ''The X Factor'' to receive an American joint release deal and the second ''X Factor'' winner after

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

, who was also signed to RCA during her tenure with Syco. To promote the album, Haenow premiered "Second Hand Heart" in a live performance on the twelfth series of ''The X Factor'' on 31 October 2015.

Singles

"Second Hand Heart" was released as the

from ''Ben Haenow'' on 16 October 2015. Syco also issued "Make It Back to Me" and "All Yours" as

promotional singles A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

from the album on 4 and 11 November 2015, respectively. Haenow also revealed plans to issue "Slamming Doors" as follow-up single to "Second Hand Heart" in the future. However, these plans have since been halted due to Haenow parting ways with Syco via mutual agreement.

Tour

On 28 October 2015, Haenow announced the dates for the One Night Tour, his first solo concert tour to support the album, which will commence in April 2016. On 5 February 2016, it was confirmed that more than half of the tour dates had been cancelled due to low ticket sales and Haenow's subsequent departure from his record label.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 10 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

with 18,130 copies sold. In its second week, the album dropped 19 places to number 29, selling 7,743 copies, bringing its total to 25,873 copies sold. In its third week on the chart, the album dropped 1 place to number 30, selling 9,271 copies, bringing the sales total to 35,144 copies sold

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

Notes

# Genre(s) based on pre-release reviews of ''Ben Haenow'' by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', the

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