''Bounty'' (stylised in

lowercase letters Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

) is the second studio album by Swedish audiovisual project

iamamiwhoami iamamiwhoami ( ) is the electronic music and audiovisual project of Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee in collaboration with her longtime record producer Claes Björklund. The project has, since 2009, released audiovisual series on their ch ...

, led by singer and songwriter Jonna Lee. Originally produced and released as a series of singles throughout 2010 and 2011, it was later released as an album on 3 June 2013 on Lee's label To whom it may concern. and distributed by

Cooperative Music IASCooperative, formerly Cooperative Music, often referred to as Co-Op, is a group of indie labels based in the UK but that have offices around the world, owned by IAS Through their partner labels IASCooperative work with artists such as iama ...

. The first music video from ''Bounty'', titled "B", was released on 14 March 2010 on iamamiwhoami's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. After which followed "O", "U-1", "U-2", "N", "T" and "Y". Digital singles are released shortly after each music video is uploaded to YouTube. The titles collectively formed the word "bounty". While it was assumed that these songs solely consisted of ''Bounty''s track listing, in 2011 two more singles and music videos, "; John" and "Clump", were released and were not confirmed as belonging to ''Bounty'' until June 2012 when iamamiwhoami's YouTube channel grouped them into a playlist named ''Bounty'' along with the previous tracks mentioned. On 4 December 2012, iamamiwhoami's label website To whom it may concern. was updated with a note on the front page which stated "20130603 – iamamiwhoami; bounty", forecasting a physical release of the ''Bounty'' series. This was confirmed on the very next day when the "Release" section of the website displayed ''Bounty''s album cover art, along with its track listing. Aside from a digital release, the album was released in two physical formats—a CD and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

bundle and an LP and DVD bundle.

Critical reception

''Bounty'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 71, based on seven reviews. Heather Phares 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 ...

wrote that "there's a lot to enjoy" on the album, adding that "''bounty'' was made to create mystique and interest, and it still does that even after iamamiwhoami's secret wasn't one anymore." Aaron Payne of ''

musicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

'' lauded the album as "wonderfully idiosyncratic" and viewed it as "an album to be continually surprised by, for those who already know it as well as those who don't, especially if it's given the chance to perform on video as well as vinyl." Sasha Geffen of ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' opined, "As spectacular as the visuals are, the project's core is the music", calling ''Bounty'' "a lively collection of

electro-pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

that does lots with its limited palette." Jon Clark of ''

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

'' commented, "It may be somewhat on the lofty, artistic side, but ''bounty'' manages somehow to avoid ostentation; it is largely elegant, grounded and rewarding." Julia Sachs of ''

Slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...

'' implied that "with their dreamy vocals and

experimental pop Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental techniques such as musique concrète, al ...

sound, iamamiwhoami deliver an album that will please many different types of music lovers. In a mixed review, Tom Watts of ''

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

'' described the album as "a joyful exploration of synthy soundscapes and haunting vocals", but concluded that "''bounty'' is a record that, whilst great to vibe out to, kind of feels a little stitched together piecemeal."

Promotion

As with ''Kin'', the group embarked upon a worldwide tour in order to promote the album, including their first North American performances.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Jonna Lee; all tracks written by Lee and

Claes Björklund iamamiwhoami ( ) is the electronic music and audiovisual project of Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee in collaboration with her longtime record producer Claes Björklund. The project has, since 2009, released audiovisual series on their ch ...

Notes

* All track titles are stylised in lowercase letters. For example, "U-1" is stylised as "u-1" and "; John" is stylised as "; john".

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''To whom it may concern.'' website.

Music

* Jonna Lee – vocals *

– production * Dan Smith – mastering

Visuals

* Jonna Lee – production * Robin Kempe-Bergman – direction * John Strandh – cinematography * Agustín Moreaux – production design, styling, costumes * Klara Bjärkstedt – costumes

References

External links

iamamiwhoami; bounty on To whom it may concern.

iamamiwhoami; bounty playlist
on

{{authority control 2010s musical films 2013 albums 2013 video albums Electronic music films Electropop video albums Iamamiwhoami albums Swedish musical films 2010s Swedish films