''Break Up'' is a collaborative album by
Pete Yorn
Peter Joseph Yorn (born July 27, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first gained international recognition after his debut record, '' Musicforthemorningafter'', was released to critical and commercial acclaim in 2001. He is ...
and
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
. Its first single, "
Relator
In mathematics, a presentation is one method of specifying a group. A presentation of a group ''G'' comprises a set ''S'' of generators—so that every element of the group can be written as a product of powers of some of these generators—and ...
" was released as a digital download on May 25, 2009. The full album was released by
Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to:
Businesses
* ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies
** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company
* Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...
and
Rhino
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
on September 15, 2009. It was certified gold in France.
Production
The album was recorded in 2006, thus preceding several albums that Yorn and Johansson have released as solo artists. Johansson completed her vocals for the project in two afternoon sessions.
Yorn said that the concept for the album was realized in a dream he had. The project was inspired by
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...
's 1967 and 1968 albums with
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
.
Johansson spoke about the project at the time of the "Relator" single release; "The idea of two people vocalizing their relationship through duets...I always thought of it as just a small project between friends. It perfectly captured where I was in my life at the time".
Promotion
During 2009, Yorn stated that he would like to do some live shows with Johansson to promote the album. By September 10 that year, Johansson and Yorn performed "Relator" on the French television show ''Le Grand Journal''. It was Johansson's first live performance on television.
The duo were then interviewed by KCRW on October 7; they talked about past, present and future projects, and performed the single "Relator" along with "Blackie's Dead", "Search Your Heart", "Shampoo" and a cover of
the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
' "Stop Your Sobbing". They also stated that they would like to tour, but because the short time the songs give them to perform (around 29 minutes), they would like to turn the concert into a dinner if there's the demand for them to tour.
Reception
The album was rated a 52/100 among professional music critics on
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 ...
, indicating mixed or average reviews.
Track listing
Standard edition
French special edition
CD 2 includes live versions recorded at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles on October 7, 2009. Originally broadcast on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic with Jason Bentley. This CD was launched like the "Live At KCRW.Com EP" on
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
, and after included in "Break Up (Deluxe Edition)".
This enhanced CD also includes Relator video.
Personnel
*Robert Francis – banjo, bass guitar, electric guitar,
pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...
,
slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
*Max Goldblatt – banjo, synthesizer bass, background vocals
*
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
– lead vocals, background vocals
*Sunny D. Levine – programming, synthesizer bass
*Giuseppe Patanè – bass guitar
*Amir Yaghmai – synthesizer strings, synthesizer
*
Pete Yorn
Peter Joseph Yorn (born July 27, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first gained international recognition after his debut record, '' Musicforthemorningafter'', was released to critical and commercial acclaim in 2001. He is ...
– banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, tambourine, lead vocals, background vocals
Chart positions
Album
Singles
Certifications
References
External links
Official websiteOfficial MySpace
{{Authority control
2009 albums
Atco Records albums
Pete Yorn albums
Rhino Records albums
Scarlett Johansson albums
Vocal duet albums