''Couples'' is the second album by the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

band

The Long Blondes The Long Blondes are an English indie rock band formed in Sheffield in 2003 by Dorian Cox (lead guitar and keyboards), Reenie Hollis (real name Kathryn Hollis) (bass guitar and backing vocals), Emma Chaplin (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing ...

. It was released on 7 April 2008 by

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

, with the first single, "

Century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

", released on 24 March 2008. The quotation marks in the album title were included as a reference to the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

album '' "Heroes"''.

Recording

The album was recorded in October 2007.produced by

Erol Alkan Erol Alkan (born 30 May 1974) is an English DJ and producer of Turkish Cypriot descent. He grew up in Archway in North London. Career DJ and club promoter In 1993, Erol Alkan started DJing in various indie nightclubs in London. His first ...

who had previously produced many of the band's B-sides including "Fulwood Babylon", "All Bar One Girls" and "Five Ways to End It".

Reception

The album was generally well received by critics. ''

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 publis ...

'' called it "one of the albums of the year from one of the bands of the decade". '' The Fly'' described it as "a dark, sultry and sublime album" and gave it a four out of five stars. ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' gave the album four stars and called it a "sleek, sexy affair....Flirtations with a darker sound and Donna Summer-style disco emerge", ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' labelled the album "ambitious and close to unique". ''

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 ...

'' said that the band had created "an ambitious, forward-thinking pop record that tops their debut by quite some distance", and ''

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 ...

'' called the LP an "exciting, challenging, daring listen that's full of brains". Despite good reactions from many music critics in the UK, ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

'' had an average take on the album, writing that "In an attempt to be taken seriously, they've sacrificed too much of their effervescent appeal." The album was rewarded a 5.8/10, compared to the 8.2 score their debut album received. Click Music's Andrew Grillo named ''Couples'' his ninth best album of 2008.

Track listing

All tracks written by

. # "

" – 5:36 # "

Guilt Guilt may refer to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music *Guilt (album), ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims *Guilt ( ...

" – 4:35 # "The Couples" – 3:37 # "I Liked the Boys" – 1:59 # "Here Comes the Serious Bit" – 2:49 # "Round the Hairpin" – 5:43 # "Too Clever by Half" – 4:26 # "Erin O'Connor" – 3:09 # "Nostalgia" – 3:12 # "I'm Going to Hell" – 5:58 ;Bonus tracks #

"Picture of You" (iTunes bonus track)

# "Going Grey" (iTunes bonus track)

Personnel

The Long Blondes

* Emma Chaplin – guitars, keyboards, vocals * Dorian Cox – guitars, keyboards, vocals, lyrics (except on tracks 1 and 4) * Reenie Hollis – bass guitar, vocals * Kate Jackson – lead vocals, lyrics (on tracks 1 and 4), artwork * Screech Louder – drums

Technical personnel

* Erol Alkan – producer, mixer * Jimmy Robertson – engineer * Mark 'Elton' Alloway – assistant engineer * John Sephton – assistant engineer * Paul Harris – assistant engineer * Guy Davie – mastering, at the Exchange * Kate Jackson – artwork * Steve Harries – photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Couples 2008 albums The Long Blondes albums Albums produced by Erol Alkan Rough Trade Records albums