''Live Life Living'' is the fifth studio album by English recording artist
Example
Example may refer to:
* '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example"
* .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet
** example.com, example.net, example.org, ex ...
. It was released on 7 July 2014 through
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
. It entered 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 C ...
at number eight.
Background and development
Gleave signed to
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
in 2013, leaving
Ministry of Sound
Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio.
James ...
who had released his past three albums. On 15 April 2013, he stated on Facebook that he was in Los Angeles working on his fifth studio album. Five album tracks were written and produced in Los Angeles with
Stuart Price
Stuart David Price (born 9 September 1977) is an English electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer known for his work with artists including Madonna, Dua Lipa, The Killers, New Order, Kylie Minogue, DMA's, Example, Take T ...
, and the album will consist entirely of productions by Gleave, Price,
Fraser T Smith
Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith (born 8 February 1971), known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's " ...
and Alf "Critikal" Bamford. Bamford is responsible for additional production on every track. The lead single from the album, titled "All the Wrong Places", was debuted at his Auckland concert in New Zealand on 24 April.
He appeared at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival. Example announced via Twitter that album tracks "All the Wrong Places" and "Only Human" were to be played at all festival gigs in the summer. "All the Wrong Places" made its radio debut on 15 July on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
and was released on 8 September. It entered the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
at number 13. "Only Human" was first performed live at a pre-festival warm-up show at the O2 Academy Bristol on 6 June 2013. At festivals during the summer, Gleave also performed the album track "Take Me as I Am". It was premiered at Global Gathering 2013.
Gleave stated that the album would be released on 30 June 2014. He also revealed that the new album will feature no rapping, however Gleave did state on Twitter that a rap verse may have been added to the upcoming single "One More Day (Stay with Me)", as well as four other tracks on the album. He has also stated that he won't appear on any collaborations until the end of the album project. Gleave cites
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...
,
Faithless
Faithless are an English band that formed in 1995, with its core members being Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. Their first album, '' Reverence'', was released in 1996 and their most recent, ''All Blessed'', in 2020. They have sold millions ...
,
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
and
The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...
as influences for the new album, which will include elements of
acid house
Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...
,
hardstyle
Hardstyle is an electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and hardcore.
Early hardstyle was typically written at 140 BPM (''beat ...
,
big beat
Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as ...
and
90s rave.
The album's second single, "
Kids Again", premiered alongside its remixes in January 2014 and will be released on 16 March. It was produced by Gleave and
Fraser T Smith
Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith (born 8 February 1971), known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's " ...
, and co-produced by Critikal.
On 11 March during an interview with Capital FM Example confirmed "
One More Day" as the album's third single. Example stated that "One More Day (Stay with Me)" would be closer to some 2014 dance songs such as
Gorgon City
Gorgon City are an English electronic music production duo consisting of two North London producers Kye "Foamo" Gibbon and Matt "RackNRuin" Robson-Scott. Their 2013 debut single "Real" peaked at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart. They are also we ...
's "
Ready for Your Love" and
Clean Bandit
Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...
's "
Rather Be
"Rather Be" is a song by English electronic music group Clean Bandit, featuring vocals by Jess Glynne. It was released on 5 December 2013 as the fourth single from the group's debut studio album, ''New Eyes'' (2014). It also appears on the delu ...
". The song is produced by Alex Smith, Example and Critikal, and it premiered on 19 April on
Danny Howard
Danny Howard (born 14 July 1987) is a British dance music DJ, producer, and current host of '' Radio 1's Dance Party''.
Howard attended Edge Hill University, where he studied sport and exercise science. During his time at Edge Hill, Howard had ...
's
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
show. In an interview with
UKF, Elliot described the album as "quite dark and tough and twisted" aside from the singles.
In April 2014, Example stated that after the release of the album, he plans to release two more singles.
Example has collaborated with
Klaxons
Klaxons were an English rock band, based in London. Following the release of several 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles " Magick" and " Golden Skans", the band released their debu ...
'
Jamie Reynolds on the track "Innocent Minds" which appears on the deluxe version of the album.
On 7 May, Example tweeted saying that the album has been approved and mastered and that audio previews for the tracks would be available to on iTunes the following week. The audio previews for the standard edition of the album were made available on 23 May. The audio previews for the deluxe edition were made available on 28 May.
Example told a fan on Twitter that "Seen You" would be the fourth single from the album. He later confirmed that "
10 Million People" would be the fourth single instead and it will be released on 5 October 2014.
Releases and tours
Singles
"
All the Wrong Places" is the album's lead single. It was produced by Critikal, Steve Hill and Example, and was released on 6 September 2013. The single debuted at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 4 on the UK Dance charts.
The album's second single "
Kids Again" was produced by Fraser T Smith, Critikal and Example. It was released on 16 March 2014 and also peaked at number 13 in the UK charts and number 6 on the UK Dance charts.
The album's third single "
One More Day" was produced by Critikal, Alex Smith and Example and was released on 20 June 2014. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 4, making it Gleave's most successful single since "
Say Nothing" (2012).
The album's fourth single "
10 Million People" was released on 5 October 2014. A remix by
Kove premiered through
UKF Drum & Bass on 16 August 2014.
Other songs
"Only Human" was released for exclusive
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
download upon pre-order of the album, on 26 March 2014. The opening track, "Next Year" was premiered on 30 June. The album's eighth track and also title track, "Live Life Living" was premiered on 1 July. "Seen You" premiered through ''
Capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
'' on 3 July.
A music video for "Take Me as I Am" was released on 7 July 2014 to promote the album release.
In the week before the album's release,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
released an album minimix for free.
On 7 July 2014, Example released a video for "Take Me as I Am".
Tours
On 31 January, Gleave announced a mini-tour, named ''The Ultimate Weekender'', would take place from 13–15 March. The tour took places at smaller venues in three different cities across the United Kingdom (London, Manchester and Glasgow), with an after-party to follow each gig, giving a total of six gigs. Tickets for the tour were in limited supply and were obtained through application forms on his official website.
Example went on a 26-date tour, starting on 19 October and finishing on 27 November 2014.
Critical reception
Upon release, the album has received mixed reviews from critics.
Praises went to the variety in style and experimentation between each track. Ben Cardew from ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' stated: "This fifth album, his first for a major-label, marks another change – whereas before he'd sing and rap over EDM-tinged tracks, here he decides to largely can the rapping that made his name, spitting barely a handful of verses, and delivers a record of relentless club bangers featuring choice '90s dance influences ... This willingness to experiment should be applauded, and it's fun (at first) to play spot the influences."
In terms of criticisms, Cardew stated: "But while the style may vary, the tone rarely does. Bar a moody-ish late-album spell, everything is designed for maximum rave uplift, displaying not so much light and dark, as light, more light and Day-Glo. The lyrics, too, tend towards the ear-rinsingly bland (as showcased on the single 'One More Day (Stay With Me)' "another lesson learned, another page is turned" etc.) as if Example wants to hide behind disco platitudes. And on the few occasions here he does resort to rap, there is a palpable feel of grudging 'will-this-do'? ... there’s a sense that Example's fifth album could have been something quite unique. Instead, 'Live Life Living' is as hard to stomach as its tongue twister title is to pronounce."
Killian Fox from ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' stated: "This album, the London rapper-turned-singer's fifth, has moments of self-effacement ("I'm so, so far from perfect, will you take me as I am?"), but in general it lacks conviction or a driving force. The cliches in the lyrics ("Like a rabbit in the headlights") extend to the formulaic production, which pays homage to 90s dance culture without bringing anything very interesting to the party."
Track listing
Notes
*
signifies a co-producer
*
signifies an additional producer
* Backing vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 15 by Kai Kai Smith.
* Chant vocals on track 2 by Alf Bamford, Samuel Wire, Andy Sheldrake, John Jenkins and Mark Surridge.
* Backing vocals on track 3 by Alex Smith.
* Vocals on track 16 by
Jamie Reynolds.
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2014 albums
Example (musician) albums
Albums produced by Fraser T. Smith
Albums produced by Stuart Price