''Thank You Camellia'' is the third studio album and second major-label album by American singer-songwriter

Kris Allen Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, and the winner of the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', he self-released a 2007 album, ''Brand New Shoes''. Allen's ...

. It was released on May 22, 2012.

Background

Allen confirmed on April 4, 2012, via a WhoSay Twitter-based fan interview (and reiterated in following interviews) that the album's title is a reference to the home that he shared with friends from his home state of Arkansas while living in Los Angeles, where he recorded the majority of the songs featured on his sophomore release.

Reception

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

s Grady Smith gave the album a positive (B+) review. Ceding that the songs may come off "downright Amish" compared to contemporaries on the pop charts, Smith noted that "Allen delivers his lyrics with an earnest confidence (and occasional swagger) that keeps his songs from becoming treacly," concluding that the album was "a cohesive, warmhearted charmer."

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

Brian Mansfield Brian Mansfield (born September 24, 1963) is an American writer and journalist. Early life and education Mansfield grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from David Lipscomb High School. In 1984, Mansfield received a bachelor's degre ...

also described it as "warmhearted" with "charming flourishes."

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

gave the album 3 out of 4 stars, calling it a "smoothly and surely executed . . . winner."

Yahoo Music Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds of ...

Lyndsey Parker Lyndsey Parker is an American entertainment journalist and author. The managing editor of ''Yahoo! Music'', she focuses on music and pop culture. She is the author of ''Reality Rocks,'' a column that covers television shows such as ''The Voice'' ...

observed that " llen'ssongwriting skills have clearly grown more sophisticated," praising the range of the material from "jaunty, summer-convertible-cruising anthems" to darker tracks such as "the propulsive and sinister alt-rocker 'Monster'" and noting that "the lyrics are plain-spoken, refreshingly unflowery, and . . . cut right to the heart of the matter."

Singles

The only single from the album is "

The Vision of Love "The Vision of Love" is Kris Allen's first single from his second studio album ''Thank You Camellia''. It was released as a CD single, digital download, and to Hot AC radio on March 26, 2012. Background On March 2, 2012, Allen announced he was t ...

", which was released digitally on March 26, 2012.

Live performances

Allen performed new material from his forthcoming album for the first time at a sold out show at The Mint in Los Angeles on February 9, 2012. Allen performed "The Vision of Love" and other new material from his forthcoming album at the ''Live in the Vineyard'' festival on April 13 at the Uptown Theater, in

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...

. The show also featured Jason Mraz, Mayer Hawthorne, Mat Kearney, and more. He also performed at Mix 94.1's Pet-a-Palooza in Las Vegas on April 21, 2012. On May 19, 2012, Allen performed songs from the record on 96.9 WINK FM's Spring Fling. He also covered "

She Works Hard for the Money "She Works Hard for the Money" is a song by American singer Donna Summer from her album '' She Works Hard for the Money'' (1983). The song was written by Michael Omartian and Summer, and produced by the former. It was released as the lead singl ...

", paying respect to the late

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

Track listing

The track list was revealed on April 10, 2012.

Release formats

* CD, Vinyl – containing the 11-track album. * Deluxe Digital version – 14-track edition containing the album plus three bonus tracks. * CD Fan version – 19-track edition containing the album plus three bonus tracks and five acoustic recordings.

Credits and personnel

;Performance credits *All vocals – Kris Allen *Background vocals – Kevin Kadish, Boots Ottestad *Featured artist – Meiko ;Instruments *Bass – Kris Allen, David Baron, Jonathan Berry, Kevin Kadish, Curt Schnedier *Drums – Carlos de la Garza, Ryland Steen, Kevin Weaver * Electric slide guitar – Bruce Watson *

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

– David Baron *Guitars – Kris Allen, Jonathan Berry, David Givhan, Kevin Kadish, David Levita, Boots Ottestad *

Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...

– David Baron *Keyboards – Zac Rae *

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

– Bruce Watson *Percussion – Kris Allen *Piano – Francois-Paul Aiche, Kris Allen, Kevin Kadish, Boots Ottestad * Polysix – Kevin Kadish *Shaker – Kevin Weaver *

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

– David Baron *

Tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

– Kevin Weaver *

Viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

– Chris Woods *Violin – Chris Woods ;Production * A&R – Rob Inadomi, Myles Lewis, Keith Naftaly, Iain Pirie *Assistant – Ryan Lipman *

Art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

s – Maria P. Marulanda *Design – Maria P. Marulanda *Creative director – Erwin Gorostiza *

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

– J. Bonilla, Jorge Costa, Carlos de la Garza, Ryan Gillmor, Kevin Kadish, Gavin MacKillop, Tim Pagnotta, Daniele Rivera, Curt Schnedier **Assistant engineer – Daniele Rivera *Instrumentation – Adam Messinger *Groomer – Su Han *Management – Josh Klemme * Mastering – Chris Gehringer * Mixers –

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

, Jon Zook *Producers – J. Bonilla, Kevin Kadish, Maison & Dragen, Adam Messinger, Nasri, Boots Ottestad, Tim Pagnotta, Curt Schnedier **Vocal producer – JP Clark * Programming – Brandon Belsky **Drum programming – Kevin Kadish *Photographer – Leann Mueller *

Sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...

– Kevin Kadish *Studio assistant – Jared Woodard *Stylist – Scott Free

Release dates

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Kris Allen albums RCA Records albums 19 Recordings albums