The Fool (Ryn Weaver Album)
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''The Fool'' is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter
Ryn Weaver Ryn (german: Rhein) is a town in northeastern Poland located 19 km southwest of Giżycko, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in Masuria. Until the reorganization of 1999 it had been assigned to Suwałki Voivodeship. It had a population o ...
. It was released on June 16, 2015 by Mad Love and
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
. The debut single, " OctaHate", was released on August 8, 2014. The album was made available to stream for free at the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
on June 9, 2015.


Background and promotion

''The Fool'' features production by
Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also ...
and
Michael Angelakos Michael John Angelakos (born May 19, 1987) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the indietronica band Passion Pit. Career Passion Pit (2008–present) The first Passion Pit songs, ...
, whom Weaver also worked with in the writing of the album. She also worked with
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
singer-songwriter Charlotte Aitchison, better known by her moniker
Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...
on the album's first single, "OctaHate". Other contributors include Norwegian producer and musician
Cashmere Cat Magnus August Høiberg (born 29 November 1987), known professionally as Cashmere Cat, is a Norwegian DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for producing songs for artists including Kanye West, The Kid Laroi, Selena Gomez ...
, English musician Charlotte OC and
OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...
frontman,
Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...
. Lyrically, ''The Fool'' explores topics of romantic relationships, family relationships, self-discovery and self-doubt. On the overlying theme of the album, Weaver stated the following:
The record poses the question: Is it foolish to settle for what you always thought you wanted as a 22-year-old woman, or is it foolish to go and leave what’s so beautiful, stable, and certain? I think that’s a question a lot of young women have these days, especially coming from a generation of girls who — in my opinion— have less of a road map. It’s not just about being a woman: It’s about being a modern human and about fear of commitment.
Weaver performed her song "Promises" from the album on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on June 19, 2015.


Singles

" OctaHate" was released as the debut single on June 21, 2014, and impacted
Top 40 radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
on February 24, 2015. The song peaked at number 27 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Songs chart. The original music video for "OctaHate" was taken down, and replaced by a new one on May 14, 2015. During an interview with NY Mag, Weaver talked about why she took down the original. She claims the video wasn't executed properly and chose to create a new one because she "wanted people to understand ercohesive vision." The new music video for "OctaHate" was inspired by the 1966 film Daisies by director
Věra Chytilová Věra Chytilová (2 February 1929 – 12 March 2014) was an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovak government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, ''Sedmikrásky'' ('' Dais ...
. Weaver explained, "For the second one, we ripped a page from this '60s Czech film called Daisies — this feminist, absurdist piece. In this scene, they talk about how the whole world is spoiled and how as a result, they should spoil themselves," — a theme which can be seen mirrored in the music video. "Promises" was released on August 25, 2016, to Top 40 radio as the second single from the album.


Promotional Singles

Although not announced as an official single, "The Fool" was made available on iTunes on April 10, 2015, shortly after the album was made available for pre-order. The song was premiered the previous day 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, ...
. A music video for the song was released on May 7, 2015. Weaver stated that the music video was inspired by
Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...
, the animation film studio which features many works by Japanese director
Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...
. Also speaking on the video, she explained, "I wanted to touch on the shifting power dynamic within relationships in a surrealist, psychedelic medium... I've come to realize that my own empowerment has the tendency to result in emasculation and a new dependency that only heightens my fear of commitment."


Critical reception

Upon its release, ''The Fool'' received generally positive to mixed reviews from 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 normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''The Fool'' received an average score of 65, based on 13 reviews. Writing for
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 ...
, Lyndsey Havens stated that the album "spins on like a series of diary entries", while comparing Weaver's vocals to those of
Florence Welch Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English singer, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. The band's debut studio album, ''Lungs'' (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart and wo ...
and
Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music. Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at ...
. In a mixed review, ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
''s Miles Raymer claimed that the album had nothing close to "matching the intense pop rush" of her debut single "OctaHate". On a positive note, Jon Parales of the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' highlighted the album's experimental tone, saying that Weaver channeled
Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...
while also noting the track "Travelling Song" as the best track of the album, stating "It’s ardent, musically confident and openly careerist."


Commercial performance

''The Fool'' sold 13,800 units in its first week. It debuted and peaked at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' 200.


Track listing


Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Fool''. * Aryn Wüthrich – vocals *
Michael Angelakos Michael John Angelakos (born May 19, 1987) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the indietronica band Passion Pit. Career Passion Pit (2008–present) The first Passion Pit songs, ...
– instrumentation, production, programming ; executive production *Mike Bader – assistant engineer *
Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also ...
– instrumentation, production, programming ; executive production *Nick Brown – drums *
Cashmere Cat Magnus August Høiberg (born 29 November 1987), known professionally as Cashmere Cat, is a Norwegian DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for producing songs for artists including Kanye West, The Kid Laroi, Selena Gomez ...
– instrumentation, production, programming *Jennifer Decilveo – additional production *Matty Green – assistant engineer to mixer *Seif "Mageef" Hussain – production coordination *Andrew "McMuffin" Luftman – A&R, production coordination *Phil Peterson – strings *Chris Sclafani – additional production ; bass ; mandolin ; engineering *
Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran ...
– mixing *Geoff Swan – assistant engineer to mixer *Eryck Bry – mixing


Charts


Release history


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fool, The 2015 debut albums Interscope Records albums Albums produced by Benny Blanco Albums produced by Cashmere Cat