''UN'' (styled as ((UN))) is the debut
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by British singer-songwriter
Dan Black
Daniel Black (born 16 November 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of alternative rock band The Servant (band), the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group Plane ...
, the former lead singer of the alternative rock band,
The Servant
A servant is a person working within an employer's household.
Servant or servants may refer to:
Places
* Servant, Puy-de-Dôme, France Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''The Servant'' (1963 film), a British drama
* ''The Servant'' (1989 ...
. The album was released in the UK on 13 July 2009 by
Polydor
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
, and later in the United States on 16 February 2010 by
A&M Records
A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
.
The album was recorded entirely by Black and debuted to generally mixed reviews from music critics, with some praising its sound and others denouncing its lack of originality.
Conception
Black spent a year creating material for the album, writing over seventy songs.
However, Black later referred to many of them as 'rubbish'.
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
,
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996.
Biography Early years (1989–1995)
DJ Sha ...
,
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
, and
De La Soul
De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...
have all been cited as having a significant influence on the album.
Black conceived the title ''UN'' meaning "one" in order to signify his debut album.
However, Black has stated that the album's title also refers to its substance, such as, "un-rock, un-hip hop, un-everything".
Recording
Black recorded the album entirely on his laptop in the basement of his apartment in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
in a span of two months.
In the studio, Black would work alone as long as twelve hours at a time.
Except for the mixing and mastering, Black created the album by himself exclusively.
Singles
"
Symphonies", the album's first official single, was released as the U.S. iTunes "Single of the Week" for the week of 28 December 2009. A remix of the song was recorded with
Kid Cudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...
, and was released as a bonus track for the American release of the album. Both versions of the song received heavy airplay on Nova and Triple J networks in Australia as well as alternative radio worldwide. The remix version of the song, featuring
Kid Cudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...
, is also included on ''
NBA 2K11
''NBA 2K11'' is a 2010 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released in October 2010 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Nintend ...
''.
"Wonder" was released as soundtrack in
EA Sports
EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...
game, ''
FIFA 11''.
"U + Me =" was released as a radio single in Australia on Triple J.
A promo CD of "Wonder" was sent to Australian radio on 5 November 2010.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by
Dan Black
Daniel Black (born 16 November 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of alternative rock band The Servant (band), the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group Plane ...
.
Sample credits
* "Symphonies" contains an uncredited sample from "Starman Leaves", written by
Jack Nitzsche
Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...
, and performed by the
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech: ''Filharmonici města Prahy'') is a classical orchestra, predominantly composed of Czech classical, jazz and guest musicians.
The history of the orchestra goes back to the Film Symphony Orchestr ...
; and uncredited elements from "
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...
", written by
Christopher Stewart,
Terius Nash,
Kuk Harrell
Thaddis Laphonia "Kuk" Harrell ( ) is an American songwriter, vocal producer, arranger and engineer. He was a member of a songwriting–production team composed of himself, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and The-Dream, Terius "The-Dream" Nash. In ...
, and
Shawn Carter, and performed by
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
.
Critical reception
Critical response to the album has been mixed, with some critics praising Black's blend of sounds and others criticizing his lack of originality. According to
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 album holds a score of 67/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on ten reviews.
Lou Thomas of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
wrote a favorable review of the album, stating, "Dan Black has made a smart, confident record that is far more accessible than many made by such an overtly cool customer."
'' gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, complimenting Black's new image and describing the record as "smart, addictive future pop."
'', impressed with the album, stated, "Black's chops and tunes suggest he won't stay underground."
However, not all reviews were favorable. Dave Simpson of ''
'' gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, stating, "His whiny vocals grate after a while, and while tracks like Yours offer fabulous - if soulless - computerised funk, the impact of the discoid stomper Pump By Pumps is rather dulled when you realise the tune had a previous life as
'', who gave the album a six out of ten, stated the album's lead single "epitomizes the downbeat side of Black's knack for recycling divergent styles into cinematic synth pop."
However, Walters also complimented Dan's style, stating, "the album works best when Black's mood swings between Technicolor dreams and depressing quotidian details.""
'' also wrote an unfavorable review, stating that the "Truth is, Dan Black surfed this hype wave by doing a clever thing with bits of other people’s songs. 'Symphonies' aside, he’s still got to find himself in them."
Chris Parkin of ''Dot Music'' also wrote unfavorably of the album, stating, "However much electro trickery he has at his fingertips, he needs some songs first."
, criticized the album's lack of coherence, calling it "the kind of one-man creative enterprise that demonstrates exactly the perils of going it alone."
* Dan Black - all instruments
* John C.F. Davis - mastering
*