''Wicked Little High'' (2006 EMI Records) is the third studio album by artist, actor and screenwriter

Bird York Kathleen York is an American actress, screenwriter, and Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter recording artist. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for " In the Deep" from the 2004 film ''Crash.'' Life and career Actress Ac ...

Background

''Wicked Little High'' is a re-recording of Bird York's previous album, ''

The Velvet Hour ''The Velvet Hour'' is a 2003 album by Bird York. It features the song " In the Deep" from the film ''Crash''. Producers on this record include Michael Becker, Bird York, Thom Russo and Larry Klein. It also includes songs heard on ''CSI: NY'', '' ...

''. York said her voice changed in the interim, and aimed to sing on ''Wicked Little High'' with what she called "the kind of voice that comes out of the speakers and wraps around the room a bit." Single " In the Deep" was written for the 2004 film ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

''; York later said the full album "fits everything that's going on with

he film's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

character. The single debuted at #64 on the

Billboard chart The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

. "In the Deep" was later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, and York performed the song live at the 78th

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 2006. "Have No Fear" was the theme song of the 2008 film ''

Seven Pounds ''Seven Pounds'' is a 2008 American drama film directed by Gabriele Muccino starring actor Will Smith as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Barry Pepper also star. The film was released in ...

''.

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from critics. ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

s Peter Galvin praised the album, particularly its "intense" lyrics. Chuck Campbell of Scripps Howard praised the album's atmosphere, comparing it to the work of

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

and

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

. The album was also praised by outlets including ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publication fro ...

, and ''

The Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

''. Richard Cromelin of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called the album's trip-hop and electronic elements "familiar and generic."

Track listing

# Come Be With Me (3:48) # Had A Dream (5:12) # Haunting You (4:25) # Have No Fear (2:25) # In The Deep (3:34) # Lovely Thing (3:59) # Never Gonna Find Us (3:15) # Open Wider (4:49) # Remedy (4:44) # Save Me (4:32) # Up In Flames (4:15) # Wicked Little High (4:33)

Personnel

All tracks were written by York and: * Michael Becker (Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7) * Rik Musallam (Track 2) * Peter Fox (Track 6) * Larry Klein (Tracks 9 & 11)

References

Kathleen York albums 2006 albums {{2000s-album-stub