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''Echoes'' is the fifth studio album by English recording artist Will Young. It was released by RCA Records and Sony Music on 19 August 2011. A departure from previous albums which saw him working with a diverse roster of collaborators, Young worked with music producer Richard X and Pete Hofmann on the bulk of the album. A television special, ''A Night With Will Young'', aired on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
on 27 August 2011 to coincide with the release of the album and recognising Young's impending ten-year anniversary in the music industry. Upon its release, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming Young's third album to do so. " Jealousy" was released as the lead single from the album on 19 August 2011, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart. Further singles " Come On", "
Losing Myself "Losing Myself" is a song by British singer Will Young. It was written by Young and Pascal Gabriel and produced by Richard X for his fifth studio album, '' Echoes'' (2011). The song samples the music contained in " Nightcall" by French musician Ka ...
", and "I Just Want a Lover" were less successful and failed to reach the top forty. ''Echoes'' sold 65,000 copies in its first week and has now sold just over 550,000 copies in the UK.


Background

In November 2009, Young released his first greatest hits collection, '' The Hits''. The album was a success on the charts, being certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The following year, Young collaborated with electronic music duo Groove Armada on their album ''
Black Light A blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long-wave (UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. One type of lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separat ...
'', singing vocals on the track "History". For his fifth album, turned to music producer Richard X after listening the X-produced Steve Mason album, 2010's acclaimed ''Boys Outside'', which prompted Young to seek him out in the first place. Having previously claimed chart success with a succession of downtempo pop ballads, Young felt making a record utilizing electronic rhythms and beats was the culmination of a long-held dream. On his vision, he elaborated: "It's an album that I've wanted to do for about five years, and I've been waiting like a tiger, ready to pounce. You have to evolve as a pop artist. It's like being a magician: If you show all your best hands at the beginning, you have nothing left to reveal." While X would serve as the album's chief producer, Young collaborated and co-wrote songs with various writers, including Andy Cato from Groove Armada,
Kish Mauve Kish Mauve is a British electropop group. The group was formed in 2005 in London, England, and consists of Mima Stilwell (vocals) and Jim Eliot (synthesizer, vocals). Career The group released their debut extended play, ''Kish Mauve EP'', in ...
,
Fred Falke Frédérick Falke () (born 7 January 1973), known professionally as Fred Falke, is a French house and dance music producer and DJ. Biography Falke started out as a bass player before moving to production work. His first record, a collaboratio ...
,
The Sound of Arrows The Sound of Arrows are a Swedish electronic music duo originally from Gävle, and now based in Stockholm. The duo, consisting of Oskar Gullstrand and Stefan Storm, have remixed tracks for artists such as Lady Gaga, Alphabeat, The Naked and Fa ...
, Richard Stannard, and Pascal Gabriel. Musically, Young sought inspiration for ''Echoes'' from fellow UK dance-pop acts
Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...
, The Communards and Everything but the Girl, stating that he "wanted to hark back to that type of sound with strong bass but also very melodic." Aiming for a simple
synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
sound, Young added that "changing your sound is a tricky thing to do, but I think it's come about at the right time and from the right place. It's not a massive change, and it's very genuine." When Richard X joined the project, 90 per cent of the album had already been written. With his producing partner Pete Hofmann, he finished some arrangements and tweaks on demoes before moving into the studio. Studio sessions were heavily influenced by live recording, a breakaway from previous sessions.


Promotion and release

The album artwork was revealed on 6 July 2011 on Young's official Facebook page, and later posted on Young's official website. Teaser clips of several songs from the album were released by Young via Twitter shortly in advance of release. A television special ''A Night With Will Young'' was aired on ITV on 27 August 2011. The show featured Young performing a collection of new tracks from ''Echoes'' as well as a number of his biggest hits. Beginning October 2011, Young embarked on this fifth headlining tour, the
Echoes Tour The Echoes Tour (also known as Echoes Live) is the fifth headlining tour by English recording artist, Will Young. The tour supported his fifth studio album, ''Echoes (Will Young album), Echoes''. Beginning October 2011, the tour played 24 shows i ...
to promote the album.


Critical reception

''Echoes'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. Robert Copsey from ''
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'' rated the album five stars out of five and called it "a perfectly-crafted adult pop album; one that sounds contemporary without straw-clutching and classy without the pretension. The hands-in-the-air ballads "Lie Next to Me" and "Silent Valentine" prove that he's still the Will we've always known, just in a shinier, sharper and altogether more comfortable skin." '' The Guardian'' writer Caroline Sullivan compared ''Echoes'' to the work of
George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
and the
Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...
. She found that "Young stamps his identity on
he songs 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 ...
with vocals that convey the disenchantment of a rich young gay man who's just taken a long look at himself in the mirror. 'Classy' is the word that comes to mind all the way through these 13 songs." '' Evening Standard''s Rick Pearson complimented the album for its "playful, dancey quality" which he considered "a welcome change from the schmaltzy ballads that have characterised too much of Young's output." He summed ''Echoes'' as "a daring musical makeover that will win Young many new fans." In his review for Allmusic, Jon O'Brien gave the album three and a half stars out of five and remarked that "few would have predicted that the UK's first '' Pop Idol'' would still be around a decade later, let alone making music as confident and self-assured as ''Echoes'', which sounds like the album Young was born to make. He felt that the "13 highly personal tracks ..largely eschew his trademark MOR blue-eyed soul in favor of an understated electro sound that perfectly fits his delicate and fragile vocals." Ian Wade from BBC declared ''Echoes'' a "fantastic, perfectly crafted adult pop album for people who’ve long wondered if such a thing existed anymore. It deserves to be reasonably enormous. Bravo, Will."
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's Jude Clarke wrote that "this release is a clear illustration of why he has succeeded in transcending his origins. Now arguably one of the UK’s most authentic, honest and engaging stars, he is perhaps the first TV show alumnus to attain true ''Idol'' status. She felt "what is immediately striking is the apparently intensely personal nature of much of the material ..delivered in Young’s tuneful yet frequently vulnerable vocal." James Lachno from '' The Telegraph'' noted that while "several anodyne tracks yearn for more vocal drama, overall an understated beauty permeates this well-crafted expansion of Young’s smooth adult pop."


Commercial performance

Upon its release, ''Echoes'' entered the UK Albums Chart at number one on 28 August 2011 with first-week sales of 66,000 copies, becoming Young's third album to do so following his first two albums ''
From Now On From Now On may refer to: Film * ''From Now On'' (1920 film), an American film of 1920 * ''From Now On'' (film), a 2007 Portuguese film directed by Catarina Ruivo Music Albums * ''From Now On'' (Jaki Graham album) or the title song, 1989 * ''Fro ...
'' (2001) and '' Friday's Child'' (2003). The album was eventually certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales in excess of 100,000 copies, reaching platinum status on sales by December 2011. By November 2012 the album had sold 489,500 copies in the UK alone. The first single to be released from the album was " Jealousy" on 19 August 2011. The single peaked at number five in the UK, becoming Young's highest-charting hit since 2006. On 3 October 2011, it was announced Young would release "Come On" as the second single from the album, which is a cover of a 2009 single by
Kish Mauve Kish Mauve is a British electropop group. The group was formed in 2005 in London, England, and consists of Mima Stilwell (vocals) and Jim Eliot (synthesizer, vocals). Career The group released their debut extended play, ''Kish Mauve EP'', in ...
. The single was immediately available to download, with an official date to be announced at a later date. The single peaked at number 83 in the UK. On 13 February 2012, the video for third single "
Losing Myself "Losing Myself" is a song by British singer Will Young. It was written by Young and Pascal Gabriel and produced by Richard X for his fifth studio album, '' Echoes'' (2011). The song samples the music contained in " Nightcall" by French musician Ka ...
" was posted on Young's YouTube page. It was officially released on 18 March 2012 and peaked at number 72. "I Just Want a Lover" was released as the fourth official single on 1 July 2012 in the UK, but did not chart.


Track listing

Notes * denotes additional producer


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References


External links


WillYoung.co.uk
– official site {{Authority control 2011 albums Albums produced by Jim Eliot Albums produced by Richard X RCA Records albums Will Young albums Albums produced by Richard Stannard (songwriter)