''Primary Colours'' is the second full-length studio album by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

reggae fusion band MAGIC! The album was released on July 1, 2016, through Latium and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

worldwide. It serves as the follow-up to the band's debut studio album, '' Don't Kill the Magic'' (2014). The album was led by the single " Lay You Down Easy", featuring

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

Background

The group released their debut single " Rude" in late 2013, eventually achieving commercial success worldwide, reaching atop the U.S.

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

singles chart for six consecutive weeks. The song had spent 16 weeks in the chart's top ten. With "Rude", Magic! is the sixth

band to top the

, the first since Nickelback with "How You Remind Me" in 2001. The band released their debut studio album, '' Don't Kill the Magic'' on June 30, 2014. Upon its release, the album peaked at number 6 on the U.S.

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

and number 5 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

. The band proceeded to tour in support of their debut album, performing at

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and music festivals throughout 2014 and 2015. The band toured as a supporting act on the first leg of

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band Maroon 5's Maroon V Tour from February to April 2015. The band released the non-album single "#SundayFunday" on July 17, 2015 to mixed reviews and was not received well on radio airplay. They began writing and recording their second studio album in 2015 and finished production for the record in early 2016. The band announced the single "Lay You Down Easy", featuring

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

recording artist

. On May 16, the band revealed that album art cover for ''Primary Colours''. The band announced the album's title, track listing and release date on April 12, 2016. The album's second single, "Red Dress", was released on June 17, 2016 accompanied with its music video.

Promotion

The band released two commercial singles prior to the release of ''Primary Colours'' on July 1, 2016. The lead single, "Lay You Down Easy", featuring Sean Paul, was released on March 25, 2016. The single charted and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart, number 36 on the Canadian Hot 100, number 26 on the Canadian Digital Songs chart, and number one on the Billboard Reggae Digital Songs chart. The album's second single, "Red Dress", premiered on June 17, 2016. The music video for the single premiered on the same day on Vevo. Magic! performed their single "Red Dress" on The Today Show on June 5, 2016. The album's third single "No Regrets", premiered on October 16, 2016 with an accompanying music video.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Heather Phares praised the band for following the template used in their debut single " Rude" to create pop songs that are both feel-good and catchy, while also writing "a few sleepy ballads ("No Regrets," "I Need You") and defiant outbursts ("Dance Monkey," "The Way God Made Me") that offer some variety," concluding that "Even with these detours, ''Primary Colours'' is a much tighter, more enjoyable album that shows Magic! can craft ultra-summery songs confidently and consistently." Jessica Mule of ''Renowned for Sound'' felt that the band surpassed their hit single with their second album, saying that "In 10 tracks, Magic! has written and created an easily digestible, pop tropical paradise from the 80s within ''Primary Colors'' ..a proverbial invitation for listeners to not judge a book by its cover, or in this case, an artist by their global chart topper." ''

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'' writer Jeremy Gordon heavily panned the album for its songs that are "pop takes on basic reggae rhythms ("Red Dress")" or "sound like the band was ripping gravity bongs before putting pen to paper and melody to reel ("Gloria", "Lay You Down Easy")."

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from

. MAGIC! * Nasri – lead vocals, guitar, executive producer * Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer – guitar, vocals * Ben Spivak – bass, backing vocals * Alex Tanas – drums, backing vocals Additional personnel * Delbert Bowers – mixing assistant (2) * Vincent Calloway – trombone (1) * Charles Chavez – executive producer * Monique Chavez – photography * Chris Galland – mixing assistant (2) * Chris Gehringer – mastering (1, 3-10) * Serban Ghenea – mixing (1, 3-10) * Erwin Gorostiza – creative director * John Hanes – mixing engineer (1, 3-10) * Connie Jun – art direction, design * Dave Kutch – mastering (2) *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mixing (2) * Fraser T Smith – guitar (5) * Niv Toar – trumpet (1, 4, 6)

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Magic! albums RCA Records albums Reggae fusion albums