Wikipedia

Here (Teenage Fanclub album)

Here is the tenth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 9 September 2016 on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America. It was the band's final album to feature bassist and co-founder Gerard Love, who left the band in November 2018.

Here
Studio album by
Teenage Fanclub
Released9 September 2016 (2016-09-09)
Recorded2013–2015[1]
Studio
GenreAlternative rock
LabelPeMa (Europe)
Merge (North America)
ProducerTeenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub chronology
Shadows
(2010) 		Here
(2016) 		Endless Arcade
(2021)
Singles from Here
  1. "I'm in Love"
    Released: June 2016[2]

Recording edit

Teenage Fanclub began recording Here in 2013 at Vega Studio in Provence in southeastern France. The studio was primarily chosen for its vintage EMI desk, which is said to have been used for recording two Rolling Stones albums.[3] "We always like to go somewhere that's not Glasgow because I think your environment affects what you're doing while you're working," guitarist Norman Blake said in 2016. "If you go to an exotic location like the south of France, hopefully you feel a little more inspired."[4] The band spent three weeks at the studio, completing most of the backing tracks during their stay.[3] The band then went their separate ways for a few months, ruminating on what they had recorded so far.[4] All vocals were then recorded at guitarist Raymond McGinley's home studio in Glasgow in two weeks spread over a couple of months, with the band's three songwriters taking turns putting down their lead and harmony vocals. "Because we write our lyrics while doing this," Blake said, "it's inevitable that we end up writing about similar things as you can't help but pick up on what the others are writing about."[3]

The band worked on the album for three years intermittently between other projects,[1] with Blake even recording some additional harmony vocals in a hotel room in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada[3] when he was performing solo at the Halifax Urban Folk Festival.[5] "I emailed those to Raymond and he dropped them into the song the same day," Blake said.[3] Mixing of the album took three weeks in late 2015 at Clouds Hill Recordings in Hamburg, Germany.[4] It was mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. "Three years, four studios and four countries," as Blake put it.[3]

Critical reception edit

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[6]
Metacritic79/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [8]
Exclaim!8/10[9]
The Guardian     [10]
The Independent     [11]
Mojo     [12]
Pitchfork7.8/10[13]
Q     [14]
Record Collector     [15]
The Skinny     [16]
Uncut8/10[17]

Here received favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 79, which indicates "generally favourable reviews", based on 21 reviews.[7]

The album made the twenty-strong longlist for the Scottish album of the Year Award 2017 but did not make it to the ten-strong shortlist.[18]

Track listing edit

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm in Love"Norman Blake2:41
2."Thin Air"Gerard Love3:11
3."Hold On"Raymond McGinley3:24
4."The Darkest Part of the Night"Blake3:16
5."I Have Nothing More to Say"Love4:18
6."I Was Beautiful When I Was Alive"McGinley4:44
7."The First Sight"Love5:08
8."Live in the Moment"Blake3:03
9."Steady State"McGinley4:16
10."It's a Sign"Love3:36
11."With You"McGinley3:58
12."Connected to Life"Blake4:00

Personnel edit

Credits for Here are adapted from AllMusic[19] and the album's liner notes.[20]

Teenage Fanclub

Additional musicians

  • John McCusker – viola, violin on "The Darkest Part of the Night"
  • Elspeth Mackay – cello on "The Darkest Part of the Night"
  • Robert Henderson – trumpet on "The First Sight"
  • Nigel Baillie – trumpet on "Live in the Moment"
  • Helen Thomson – harp on "Live in the Moment"

Technical

  • Teenage Fanclub – producer
  • David Henderson – engineer
  • Raymond McGinley – engineer
  • Bertrand Montandon – assistant engineer (Vega)
  • Quentin Tillie – assistant engineer (Vega)
  • Linda Gerdes – assistant engineer (Clouds Hills)
  • Sebastian Muxfeldt – assistant engineer (Clouds Hills)
  • Sean Magee – mastering
  • Krista Blake – sleeve design

References edit

  1. ^ a b Pace, Neil (2016). "Teenage Fanclub Here album review". Writing about music: Submissions from the front line of local music journalism. Neil Pace. ASIN B0189RJ4LQ. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  2. ^ Robinson, Collin (21 June 2016). "Teenage Fanclub – "I'm In Love"". Stereogum. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Blake, Norman (9 September 2016). "Teenage Fanclub on the making of new album Here". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Davidson, Chris (30 November 2016). "Teenage Fanclub returns with new album Here". Performer. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  5. ^ "The Halifax Urban Folk Festival Presents! Chuck Prophet & The Halifax All Stars + Neil Osborne (54-40), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) & Ron Hawkins (Lowest of the Low)". The Carleton. 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Here by Teenage Fanclub reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Reviews for Here by Teenage Fanclub". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  8. ^ Collar, Matt. "Here – Teenage Fanclub". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  9. ^ Mix, Dave (8 September 2016). "Teenage Fanclub: Here". Exclaim!. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  10. ^ Jonze, Tim (8 September 2016). "Teenage Fanclub: Here review – heart-tugging reacquaintance". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  11. ^ Gill, Andy (8 September 2016). "Album reviews: Wilco – Wilco Schmilco, Jack White – Acoustic Recordings, MIA – AIM, and more". The Independent. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  12. ^ Segal, Victoria (September 2016). "Always touched by their presence". Mojo (274): 91.
  13. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (6 September 2016). "Teenage Fanclub: Here". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  14. ^ Doyle, Tom (October 2016). "Teenage Fanclub: Here". Q (364): 110.
  15. ^ Goldsmith, Mike (October 2016). "Teenage Fanclub – Here". Record Collector (458). Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  16. ^ Gordon, Andrew (5 September 2016). "Teenage Fanclub – Here". The Skinny. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  17. ^ Mulvey, John (October 2016). "Teenage Fanclub: Here". Uncut (233): 39.
  18. ^ "Home". sayaward.com.
  19. ^ "Shadows - Teenage Fanclub : Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  20. ^ Here (CD liner notes). Teenage Fanclub. PeMa. 2016.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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