Young Foolish Happy
Young Foolish Happy is the second studio album by English singer Pixie Lott. It was released on 11 November 2011 by Mercury Records. Lott enlisted previous collaborators Mads Hauge, Phil Thornalley, Toby Gad, Steve Kipner and Andrew Frampton to handle production for the album, in addition to new collaborators such as Tim Powell, The Matrix and Rusko. The album also includes collaborations with artists such as Stevie Wonder and John Legend.
Upon its release, Young Foolish Happy was met with mixed reviews from music critics; while some reviewers found the album solid, others viewed it as formulaic and short of originality, and felt it lacks the "charm" of Lott's debut album, Turn It Up. The album debuted at number 18 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 18,503 copies, failing to match the commercial success of its predecessor. It spawned the UK number-one single "All About Tonight" and the top-10 singles "What Do You Take Me For?" and "Kiss the Stars".
Background and release
Lott began work on the album in Los Angeles in January 2011. In April 2011 she told Digital Spy, "There are a couple of really cool collaborations on the album and I've already worked with some big people, but I can't say who they are just in case those tracks don't make the final cut", describing the sound as "still pop stuff, but maybe a little more soulful. That's the kind of thing that I'm into. That influence is stronger on this album." On 17 September 2011, Lott revealed the album title, which is inspired by The Tams' 1968 song "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy". She stated, "It's a song I grew up listening to, from a young age. I grew up listening to a lot of soul music and I think this album sounds more this kind of way. It's a message that I've always really liked and I think it's important that need to people remember, it's just motivating and inspirational."The album was initially scheduled for release in the United Kingdom on 7 November 2011, but it was eventually pushed back a week to 14 November. To celebrate the launch of the Pixie Collection, London-based women's clothing retailer Lipsy offered the first 10,000 customers a voucher to redeem on Lott's official website and obtain the album for £3 off.
Singles
"All About Tonight" was released on 2 September 2011 as the album's lead single. Lott premiered the song on BBC Radio 1's The Chris Moyles Show on 11 July 2011. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Lott's third UK number one. "All About Tonight" also reached number nine on the Irish Singles Chart, Lott's second highest-peaking single on the chart after "Boys and Girls".Second single "What Do You Take Me For?", featuring rapper Pusha T, was released on 4 November 2011. The track reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and number 30 on the Irish Singles Chart.
"Kiss the Stars" was released on 29 January 2012 as third and final single from the album, peaking at number eight in the UK and number 33 in Ireland.
Critical reception
Young Foolish Happy received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Kim Dawson and John Earls of the Daily Star opined that "there's nothing foolish about album" and that "hirking teeny-bop options for proper soul passion helps her silky voice shine". BBC Music's Fraser McAlpine felt that the album has "little of the magic that characterised her debut's highs" and criticised Lott for "working with songwriters who are capable of a finely tuned pastiche or two", but nevertheless cited "Nobody Does It Better" and "You Win" as "notable exceptions". Rick Pearson of the London Evening Standard noted that Lott "opts for a more soulful direction this time around, something that works better with her wind tunnel of a vocal. She's still guilty of imitation rather than innovation, however, particularly on the synth-heavy 'All about Tonight', which is a craven rip-off of a Katy Perry record. But an identity is the only thing that's lacking here." AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine named the "Motown-mythologizing" "Stevie on the Radio" one of the "brighter, better songs , largely because it has bigger beats and hooks", but commented that "the rest of the record has the form of a blockbuster record but lacks the requisite rhythms or hooks and its scale dampens Lott's spunky personality, which was her primary charm on her debut."Ben Chalk of MSN Music wrote that while the ballads are "the real weak point", the uptempo material is "a vast improvement". Chalk continued, "Where debut Turn It Up showcased an original writing talent which belied the giggly blonde Essex girl persona, Young Foolish Happy sometimes lapses into a pastiche of Pixie's musical heroes." Duncan Gillespie of NME found "All About Tonight" and "What Do You Take Me For?" to be "quite good", but dismissed Lott's "Jools Holland-ready retropop collaboration with Stevie Wonder" as "horrible, but still not horrible enough. Rather than righteous ire, you're left with only a sense of moral and cultural confusion, rather as if you'd caught yourself lusting after an ironing board." Simon Gage of the Daily Express stated that although Young Foolish Happy is a "pretty solid album of bouncy pop numbers", artists like Adele, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry leave "artists like Pixie out in the cold", adding that the album "has all the catchiness you would expect from last year's golden girl, but this year is a very different place." Virgin Media's Ian Gittins agreed, commenting that the album is "adequate, but never special: lacking Perry's raunch, Gaga's glitz, Adele's larynx or Jessie J's sass, it looks like Pixie Lott is set to remain a decidedly B-list pop star." Kevin Mathews of Singaporean newspaper Today expressed that the album "contains enough vocal and rhythmic hooks to keep the pop public sated as tracks like 'Come Get It Now', 'All About Tonight' and 'Nobody Does It Better' deliver in all these departments with some aplomb. The rest of Young Foolish Happy does not stray too far from this formula, which should keep Pixie Lott in demand for the immediate future."
Commercial performance
Young Foolish Happy debuted at number 18 on the UK Albums Chart, selling 18,503 copies in its first week. The following week, it dropped 24 places to number 42. The album was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry on 10 February 2012. As of August 2014, it had sold 102,888 copies in the United Kingdom. Young Foolish Happy also entered the Irish Albums Chart at number 33.Track listing
Notes- signifies a vocal producer
- signifies an additional vocal producer
- signifies a production assistant
- signifies an additional producer
- signifies a remixer and additional producer
- The Asian deluxe edition of the album has the same track listing as the Japanese edition, but does not include the song "Perfect" and all tracks after that song are listed as 13 to 22.
Personnel
- Pixie Lott – vocals, backing vocals
- Jason Agel – vocal engineering
- Noah Agruss – arrangement
- The Arcade – additional production, additional programming
- Daniel Aslet – additional vocal engineering
- George Astasio – bass, guitar, programming
- Felicia Barton – additional backing vocals
- Andrei Basirov – production assistance
- Tim Baxter – additional string programming
- Tom Bird – creative director
- Benji Boko – additional production, remix
- David Boyd – assistant engineering
- Sandy Buglass – guitar
- Ian Burdge – cello
- Captain Hook – arrangement, engineering, mixing, production, all instruments, backing vocals, programming
- Daphne Chen – violin
- Lauren Chipman – viola
- Michael Daley – assistant engineering
- Seton Daunt – guitar
- Tim Debney – mastering
- Ray Djan – guitar, keyboards, programming
- Richard Dodd – cello
- Jimmy Douglass – mixing
- Nathan East – bass
- Ben Epstein – bass
- Eagle Eye – production
- Fiasco – additional programming
- Greg "The Wizard" Fleming – mixing
- Ashton Foster – programming
- Andrew Frampton – bass, guitar, keyboards, production, programming
- Dan Frampton – mixing
- Ryan Freeland – instrument engineering, mixing
- Robin French – backing vocals, bass, keyboards, piano
- Alex G. – additional engineering, additional vocal production
- Toby Gad – all instruments, production, programming, mixing
- Jesus Garnica – assistant mixing
- Larry Goetz – additional mixing
- Eric Gorfain – violin
- Colin Graham – flugelhorn, trumpet
- Adrian Gurvitz – guitar, keyboards, production
- Dabling Harward – assistant engineering
- Mads Hauge – all instruments, vocals, programming, engineering, mixing, production, bass, keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals, guitar
- Andrew Hey – engineering, guitar
- Ash Howes – keyboards, production, programming
- The Invisible Men – mixing, production
- Tim "Wacko Jacko" Jackson – piano
- J'Anna Jacoby – violin
- Marty James – rap
- Patrick "Jester" Jordan-Patrikios – keyboards, production, programming
- Jaycen Joshua – mixing
- Brian Kidd – production
- Steve Kipner – percussion, production
- Rick Koster – violin
- John Krovoza – cello
- Abe Laboriel Jr. – bass
- Tom Lea – viola
- John Legend – piano, production
- Colin Leonard – mastering
- Harvey Mason Jr. – mixing
- The Matrix – engineering, mixing, production
- Wesley Michene – engineering
- Mr Hudson – backing vocals, bass, drums, engineering, guitar, Hammond organ, keyboards, percussion, piano, production
- Holly Muir – backing vocals
- Everton Nelson – violin
- Sheryl Nields – photography
- Rosie Oddie – backing vocals
- Tebey Ottoh – vocal production
- Joel Pargman – violin
- Jason Pebworth – keyboards
- David Piltch – bass
- Elroy "Spoonface" Powell – backing vocals
- Tim Powell – keyboards, production, programming
- Anne Preven – mixing
- Pusha T – rap
- David Ralicke – horns
- Aaron Renner – engineering, mixing
- Tony "Rico" Richardson – flute, saxophone
- Jaz Rogers – vocal engineering, all instruments, engineering, production, programming
- Emma Rohan – backing vocals
- Rusko – production
- Salvador Design – artwork, design
- Andy Savours – mixing
- Jon Shave – bass, keyboards, programming
- Lee Slater – engineering
- Phil Smith – tenor saxophone
- Jamie Snell – mixing
- Ash Soan – drums
- Richard "Biff" Stannard – keyboards, production, programming
- Aaron Sterling – drums
- Katie Stevens – backing vocals
- Phil Tan – mixing
- John Thirkell – trumpet
- John "JT" Thomas – piano
- Phil Thornalley – production, backing vocals, bass, glockenspiel, piano, electric piano, Wurlizter
- Tinchy Stryder – rap
- The Underdogs – production
- Chris Utley – engineering
- Patrick Warren – keyboards, production, string arrangements
- Anselmo Washington – assistant mixing
- Bruce White – viola
- Ant Whiting – additional bass guitar, additional programming, mixing, vocal production
- Stevie Wonder – harmonica
- Timothy Young – guitar
Charts