Access All Areas (also abbreviated as AAA) is the debut album by English girl group Flo. It was released on 15 November 2024 through Island Records.[1] It marks the group's first full-length project after releasing two extended plays: The Lead (2022) and 3 of Us (2023). The standard version of Access All Areas features guest vocals from Cynthia Erivo and GloRilla, while the "Unlocked" version includes guest vocals from Chlöe, Halle, Kehlani, Bree Runway and Dixson.
Access All Areas received generally positive reviews from critics. The album was preceded by three singles—"Walk Like This", "Caught Up", and "Check"—and two promotional singles, while a fourth single, "In My Bag", coincided with the album release. It is a contemporary R&B album featuring production and songwriting from MNEK and notable contributions from Camper, Jay Versace, Pop Wansel, Sevyn Streeter, and more.
Background
On 3 July 2023, Flo surprise announced their second EP, 3 of Us as a "gift" to their fans for patiently waiting for new music.[2][3] Before releasing the singles "Walk Like This" and "Caught Up" for the debut project, the group was announced as an opening act for singer Kehlani's Crash World Tour for the fall.[4]
Prior to the announcement of Access All Areas, the group described the album as a continuation of the legacy of girl groups:
Access All Areas is a labour of love. To us it represents our growth and dedication to making girl group history, to making a project we are truly proud to call our debut album.[5]
Release and promotion
The album's first single, "Walk Like This" was released on 8 March 2024 after being previewed on TikTok weeks back, and the accompanying music video released a week later.[6][7] The single was Flo's first single since "Fly Girl" with American rapper Missy Elliott in 2023.[8] The group, then, revealed there would be at least 17 songs on the album after posting a picture of an unconfirmed tracklist on a drawing board on social media.[citation needed] On 24 May 2024, Flo released the second single for the album, "Caught Up", along with the visualizer.[9][10]
On 2 August 2024, Flo released the third single for the album, "Check".[11][12] After officially announcing the album's title, artwork, and release date on the same month, the group released pre-orders for vinyl, CDs, and exclusive bundles that include an autographed ticket, and three bonus tracks.[citation needed] The group released two promotional songs, "Bending My Rules", which they performed live for Vevo Studios,[13][14] and the album's title track, "AAA".[15]
On 1 November 2024, Flo announced the Access All Areas Tour, which will visit Europe and the United Kingdom.[16] On 7 November 2024, Flo partnered with AMC Theatres to give their fans an early listen to the album in select theatres in the United States.[citation needed] On 10 November 2024, Flo revealed the official tracklist of the album, revealing collaborations with singer and actress Cynthia Erivo and rapper GloRilla.[17]
Three days after the album's initial release, Flo hinted at "unlocking" features, and released a deluxe edition titled Access All Areas: Unlocked featuring extended remixes with collaborations from Chlöe, Halle, Dixson, Kehlani, and Bree Runway.[18] The group, alongside Chlöe and Halle, all hinted a collaboration before the album's release.[citation needed]
On 7th of February 2025 Flo uploaded a official lyric video for "On & On" to YouTube, marking its release as the 5th single after an influx of airplay of the song on US R&B radio. Flo initially was going to make "Soft" the 5th single after the song gained almost 2 million streams in its first month. Flo also hinted at wanting "Get It Till I'm Gone" to be the 5th single on TikTok.
Commercial performance
Access All Areas debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number three, selling 9,500[citation needed]album-equivalent units in its first week and becoming highest-charting album by a British R&B girl group in 23 years.[19] The album remained on the chart for one week, while spending two weeks each on the UK Album Downloads Chart and the UK Album Sales Chart. It also reached number one on the UK R&B Albums Chart, where it spent three weeks in the top-ten. In Scotland, the album reached number ten on the Scottish Albums Chart.[20]
In the United States, Access All Areas became Flo's first project to appear on the Billboard 200, debuting at number 163.[21] Additionally, the album charted in the lower regions of the album charts in Belgium (Flanders) and France, reaching number 127 and number 188 on each, respectively. In Portugal, the album debuted at number 182 on the Portugal Streaming Albums chart. The 'Unlocked' version of the album has achieved over 75 million streams globally on Spotify, as of January 2025.[22]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Access All Areas received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 from 9 critic scores.[24]
Puah Ziwei of NME described Flo as "having it all down: the talent, charisma and star power" on Access All Areas, with the album having "plenty of anthemic, showstopping vocal moments".[34] Clover Hope of Pitchfork praised the album as a solid debut, referring to the project as a "confident vision of what a modern girl group can be: tender, headstrong, and unified", while suggesting influences from girl groups Destiny's Child and TLC on tracks such as "In My Bag" and "Nocturnal".[35] Amy Perdoni of The Line of Best Fit dubbed Access All Areas as an album with "a number of remarkable pop, soul, and R&B fusions", highlighting "Check" as a standout track from the album, describing it as "maybe their most upbeat yet" and "the style of track allowing the group to gleam brighter and richer".[36]
A more mixed review came from Alexis Petridis of The Guardian, who described the project as a "solid start", and noted the influences from SWV and Destiny's Child, but criticised the lack of a stand-out track, and felt that "a sense of innovation is lacking" as found on prior iconic girl-group hits such as the Sugababes' "Freak Like Me".[37] Similarly, Annabel Nugent and Roisin O'Connor of The Independent felt that the album failed to produce "stadium-filler" songs, describing the project as sticking to "generic themes about love", although offering praise to the group's vocal ability and producer MNEK's vocal-layering work on the tracks “How Does It Feel” and “Bending My Rules”.[38] Larisha Paul of Rolling Stone highlighted Flo's "infectious confidence" on "standouts" "How Does It Feel?" and "In My Bag", describing the latter as being "boosted by a vibrant feature from GloRilla", however felt that at times the record "stumbles over its ambition to lean into the classic R&B playbook while remaining experimental".[39]
↑ Wired Strings consists of: cellist Rosie Danvers; violists Emma Owens and Jordan Bergmans; and violinists Jenny Sacha, Kerenza Peacock, Natalia Bonner, Patrick Kiernan, and Steve Morris.
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