Couldn't Wait to Tell You

Couldn't Wait to Tell You
Studio album by Liv.e
Released	July 31, 2020
Genre	Psychedelic soul [1] R&B [2] [3]
Length	48:07
Label	In Real Life Music
Producer	Baxter Ben Hixon Cheflee Daoud Kafari Mejiwahn Pacific Yew Salami Rose Joe Louis Shungu
Liv.e chronology
Hoopdreams (2018) Couldn't Wait to Tell You (2020) CWTTY+ (2021)
Singles from Couldn't Wait to Tell You
"SirLadyMakemFall" Released: January 21, 2020 "LazyEaterBetsOnHerLikeness" Released: February 26, 2020 "Bout These Pipedreams" / "Lessons From My Mistakes... But I Lost Your Number" Released: May 6, 2020 "I Been Livin" Released: July 7, 2020

Couldn't Wait to Tell You is the debut studio album by American R&B singer Liv.e, released on July 31, 2020, by In Real Life. The album was widely praised by music critics.

As part of a deluxe version of Couldn't Wait to Tell You, Liv.e released an EP of six additional songs, entitled CWTTY+ , in 2021. ^[4]

Background and recording

"It's like each song is a different character giving a page out of their diary. There's 21/22 songs, so like 10 characters and they give two pages from their diaries. They're characters I've made up, but it's kind of like [different parts] of myself." ^[5]

— Liv.e, prior to the release of Couldn't Wait to Tell You

The initial impetus for Couldn't Wait to Tell You was a set of beats sent to Liv.e by producer Mejiwahn. ^[6] The album was recorded in Liv.e's bedroom in her mother's house in St. Louis, Missouri, ^[7] over the course of 'a month or so'. ^[5] Liv.e worked in Urban Outfitters whilst writing the album. ^[8] Couldn't Wait to Tell You also features production from Ben Hixon, the president of Dallas-based music collective and record label Dolfin Records; Liv.e released several EPs on the label in the late 2010s. ^[9]

After finishing the recording process, Liv.e went on tour with Earl Sweatshirt in support of his record Some Rap Songs . During this tour, she performed songs which would appear on Couldn't Wait to Tell You. ^[5] Along with several other artists such as Tyler, the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt had taken notice of Liv.e following her 2018 EP Hoopdreams. ^[10] In addition to touring with him, Liv.e also featured on the track "Mtomb" from his 2019 EP Feet of Clay . ^[11] Prior to the release of Couldn't Wait to Tell You, Liv.e would also collaborate with artists such as Black Noi$e and Pink Siifu. ^[2]

Couldn't Wait to Tell You debuted via livestream on singer Erykah Badu's website as part of her Quarantine Concert Series project; ^{[12] [13]} Badu described Liv.e's work as 'an extension of what I am creating'. ^[14] A music video for "You the One Fish in the Sea" was released in March 2021. ^[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100 [16]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Loud and Quiet	9/10 [17]
NME	[2]
Pitchfork	8.0/10 [3]

Couldn't Wait to Tell You was met with critical acclaim from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 84, based on 5 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". ^[16]

NME 's Luke Morgan Britton praised the album as "just as challenging and expectation-defying" as her previous work, favourably comparing it with the music of Erykah Badu, Solange, Frank Ocean and Keiyaa. ^[2] Pitchfork 's Sheldon Pearce described the album as a "raw, loose, and sometimes shapeless exploration of the R&B form", commenting that "sung, spoken, and rapped, these delightful songs exude personality". ^[3] Pearce further stated that "throughout Couldn't Wait to Tell You, Liv.e is becoming an unmistakable and singular artist". Michael Appouh of The Quietus described the album as one of "2020’s best projects so far", describing "Bout These Pipedreams" as "the standout track, eliciting a propulsive and psychedelic vocal performance that hasn't been seen on her previous records". ^[10] Appouh also described "I Been Livin" as "an especially luscious track, its keys oozing with the familiarity of the crate-dug hip hop mastered by Nujabes and Ras G, complimenting the dreamy harmonies". ^[10]

Joe Goggins of Loud and Quiet wrote that "over the course of a truly eclectic twenty-song suite, [Liv.e] melds genres at will", concluding that the album was a "remarkable debut". ^[17] Describing Liv.e as "one to watch", The Guardian 's Kate Hutchinson commented that Couldn't Wait to Tell You featured "the sort of carefree risk-taking that feels lemon-fresh in 2020". ^[8]

Track listing

Couldn't Wait to Tell You track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer	Length
1.	"What's the Real"	Hailee Olivia Williams James Whalen Ahmad Kafari Louis Shungu Daoud Anthony William Cata	Mejiwahn Kafari Shungu [c]	1:20
2.	"How It Made Me Feel"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	2:45
3.	"Bout These Pipedreams"	Williams	Liv.e	1:28
4.	"Stories with Aunt Liv"	Williams Whalen Lindsay Rose Olsen Imari Mubarak Shungu	Mejiwahn Salami Rose Joe Louis Cheflee Shungu [c]	2:59
5.	"Lessons From My Mistakes…but I Lost Your Number"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	2:40
6.	"About Love at 21"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	2:42
7.	"She's My Brand New Crush" (featuring C.S. Armstrong)	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	2:36
8.	"To Unplug"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	3:11
9.	"Cut to the Chase"	Williams Whalen Anthony Shungu	Mejiwahn Daoud [c] Shungu [c]	2:20
10.	"Moving On Felt Great and This Feels (Good) Too" (featuring C.S. Armstrong)	Williams Whalen Olsen Mubarak Kafari Shungu	Mejiwahn Salami Rose Joe Louis Cheflee Kafari Shungu [c]	2:44
11.	"It'll Be Okay (Hymnal5)"	Williams Ben Hixon	Hixon	1:24
12.	"I Been Livin"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	3:45
13.	"How She Stay Conflicted…I Hope He Understands"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	2:45
14.	"You the One Fish in the Sea"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	2:32
15.	"Sirladymakemfall"	Williams Whalen	Mejiwahn	2:14
16.	"These Past Years…Told by Lord Byron"	Williams Bryon Neal Whalen Anthony Mubarak Shungu Jeffery Williams	Mejiwahn Pacific Yew Cheflee Daoud [c] Shungu [c]	2:23
17.	"You're Wasted Let's Go Home"	Williams Whalen Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	1:48
18.	"Watchu Need Reminded by Akeema Zane"	Williams Akeema Anthony Whalen D. Anthony	Mejiwahn Daoud [c]	1:20
19.	"LazyEaterBetsOnHerLikeness"	Williams Whalen	Mejiwahn	2:16
20.	"Bout My Big Man Batter"	Williams Whalen D. Anthony Shungu	Baxter Daoud [c] Shungu [c]	2:54
Total length:				48:06

Notes

• ^{^[c]} signifies a co-producer

CWTTY+

CWTTY+
EP by Liv.e
Released	July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30)
Genre	R&B [18]
Length	18:08
Label	In Real Life
Liv.e chronology
Couldn't Wait to Tell You (2020) CWTTY+ (2021) Girl in the Half Pearl (2023)

As part of a deluxe edition of Couldn't Wait to Tell You, Liv.e released the EP CWTTY+, a collection of six songs left out of the album, on July 30 2021. ^[4] NPR named CWTTY+ one of the best R&B albums of 2021, calling it "the tighter, righter appetizer" to Couldn't Wait to Tell You's "main course". ^[18]

All tracks are written by Liv.e; all tracks produced by Mejiwahn ^[19] .

CWTTY+ track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"_21"	2:40
2.	"Lessons Reprise"	1:04
3.	"Winter Songs"	3:54
4.	"Party Life"	2:00
5.	"How It Made Me Feel / Unplug Me Medley"	4:28
6.	"TheWordsCameOutOfMyMouth9 Reprise"	4:02
Total length:		18:08

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes ^[20]

• Liv.e  – vocals, production (track 3), artwork, design
• C. S. Armstrong – vocals (tracks 7, 10)
• Cheflee – bass guitar (tracks 4, 10, 16)
• Daoud – keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, co-production
• Ben Hixon – keyboards (track 11), production (track 11)
• Kafari – synthesizer (tracks 1, 10)
• Lord Byron – vocals (track 16)
• Arlington Lowell – artwork, design
• Mejiwahn – drums, MPC 2000XL, percussion, keyboards, synthesizer, production
• Pacific Yew – guitar (track 16)
• Salami Rose Joe Louis – keyboards (tracks 4, 10)
• Shungu – drums, MPC 2000XL, percussion, keyboards, synthesizer, co-production
• Akeema Zane – vocals (track 18)
• Zeroh – mixing, mastering at JAADE Reserve

References

1. Moore, Marcus J. (August 3, 2020). "Certified: (Liv).e's Psychedelic Soul is the Sound of Past & Future Colliding". Bandcamp Daily . Retrieved July 17, 2021.
2. Britton, Luke Morgan (August 6, 2020). "Liv.e - 'Couldn't Wait To Tell You' review: impressionistic and immersive R&B with a fan in Erykah Badu". NME. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
3. Pearce, Sheldon. "Liv.e: Couldn't Wait to Tell You". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
4. Hussey, Allison (July 30, 2021). "Liv.e Shares Six New Songs". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
5. Britton, Luke Morgan (June 8, 2020). "Liv.e: R&B's new avant-garde star who's 'tired of whispering'". NME. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
6. Strange, Jessica (September 11, 2020). "Liv.e's Debut Release, Couldn't Wait to Tell You, Is The Drug We All Need". Dallas Observer. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
7. "Liv.e: "There's a lot of cold cut reality on this record"". Loud And Quiet. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
8. Hutchinson, Kate (August 15, 2020). "One to watch: Liv.e". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved March 6, 2025.
9. "Liv.e: "Anger is just the shadow of sadness" | Interview". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
10. Appouh, Michael (July 30, 2020). "Tape Echoes: Couldn't Wait To Tell You… By Liv.e". The Quietus. Retrieved March 7, 2025.
11. "Stream Earl Sweatshirt's Surprise New Project 'Feet Of Clay'". Stereogum. November 1, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
12. "Erykah Badu Will Host Livetstream Event in Support of Liv.e's New Album". Okayplayer. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
13. "Erykah Badu to Host Album Release Party for Liv.e on Livestreaming Platform". Hypebeast. July 28, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
14. Sacher, Andrew. "35 independent hip hop releases of 2020 we recommend buying on Bandcamp today". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved March 8, 2025.
15. Minsker, Evan (March 11, 2021). "Liv.e Shares New "You the One Fish in the Sea" Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
16. "Couldn't Wait to Tell You... by Liv.e Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic . Retrieved July 17, 2021.
17. Goggins, Joe (August 3, 2020). "Liv.e - Couldn't Wait To Tell You... - Review". Loud and Quiet . Retrieved July 17, 2021.
18. "The Best R&B Albums of 2021". NPR. December 9, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
19. "Couldn't Wait To Tell You +, by (Liv).e". (Liv).e. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
20. Couldn't Wait to Tell You (Vinyl liner). Liv.e. In Real Life Music. 2020.