Here | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 9 September 2016 | |||
Recorded | 2013–2015 [1] | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Label | PeMa (Europe) Merge (North America) | |||
Producer | Teenage Fanclub | |||
Teenage Fanclub chronology | ||||
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Singles from Here | ||||
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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.
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]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.5/10 [6] |
Metacritic | 79/100 [7] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [8] |
Exclaim! | 8/10 [9] |
The Guardian | [10] |
The Independent | [11] |
Mojo | [12] |
Pitchfork | 7.8/10 [13] |
Q | [14] |
Record Collector | [15] |
The Skinny | [16] |
Uncut | 8/10 [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]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I'm in Love" | Norman Blake | 2:41 |
2. | "Thin Air" | Gerard Love | 3:11 |
3. | "Hold On" | Raymond McGinley | 3:24 |
4. | "The Darkest Part of the Night" | Blake | 3:16 |
5. | "I Have Nothing More to Say" | Love | 4:18 |
6. | "I Was Beautiful When I Was Alive" | McGinley | 4:44 |
7. | "The First Sight" | Love | 5:08 |
8. | "Live in the Moment" | Blake | 3:03 |
9. | "Steady State" | McGinley | 4:16 |
10. | "It's a Sign" | Love | 3:36 |
11. | "With You" | McGinley | 3:58 |
12. | "Connected to Life" | Blake | 4:00 |
Credits for Here are adapted from AllMusic [19] and the album's liner notes. [20]
Teenage Fanclub
Additional musicians
Technical
Teenage Fanclub are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1989. The group were founded by Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love, all of whom shared lead vocals and songwriting duties until Love's departure in 2018. As of 2023, the band's lineup consists of Blake, McGinley, Francis Macdonald, Dave McGowan and Euros Childs.
Brendan O'Hare is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai.
Norman Blake is a Scottish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter in the Glasgow-based band Teenage Fanclub.
A Catholic Education is the debut album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 1990.
The King is the second album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, deleted on its day of release in 1991.
Bandwagonesque is the third album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in November 1991 on Creation Records. The album gave the band substantial US success when the single "Star Sign" reached number four on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, becoming their biggest hit in that country, with "What You Do to Me" and "The Concept" also becoming top 20 hits on that chart. Bandwagonesque was voted 'album of the year' for 1991 by American music magazine Spin, famously beating Nirvana's Nevermind.
Thirteen is the fourth album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 1993 on Creation Records in the UK and Geffen in the US. It was commonly believed at the time that it was named after the song "Thirteen" by Big Star, a band that has heavily influenced Teenage Fanclub. The self-produced album was poorly received by critics on its release. It peaked at number 14 on the UK Albums Chart.
Deep Fried Fanclub is a rarities compilation album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 1995. It mostly features non-album singles and b-sides released through the band's association with Paperhouse and K Records.
Songs from Northern Britain is the sixth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub. Produced by David Bianco and the group themselves, the album was released on 29 July 1997 through Creation Records. Teenage Fanclub's previous album, Grand Prix, had been seen as a comeback in their home of the UK, though its success elsewhere was limited. With more time and resources, the band recorded Songs from Northern Britain—a tongue-in-cheek title referring to their native Scotland—with producer David Bianco in Surrey. The record's lyrical themes focus heavily on love and domestic life. The album was completed at London's Air Studios, and its accompanying artwork was taken by photographer Donald Milne around the Scottish Highlands.
Howdy! is the seventh album by Scottish rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 23 October 2000 through Columbia Records. With the addition of keyboardist Finlay MacDonald, the band wrote new material, eventually debuting some of it live in early 1999. Following this, they recorded their next album at Rockfield Studios in Wales, as well as Astoria in London, between August 1999 and March 2000. Shortly afterwards, drummer Paul Quinn left the band and was replaced by Francis MacDonald. Howdy! is an Americana and power pop album, recalling the work of the Hollies.
Man-Made is the eighth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 9 May 2005. It was released on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America.
Words of Wisdom and Hope is an album produced in collaboration between Glasgow, Scotland's Teenage Fanclub and Half Japanese frontman Jad Fair. It was released on 4 March 2002 on Domino's subsidiary label Geographic in Europe and on Alternative Tentacles in the US.
Special Kiss is the first album by Gumball. It was released in 1991 on the Primo Scree label. It contains contributions from Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Teenage Fanclub.
Four Thousand Seven Hundred And Sixty-Six Seconds - A Short Cut To Teenage Fanclub is a greatest hits album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 27 January 2003. The title refers to the album's total length, just 34 seconds short of the maximum running time possible on a single CD: as a consequence the tracks "Star Sign" and "My Uptight Life" were edited from its original versions in order to fit on to the album. "Everything Flows" was remixed for this collection.
God Knows It's True is an EP by Scottish rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in 1990 in the UK by Paperhouse Records and in 1991 in the USA by Matador Records. It was co-produced by Don Fleming, who had been introduced to the band earlier in 1990 by word of mouth, and who would also work on the band's next two albums, The King and Bandwagonesque.
Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It is an EP by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released in December 1995 on Creation Records. It reached #53 in the UK singles chart.
Shadows is the ninth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, released on 31 May 2010 on the band's own PeMa label in Europe and on Merge Records in North America. It is the band's first new album release in five years. The album contains twelve songs: four written by Gerard Love, four by Norman Blake, and four by Raymond McGinley. Blake's "Baby Lee" was released as a single.
Snowgoose is a Scottish, Glasgow-based folk rock band. The band was formed as a three-piece with Jim McCulloch on guitar, Dave McGowan on bass and Anna Sheard on vocals. Raymond McGinley and Stuart Kidd joined to make the band a five-piece. The debut album Harmony Springs was released on vinyl on 21 April 2012 as part of Record Store Day. A CD and download release followed on 12 November 2012. The album was recorded in Norfolk, and at McGinley's studio in Glasgow, and features guest appearances from Norman Blake, John McCusker, Dave McCluskey, and Peter Domberknowsky.
Endless Arcade is the eleventh full studio album by Scottish band Teenage Fanclub. Released on 30 April 2021, it is the band's first record since the departure of co-founder Gerard Love in late 2018 and their first with former Gorky's Zygotic Mynci member Euros Childs. The album's title comes from co-founder Raymond McGinley's song of the same name, with McGinley envisioning an endless arcade as "a city that you can wander through, with a sense of mystery, an imaginary one that goes on forever. When it came to choosing an album title, it seemed to have something for this collection of songs."
Nothing Lasts Forever is the twelfth full studio album by Scottish band Teenage Fanclub, released on 22 September 2023 through PeMa in Europe and Merge Records in North America. It received positive reviews from critics.
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