Mood Swings (Marcus King album)

Mood Swings
Studio album by Marcus King
Released	April 5, 2024 (2024-04-05)
Studio	Shangri-La (Malibu, California) Easy Eye (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Blues rock
Length	45:46
Label	American Republic
Producer	Rick Rubin
Marcus King chronology
Young Blood (2022) Mood Swings (2024)

Mood Swings is the third solo studio album by American musician Marcus King. It was released on April 5, 2024, through American Recordings and Republic Records. Recording sessions took place at Shangri-La in Malibu and Easy Eye Sound Studios in Nashville. Production was handled by Rick Rubin.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]

Mood Swings was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 80 based on five reviews. ^[1]

Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone praised the album, stating: "the album is full of moments like this, where the lyrical conventions of a hand-me-down genre are enlivened with genuinely personal urgency". ^[3] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "if the individual songs don't quite differentiate themselves, that's not precisely a detriment, as King is on an explicit interior journey, ensuring that his music mimics his moods. He doesn't avoid darkness, but he chooses not to wallow, finding instead a measure of peace in the emotional expression itself". ^[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Mood Swings"	Marcus King	3:25
2.	"Fuck My Life Up Again"	King	4:18
3.	"Soul It Screams"	King	3:29
4.	"Save Me"	King	4:54
5.	"Hero"	King Dan Auerbach	3:16
6.	"Delilah"	King Gabe Lee	4:23
7.	"Inglewood Motel"	King Peter Levin	5:20
8.	"This Far Gone"	King Tobias Jesso Jr.	3:03
9.	"Bipolar Love"	King	6:09
10.	"Me or Tennessee"	King	4:22
11.	"Cadillac"	King	3:07
Total length:			45:46

Personnel

• Marcus King – vocals (tracks: 1–10), electric guitar (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 7), bass (tracks: 1, 2, 8, 11), guitar (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 8, 9), electric piano (track 2), bass keyboards (track 3), piano (tracks: 6, 11), bass guitar (track 6), keyboards (track 8), acoustic guitar (track 11)
• Kristen Rogers – background vocals (tracks: 1, 5, 9)
• Ashly Williams – background vocals (tracks: 2, 4, 7, 10)
• Herman Bryant III – background vocals (tracks: 2, 4, 7, 10)
• Porcha Clay – background vocals (tracks: 2, 4, 7, 10)
• Briley King – background vocals (tracks: 6, 11)
• Jason Lader – bass, drum machine & additional programming (track 1), Moog synth (track 3), synth (track 11), recording
• Daphne Chen – violin & viola (track 2), strings arrangement (tracks: 2, 9), strings (track 9)
• Ro Rowan – cello (track 2)
• Benny Brock – upright piano (track 3), mellotron (tracks: 3, 9)
• Chris Dave – drums (tracks: 3–9), percussion (tracks: 6, 7)
• Aaron Paris – strings & strings arrangement (tracks: 3, 9)
• Cory Henry – organ (tracks: 4, 7), electric bass keyboards (track 4), Hammond electric organ (tracks: 5, 6, 9), keyboards (tracks: 5, 7), electric piano (tracks: 6, 7, 10), piano (tracks: 9, 10), bass organ (track 10)
• Lenny Castro – percussion (tracks: 4, 8, 9)
• Kevin Scott – bass guitar (track 5), bass (track 9)
• Mike Runyon – synth (track 7)
• Justin Johnson – horns (tracks: 7, 8)
• Christopher Spies – horns (track 7)
• Isaiah Gage – cello & cello arrangement (track 11)
• Rick Rubin – producer
• Dylan Neustadter – engineering assistant
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering
• Sutton Davison – art direction, design
• Lance Wilson – photography
• Nick Leonard – photography

Charts

Chart (2024)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC) [4]	76
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [5]	83
UK Americana Albums (OCC) [6]	19
US Top Album Sales (Billboard) [7]	32
US Folk Albums (Billboard) [8]	8
US Top Current Album Sales (Billboard) [9]	27
US Top Blues Albums (Billboard) [10]	1

References

1. "Critic Reviews for Mood Swings - Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved June 16, 2025.
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mood Swings - Marcus King | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved June 16, 2025.
3. Dolan, Jon (April 4, 2024). "Marcus King Finds Soul Salvation on 'Mood Swings'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved June 16, 2025.
4. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
5. "Swisscharts.com – Marcus King – Mood Swings". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
6. "Official Americana Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
7. "Marcus King Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
8. "Marcus King Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
9. "Marcus King Chart History (Top Current Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
10. "Marcus King Chart History (Top Blues Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2025.

External links

• Marcus King – Mood Swings at Discogs (list of releases)