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Natural Causes | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 23, 2016 | |||
Genre | Indie pop | |||
Length | 49:34 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Skylar Grey chronology | ||||
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Singles from Natural Causes | ||||
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Natural Causes is the third studio album by American recording artist Skylar Grey. It is her second album since her stage name change from Holly Brook to Skylar Grey. It was released on September 23, 2016, by KidinaKorner and Interscope Records. [1] [2]
In early 2015, Grey announced that she was working on a third studio album, which was due to come out in 2015. Grey later attempted to promote the album by joining American band X Ambassadors on their VHS Tour. She later revealed the release date would be on September 23, 2016. Grey additionally claimed that she refused to have any guest features on the album, but eventually gave in when her former "Love the Way You Lie" collaborator Eminem offered to be on the album. He additionally produced "Come Up for Air". The album finds Grey collaborating with various prominent producers, including Alex da Kid, Mike Elizondo, Mark Batson, and Symbolyc One. [ citation needed ]
Grey released the song "Cannonball", featuring American rock band X Ambassadors as the first buzz single from the album on March 31, 2016. The single was later revealed to have been removed from the track list after "Moving Mountains" was declared the first and lead single of the album. The official music video for "Moving Mountains" was released on Vevo the same day. The video was directed by Peter Harding Song and inspired by her home in Utah. The second single from the album, "Off Road", was released on July 22, 2016. The music video for the song was released on the same day in sponsorship with Samsung Gear 360. On September 2, 2016, Grey released the third single "Come Up for Air", which was produced by rapper Eminem. The fourth and last single released on the album, "Lemonade", was released on September 16, 2016. On September 22, 2016 Grey streamed a song on her album titled "Kill For You", which features Eminem, on Rolling Stone. To promote the album, she went on a 12-city tour. [3] [4]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [5] |
Edge Media Network | (positive) [6] |
Conor Clark | [7] |
Indie Band Guru | (positive) [8] |
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | (positive) [9] |
Renowned for Sound | [10] |
Immortal Reviews | 75/100 [11] |
BensBeat | 7/10 [12] |
Artistically Trustworthy | [13] |
Peauxetic Expressions | (positive) [14] |
KnoxNews | [15] |
The album was met with critical acclaim and received rave reviews, Michael Smith of Renowned for Sound gave the album 5 stars out of 5, and called it a "masterpiece", writing "In terms of setting the mood, the album's first full song Jump does this perfectly. The song makes perfect use of its sparse arrangement, revolving around a very minimal beat and hand clap combo backed by a repeating guitar line that moves the song forward as Grey sings over the top. [...] Skylar Grey has hands down created her best material yet on Natural Causes, and created a veritable masterpiece that will be remembered long after 2016 is behind us." [10]
Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "From the misty intro, "Wilderness," which turns the dial to an Auto-Tuned Bon Iver frequency, to the warm acoustic strum of the KT Tunstall-meets-Radiohead 'Moving Mountains', Natural Causes capitalizes on atmosphere and mood, opting to skip the scattered production of Don't Look Down and focus on earnestness and vulnerability."
Alexis Arnold of Indie Band Guru heavily praised the album, writing "It [the album] creates this weird atmosphere that Grey herself rules. She works with a lot of different tones and sounds while still sounding like effortless perfection. It brings the transparency and rawness that’s missing from pop these days while also having a backbone. [...] Skylar Grey is creating a new sound and, in short, it’s impossible to ignore."
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Intro – Wilderness" | Hafermann | 1:34 | |
2. | "Jump" |
|
| 4:28 |
3. | "Lemonade" |
| 3:53 | |
4. | "Kill for You" (featuring Eminem) |
|
| 4:51 |
5. | "Come Up for Air" |
|
| 4:20 |
6. | "Real World" |
| Alex da Kid | 4:02 |
7. | "Straight Shooter" |
| DeZuzio | 2:58 |
8. | "Off Road" |
| DeZuzio | 3:17 |
9. | "In My Garden" |
|
| 3:15 |
10. | "Moving Mountains" |
|
| 4:13 |
11. | "Picture Perfect" |
| 4:35 | |
12. | "We Used to Be Bad" |
|
| 4:10 |
13. | "Closer" |
|
| 3:47 |
Total length: | 49:34 |
Notes
Musicians
Additional musicians
| Additional personnel
|
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [16] | 193 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [17] | 68 |
French Albums (SNEP) [18] | 115 |
Holly Brook Hafermann, known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer and songwriter from Mazomanie, Wisconsin. In 2004, at the age of 17, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group and a recording contract with Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. In 2006, she released her debut studio album, Like Blood Like Honey, under the aforementioned labels.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is widely considered as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Eminem's global success and acclaimed works are widely regarded as having broken racial barriers for the acceptance of Caucasian rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him widely controversial, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as an influence for many artists of various genres.
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The discography of Skylar Grey, an American singer-songwriter, consists of four studio albums, seven extended plays (EPs), 21 singles and 14 music videos. Grey was signed to Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. She released her debut album Like Blood Like Honey in 2006, but was released from her contract after it did not perform commercially. She began working under the name Skylar Grey in 2010, co-writing the three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" with Alex da Kid, who signed her to his Wonderland Music label. Grey later left KIDinaKORNER/Interscope records and is currently an independent artist.
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