So Good | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 17 March 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2015–2017 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 50:31 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Zara Larsson chronology | ||||
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Singles from So Good | ||||
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So Good is the second studio album by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released on 17 March 2017 by TEN Music Group and Epic Records. It was Larsson's first album in nearly three years, following her debut album 1 (2014), and her first album to be released internationally. Recording sessions with a handful of producers for the album began in 2015 and concluded in early 2017. The album includes guest appearances by the rapper Ty Dolla $ign and the singers MNEK and Wizkid.
The album's launch date was pushed back multiple times before it was ultimately released in March 2017. So Good was supported by seven singles; "Lush Life", "Never Forget You" with MNEK, "Ain't My Fault", "I Would Like", "So Good" featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Don't Let Me Be Yours" and "Only You". "Lush Life", "Never Forget You" and "Ain't My Fault" all charted on the US Billboard Hot 100. To further promote the album, Larsson made several television appearances and live performances and embarked on the So Good World Tour from October 2017 to March 2018. The album was also promoted through the five-month long Don't Worry Bout Me Tour in 2019.
So Good received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release, who complimented the album's production and Larsson's vocal performance. It debuted and peaked at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 and charted at number one in Sweden, number two in Norway and number seven on the UK albums chart. The album also charted within the top-ten in six other countries, including Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand, as well as reaching the top 20 in fifteen other countries.
"I do pop. Pop is everything from The Weeknd, to Taylor Swift, to Beyoncé, to Rihanna, and [my album So Good is] a good mix of everything. There are some very soulful songs on there but also electronic dance songs, and also pure pop, darker songs with a trap vibe."
— Larsson explaining the genre of the album. [1]
So Good primarily contains pop songs, as well as several rhythmic and dance songs. The album also contains several ballads, in addition to incorporating R&B [2] [3] and tropical house. [4] In a late 2015 interview with Idolator, Larsson confirmed she worked with Dr. Luke on the album; his work did not appear on the final cut of the album. [5] During an interview with Billboard , Larsson confirmed she worked with Max Martin's team on the project, saying: "I worked with so many. Me and MNEK have done a lot of other songs. Me and the Max Martin team. Not Max Martin himself, but hopefully next time. The team is really good. The Monsters & Strangerz, I love them so much. And just a lot of super talented people—R. City, Justin Tranter, so many good people. Whoever you meet, they're like, 'I just wrote a No. 1 for this or that.' Everyone has something to brag about, which is what I would do if I wrote that good songs." [6]
Larsson also worked with Stargate and Charlie Puth on the album. During an interview with Digital Spy, Zara confirmed that each song on the album was written and produced by a different production team. After several delays, Larsson released the artwork of the album on her social media on 3 February 2017, and So Good was made available for pre-order that day. At the same time, the release date of 17 March 2017 was confirmed. [7]
"Lush Life" was released as the lead single of So Good on 4 June 2015 in Sweden and on 9 June 2015 internationally. [8] [9] [10] [11] Three music videos were released for "Lush Life"; the first was directed by Måns Nyman [12] while the second and third were both directed by Mary Clerté. [13] It was an international success, peaking within the top 10 in several countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Spain. [14] [15] [16] [17]
On 22 July 2015, "Never Forget You" featuring MNEK was released digitally in the United Kingdom. [18] A music video, directed by Richard Paris Wilson, was released on 17 September 2015. [19] The song peaked within the top 10 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. [14] [20] [21] [22] The single also became both Larsson and MNEK's first US entry, managing to peak at number 13 in May 2016 on the Hot 100. The single was certified 4× Platinum in Sweden [23] and 2× Platinum in the US. [24]
On 2 September 2016, "Ain't My Fault" was released as the third single from the album. [25] [26] Its official music video, directed by Emil Nava, was premiered via Larsson's Vevo account on 30 September 2016. [27] It reached the top 20 in Australia, [15] United Kingdom, [14] Finland [22] and Denmark [21] among others, peaking at number one in Sweden. [20]
On 11 November 2016, "I Would Like" was released as a promotional single, and was later released as an official single. Larsson performed the song on the thirteenth series of The X Factor UK on 4 December 2016.[ citation needed ] The song reached the top 10 in several countries, including the United Kingdom [14] and Ireland. [28]
On 27 January 2017, the title track "So Good" featuring Ty Dolla $ign was released as the fifth single from the album. The official music video for the song, directed by Sarah McColgan, premiered on 3 February 2017 on Larsson's Vevo channel. [29] They performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 7 February 2017 [30] and on The Wendy Williams Show on 23 March 2017. [31] It reached the top 10 on the Sverigetopplistan in Sweden, where it was certified Gold [23] and reached number seven. [20]
On 17 March 2017, "Symphony" by Clean Bandit featuring Larsson, was released as a bonus track from the album, [32] as well as the second single from Clean Bandit's second album What Is Love? . [33] [34] The music video, directed by Clean Bandit's members Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson, premiered the same day. [33] They gave the first live performance of the song on The Voice UK on 18 March 2017. [35] The song reached the top 10 of countries like Australia, Finland, [22] Germany and Ireland, [28] and also reached the number one position in Norway, the United Kingdom, [14] Scotland [36] and Sweden. As well as becoming Larsson's fifth number one in her home country, [20] it also gave Larsson her first number one single in the UK.
On 12 May 2017, "Don't Let Me Be Yours", a song written by Ed Sheeran, was released as a single in the United Kingdom and was later promoted in Australia. The official music video was released on the same day. The song reached the top 40 in her home country of Sweden during the week of her album's debut on the chart.
On 11 August 2017, "Only You", was released as the seventh and final single from the album, with remixes from Canadian singer Olivier Dion and German singer Nena commissioned. [37] [38] The song reached the top five in Sweden and the top 40 in Norway.
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 76/100 [39] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [40] |
Financial Times | [41] |
The Guardian | [4] |
NME | [42] |
So Good was met with generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on four reviews. [39]
Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian gave the album a three-star rating out of five, describing the album as "sugar-soaked postmodern pop", saying Larsson is like a "Rihanna-doting teen gatecrashing a tropical house party, gun fingers blazing, and her sugar-soaked songs are imbued with honesty". Gibsone also mentioned how, at a time when pop looks to the future, 'So Good' is in danger of dying quickly". [4] Nick Levine from NME gave the album four stars out of five, saying how the "big hits you know are obviously brilliant", but describing some of the "ballads towards the end" as "dull". [43]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "What They Say" |
| 3:38 | |
2. | "Lush Life" |
|
| 3:20 |
3. | "I Would Like" |
|
| 3:44 |
4. | "So Good" (featuring Ty Dolla $ign) |
| 2:46 | |
5. | "TG4M" |
|
| 2:52 |
6. | "Only You" |
|
| 3:42 |
7. | "Never Forget You" (with MNEK) |
|
| 3:32 |
8. | "Sundown" (featuring Wizkid) |
|
| 3:25 |
9. | "Don't Let Me Be Yours" | 3:19 | ||
10. | "Make That Money Girl" |
|
| 3:18 |
11. | "Ain't My Fault" |
|
| 3:44 |
12. | "One Mississippi" | Ball | 3:07 | |
13. | "Funeral" |
|
| 3:35 |
14. | "I Can't Fall in Love Without You" |
|
| 2:57 |
15. | "Symphony" (Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson) (bonus track) |
|
| 3:32 |
Total length: | 50:31 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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16. | "Ain't My Fault" (J Hus & Fred VIP Remix) |
|
| 3:31 |
17. | "I Would Like" (Gorgon City Remix) |
|
| 4:25 |
18. | "This One's for You" (David Guetta featuring Zara Larsson) |
| 3:28 | |
Total length: | 62:12 |
Notes
Sample credits
Credits adapted from AllMusic. [45]
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [85] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [86] | Platinum | 40,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [87] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [88] | 2× Platinum | 40,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [89] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
Netherlands (NVPI) [90] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [91] | Gold | 7,500‡ |
Norway (IFPI Norway) [92] | 6× Platinum | 120,000* |
Poland (ZPAV) [93] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF) [94] | 2× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [95] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [96] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | 17 March 2017 | [97] | ||
Japan | 3 May 2017 | CD | Sony Music | [98] |
M-22 are a British-German DJ and producer duo consisting of Matt James and Frank Sanders. On March 22, the duo met, through a joint production, which is the reason for their stage name.
Zara Maria Larsson is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She first rose to prominence in 2008 after winning the second season of Talang, the Swedish version of the Got Talent format. She later attained international recognition with singles including "Lush Life" (2015), "Never Forget You" (2015), "Girls Like" (2016) with Tinie Tempah, "This One's for You" with David Guetta, "Ain't My Fault" (2016), "I Would Like" (2016), "Symphony" (2017) with Clean Bandit, "Ruin My Life" (2018) and "On My Love" (2023) with David Guetta.
"Uncover" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released on 21 January 2013 as the lead single from her debut extended play, Introducing (2013). It was written by Marcus Sepehrmanesh, Robert Habolin and Gavin Jones and produced by Habolin. It topped the Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Singles Chart, on 22 February 2013, giving Larsson her young career's first chart-topper. The single also reached number one in Norway as well. In July 2013, the song was certified 6× Platinum in Sweden by Universal Music Sweden.
1 is the debut studio album by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released exclusively in Scandinavian countries on 1 October 2014 by TEN Music Group and Universal Music Group. The album is certified platinum in Sweden and gold in Denmark, for selling 40,000 and 10,000 units in the countries respectively. On 30 January 2024, the album was released internationally on all digital platforms.
Swedish singer Zara Larsson has released four studio albums, six extended plays, 37 singles, 7 promotional singles and 36 music videos. Five of Larsson's singles, "Uncover", "Lush Life", "Never Forget You", "Ain't My Fault" and "Symphony" have topped the charts in Sweden. "Uncover" and "Lush Life" peaked in the top five in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark, and in the top ten in France.
"Lush Life" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson from her second studio album So Good (2017). It was released in Sweden on 5 June 2015 by TEN Music Group and Epic Records as the lead single from the album. The song was later released internationally on 9 June 2015. A remix of the song featuring Tinie Tempah was released on 26 February 2016.
"Never Forget You" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson and British singer MNEK. It was released on 22 July 2015 in the United Kingdom by TEN Music Group, Virgin EMI and Epic as the second single from Larsson's second studio album So Good (2017).
"Girls Like" is a song by British rapper Tinie Tempah featuring Swedish singer Zara Larsson. The song was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 26 February 2016 as the second single from Tempah's third studio album, Youth.
"This One's for You" is a song by French DJ and music producer David Guetta, featuring Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released on 13 May 2016 as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2016 held in France. The track was recorded with the help of one million fans around the world through a special online app. American singer Ariana Grande also recorded a demo for the song. The song is included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Larsson's second studio album So Good (2017).
Youth is the third studio album by British rapper Tinie Tempah, released on 14 April 2017 by Parlophone and Disturbing London.
"Ain't My Fault" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson from her second studio album So Good (2017). It was released on 2 September 2016 through TEN Music Group and Epic Records as the third single from the album. The song received positive reviews from critics upon its release and peaked at number one in Sweden, the top ten in Norway and Romania, and the top 20 in ten additional countries. It is certified Gold or higher in sixteen countries. The remix version of the song features American rapper Lil Yachty.
"I Would Like" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released on 11 November 2016 by TEN Music Group and Epic Records initially as a promotional single; it was later released as the fourth single from her second studio album, So Good (2017).
"So Good" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson, featuring American singer Ty Dolla $ign. It was released on 27 January 2017 by TEN Music Group and Epic Records as the fifth single from her studio album of the same name (2017). It reached the top ten in The Netherlands and Sweden, as well as the top 40 in Denmark, Finland, and Norway.
"Symphony" is a song by British classical crossover band Clean Bandit, featuring Swedish singer Zara Larsson. The song was released on 17 March 2017 as the second single from Clean Bandit's second studio album, What Is Love? (2018). It was also released on the same day as Larsson's second album So Good, where it was included as a bonus track. The single peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart, becoming Larsson's first number one on the chart and Clean Bandit's third. Outside the United Kingdom, the single also topped the chart in Larsson's native Sweden, as well as in neighbouring Norway, in addition to being certified Diamond in France and Poland.
"Only You" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released on 11 August 2017 by TEN Music Group and Epic Records as the seventh and final single from her second studio album So Good (2017). Lyrically, the song is about sexual fulfillment and masturbation. Alternate versions of the single feature Nena and Olivier Dion.
"Ruin My Life" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released on 18 October 2018 by TEN Music Group as the lead single from her third studio album Poster Girl (2021). The single peaked at number two in Sweden, number five in Ireland, and number nine in the United Kingdom and Israel. It is certified Gold or higher in ten countries.
"All the Time" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released through TEN Music Group and Epic Records on 21 June 2019. Described as a pop and synth-pop track, it was co-written by Larsson with Noonie Bao, Ilsey Juber, Linus Wiklund and produced by the latter. The song appears as a bonus track on the Japanese deluxe edition of Larsson's third studio album, Poster Girl.
The following list is a discography of recordings by MNEK, a British record producer and recording artist from East London, United Kingdom.
Poster Girl is the third studio album by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released internationally on 5 March 2021 by TEN Music Group and Epic Records. Recording sessions for the album began in 2018 and continued during the Covid-19 pandemic. A deluxe edition of the album subtitled Summer Edition was released on May 21, 2021 and contains six additional songs.
"Can't Tame Her" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released as the lead single from her fourth studio album, Venus (2024), on 26 January 2023 through Sommer House and Epic. It was written by Larsson, MNEK, Karl Ivert and Kian Sang, and produced by the Swedish duo MTHR. The song has been certified gold in the United Kingdom and Denmark, and platinum in Sweden.