The Place We Ran From

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The Place We Ran From
ThePlaceWeRanFrom.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 5, 2010 (2010-06-05)
RecordedJanuary 5–12, 2010, at Type Foundry, Portland, Oregon, United States; with Tom Smith, Betsey Lee, and Esme Lee recorded in the Santa Monica Mountains and Zooey Deschanel recorded at East West, Hollywood, California, United States
Genre Indie folk, alternative country, alternative rock
Length45:29
Label Mom + Pop Music, Fiction Records/Polydor Records
Producer Jacknife Lee
Tired Pony chronology
The Place We Ran From
(2010)
The Ghost of the Mountain
(2013)
Singles from The Place We Ran From
  1. "Dead American Writers"
    Released: 2010
  2. "Get on the Road"
    Released: 2010 (promo)

The Place We Ran From is the debut album by the alternative rock/alt country supergroup Tired Pony, released on July 5, 2010, through Polydor/Fiction in the United Kingdom and on July 28, 2010, in the United States by Mom and Pop. The album grew from what was initially a solo project for Snow Patrol songwriter Gary Lightbody which rapidly became a collaboration with members of Belle and Sebastian, R.E.M., and producer Jacknife Lee joining as well as contributions from actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, guitarist M. Ward, and Tom Smith of the indie rock group Editors. [1] The tracks were recorded over the course of one week in January 2010, in Portland, Oregon. [2] The album was recorded over the course of one week in January 2010 and charted in over a half dozen countries.

Contents

Recording

Lightbody had a "long-term ambition" of making a country album [3] and revealed the project's existence in May 2009. In the interview, he expressed his love for country music, which he said he had loved for a long time: "I always thought I had a country album in me and it turns out I did." [4] The rest of Snow Patrol expressed excitement for their band-mate, "delighted that [Lightbody was] getting to exercise all his crazy ideas." [5] In October 2009, Lightbody in his blog on Snow Patrol's website revealed the members of the group to be Richard Colburn (of Belle & Sebastian), Iain Archer, singer Miriam Kaufmann (Archer's wife), and Jacknife Lee. He talked about two more members whom he was very excited about, but didn't name them. [6] [7] He also stated that the album won't be country as was being reported, [4] [8] [9] [10] but would be "country-tinged". [6] In January 2010, Hot Press reported Peter Buck (of R.E.M.) to be a member of the group. Lightbody described Buck as one of his "all-time heroes" and admired his talent for playing a variety of instruments. [7]

Promotion

The lead single from The Place We Ran From was "Dead American Writers", [11] released one week prior on Compact Disc and 7". A music video was directed by Paul Fraser featuring Joseph Gilgun lip syncing the lyrics. [12] "Dead American Writers" includes "I Finally Love This Town" as a B-side; the song was later made available through the band's site as a free download. "Get on the Road" was released as a promotional single with an instrumental version of the track as its B-side.

The band also toured through summer and autumn of 2010.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 68/100 [13]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]

Rolling Stone gave the album a rating of three stars out of five. [16]

Charting

Chart (2010)Peak
Belgium Album Chart 24 [18]
Billboard 200 191 [19]
Dutch Album Chart 14 [18]
Irish Album Chart 27 [18]
Top Heatseekers 8 [19]
Top Independent Albums 33 [19]
UK Albums Chart 17 [18]

Track listing

All songs written by Tired Pony

  1. "Northwestern Skies" – 3:49
  2. "Get on the Road" – 4:45
  3. "Point Me at Lost Islands" – 3:11
  4. "Dead American Writers" – 2:34
  5. "Held in the Arms of Your Words" – 6:40
  6. "That Silver Necklace" – 3:49
  7. "I Am a Landslide" – 5:43
  8. "The Deepest Ocean There Is" – 4:58
  9. "The Good Book" – 3:04
  10. "Pieces" – 6:56

American iTunes Store pre-order bonus track

  1. "In the Stockade"

Japanese edition bonus track

  1. "I Finally Love This Town" – 4:58

Compact Disc + MP3 download bonus tracks

  1. "In the Stockade"
  2. "Your Bible"

Release history

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
United KingdomJune 5, 2010 Polydor/Fiction Digital download [20]
July 11, 2010 Compact Disc 6 02527 42262 6
LP 6 02527 46636 1
United StatesSeptember 28, 2010 Mom and Pop Compact Disc + MP3 8 58275 00182 2

Personnel

Tired Pony
Additional musicians
Technical personnel

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