| Ascend | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 16, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | 2018–2019 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 1:00:16 | |||
| Label | Astralwerks | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Illenium chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Ascend | ||||
| ||||
Ascend (stylised as ASCEND) is the third studio album by American DJ, and music producer Illenium, released on August 16, 2019, through Astralwerks, making it his major-label debut and his only album on the label. [4] The album features six singles.
Consisting of 17 songs, the album includes six previously released singles, "Take You Down", "Crashing", "Pray", "Good Things Fall Apart", "Takeaway", and "Blood". [5] On his social media accounts, he announced the release date of the album and the following tour on June 12. [6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| PopMatters | 6/10 [2] |
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dance Music Northwest | Best Electronic Music Albums of 2019 | 1 | |
| The Nocturnal Times | Top Electronic/Dance Albums of 2019 | 9 | |
| Your EDM | Top 10 Albums of 2019 | 5 |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Billboard Music Awards | Top Dance/Electronic Album | Nominated | |
| International Dance Music Awards | Best Album | Nominated |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Care (Intro)" | Illenium | 0:33 | |
| 2. | "Hold On" (featuring Georgia Ku) |
|
| 3:55 |
| 3. | "Good Things Fall Apart" (with Jon Bellion) |
| 3:36 | |
| 4. | "That's Why" (with Joshua Golden) |
|
| 4:12 |
| 5. | "Blood" (with Foy Vance) |
| 4:08 | |
| 6. | "Take You Down" |
|
| 3:41 |
| 7. | "All Together" (with Oekiin) |
|
| 3:58 |
| 8. | "Crashing" (featuring Bahari) |
|
| 3:50 |
| 9. | "Broken Ones" (with Anna Clendening) |
| Illenium | 3:18 |
| 10. | "Every Piece of Me" (with Echos) |
|
| 3:43 |
| 11. | "Takeaway" (with The Chainsmokers featuring Lennon Stella) |
|
| 3:29 |
| 12. | "Sad Songs" (with Said the Sky featuring Annika Wells) |
|
| 3:30 |
| 13. | "Pray" (featuring Kameron Alexander) |
|
| 4:55 |
| 14. | "In Your Arms" (with X Ambassadors) |
| 3:40 | |
| 15. | "Gorgeous" (with Blanke featuring Bipolar Sunshine) |
|
| 4:37 |
| 16. | "Angel (Lonely Prelude)" | Miller | Illenium | 0:41 |
| 17. | "Lonely" (featuring Chandler Leighton) |
| Illenium | 4:30 |
| Total length: | 60:16 | |||
Notes
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) [26] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | August 16, 2019 | Astralwerks | [27] [28] |
Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music that is now owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featured prominent British acts like The Future Sound of London, Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers. In recent years, its roster has expanded to include acts like Halsey, Marshmello, Porter Robinson, Illenium, Zhu and numerous others. In 2018, Astralwerks' headquarters were moved from its original home of New York City to Los Angeles.
Jeff D'Agostino is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and musician; professionally known as the recording artist Oekiin. After becoming an established TV and film actor, D'Agostino began a career in music. He signed to Rock Mafia Records in 2011, and was signed to Interscope Records by Co-Founder and former Chairman/C.E.O Jimmy Iovine in 2012. He has collaborated on songs with artist/producer Timbaland and DJ/producer Illenium.
The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Alexander "Alex" Pall and Andrew "Drew" Taggart. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The EDM-pop duo achieved a breakthrough with their 2014 song "#Selfie", which became a top-twenty single in several countries. They have won a Grammy award, two American Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards and nine iHeartRadio Music Awards. According to Forbes 2019 list of highest-paid celebrities, the Chainsmokers were the highest-paid DJs, dethroning Calvin Harris after six years.
Trevor Christensen, known professionally as Said the Sky, is an American electronic dance music producer, DJ and musician.
Nicholas D. Miller, professionally known as Illenium, is an American musician, DJ, music producer, and songwriter. He has released five studio albums, his most recent being Illenium, released in April 2023. Illenium earned his first Grammy nomination following the release of his fourth studio album, Fallen Embers, released in July 2021. One of Illenium's more notable albums, Ascend, was released in August 2019 on Astralwerks. The album was Illenium's first to top the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart and also reached his highest peak on the Billboard 200 at number 14.
The discography of American electronic music producer and DJ Illenium consists of five studio albums, four remix albums, four extended plays, thirty-six singles and eight music videos.
Hayden Capuozzo, better known by his stage name Kayzo, is an American DJ based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for remixing songs and incorporating trap and hardstyle genres into his remixes. His collaboration with Riot "Wake Up" received more than 200,000 plays in less than 24 hours.
Joseph Chung and Joseph Abella, who go by the stage name Armnhmr, are Los Angeles, California-based musicians, DJs, and record producers. While existing in the electronic dance music (EDM) scene ARMNHMR is represented by Monstercat, Dim Mak, Barong Family, Brednbutter, and Armnhmr LLC. They have collaborated with other artists such as Abandoned, Medyk, Nurko and Synymata.
"Crawl Outta Love" is a song by American DJ Illenium. Featuring singer Annika Wells, it is a single, released on August 7, 2017 via Seeking Blue/Kasaya Records, from his sophomore studio album Awake. It is the fourth single from the album.
Bahari is an American alt pop, electronic and dark pop musical duo, previously a trio, composed of Ruby Carr and Natalia Panzarella. Sidney Sartini left the band in 2018.
"Gold (Stupid Love)" is a song by Canadian producer and DJ Excision and American musician, DJ and producer Illenium, featuring American singer-songwriter Shallows. It was released on 17 July 2018 by Abel's record label Excision Music and was distributed by Caption Records.
Lennon Ray Louise Stella is a Canadian singer and actress. She portrayed Maddie Conrad on the musical-drama series Nashville (2012–2018). Before going solo in 2018, Stella performed with her sister as the duo Lennon & Maisy. Stella released her debut EP Love, Me in 2018. Her debut studio album Three. Two. One. was released in 2020.
"Good Things Fall Apart" is a song by American EDM producer Illenium and American singer-songwriter Jon Bellion. It was released on May 13, 2019, on Astralwerks, alongside its lyric video. It serves as the fourth single from Illenium's third studio album Ascend. It became Illenium's first top ten hit on the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart, peaking at number 4.
Annika Marie Wells is an American singer-songwriter from Sleepy Hollow, Marin County, California. Since moving to LA she has worked with BTS, The Jonas Brothers, Steve Aoki, PRETTYMUCH, ILLENIUM, Grey, Shawn Wasabi, Benjamin Ingrosso and others. She is a regular collaborator of Maggie Lindemann and AJ Mitchell and has worked with Hailee Steinfeld, The Chainsmokers, Whethan, Emily Warren, Social House, Lennon Stella, Kennedi, Sabrina Carpenter, Tove Styrke, Matoma, Freddy Wexler, and Jason Evigan.
"Takeaway" is a song by American production duo The Chainsmokers and American EDM musician Illenium, featuring Canadian singer Lennon Stella. It was released as a single on July 24, 2019, along with its music video, serving as the fifth single from both artists' third studio albums World War Joy and Ascend, respectively. The single became The Chainsmokers' seventh, and both Illenium's and Stella's first, number one on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart in November 2019.
"Crashing" is a song by American DJ and producer Illenium featuring American musical duo Bahari. It was released on January 25, 2019, as the second single from Illenium's third studio album Ascend.
"In Your Arms" is a song by American DJ and producer Illenium and American rock band X Ambassadors. It was released on August 16, 2019, from his third studio album Ascend.
"Feel Something" is a single by American DJ Illenium, Canadian producer Excision and American metalcore band I Prevail. It was released on April 3, 2020 via Astralwerks.
We Are Fury is a Canadian DJ and music production duo consisting of Joachim Speidel and Stuart Brookes. Taking inspiration from the feeling their music gave them for their stage name, they are known for their remixes, singles, extended plays (EP), and debut album Duality. We Are Fury's music is primarily electronic dance music (EDM) and contains elements of subgenres such as melodic trap, future bass, midtempo, and melodic dubstep.
Dabin Lee, who goes by the mononymous stage name Dabin, is a Canadian musician, DJ, and record producer. He has released three albums, the first of which was nominated for the Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year in 2018. He has collaborated with major EDM artists including Illenium, Said the Sky, Seven Lions and Slander.
