If You Wait
2013 studio album by London Grammar
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If You Wait is the debut studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar, released on 6 September 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings and Ministry of Sound. Seven singles were released from the album: "Metal & Dust", "Wasting My Young Years", "Strong", "Nightcall", "Hey Now", "Sights" and "If You Wait". The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 33,130 copies.
- State of the Ark (Richmond, London)
- Sofa Sound (London)[a]
- Smecky (Prague)[b]
| If You Wait | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 6 September 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2012–2013 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:22 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | ||||
| London Grammar chronology | ||||
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| Singles from If You Wait | ||||
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Background
After signing with Ministry of Sound and Big Life Management, the band began the first sessions of the album in early 2012 with Cam Blackwood. Later that year he was replaced by Tim Bran and Roy Kerr. Hannah Reid commented on the collaboration, saying, "Tim is amazing at recording, of finding the best way of recording a guitar or my vocal. Roy had the strongest relationship with Dot and they worked on production together."[6]
The album's lyrics are mainly based upon vocalist Hannah Reid's personal life, in particular her troubled teenage years,[7] prompting The Guardian to suggest that this was "the first quarter-life-crisis album."[7]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 6.9/10[8] |
| Metacritic | 75/100[9] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [10] |
| Consequence of Sound | [11] |
| The Guardian | [12] |
| The Independent | [13] |
| Mixmag | 4/5[14] |
| NME | 7/10[15] |
| The Observer | [16] |
| Pitchfork | 7.1/10[17] |
| PopMatters | 9/10[18] |
| Q | [19] |
If You Wait received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 19 reviews.[9]
Andy Gill of The Independent summarised the album's production and instrumentation as "all beautifully sketched to evoke the crepuscular intimacies of the songs."[13]
A large quantity of praise went to the vocal ability of Reid, whose husky contralto vocals have been described as "defining and soulful" by Clash magazine[20] and "emotive" and "folky" by Drowned in Sound.[3] Her voice has been compared to artists like Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine,[21] Annie Lennox,[13][22] and Julee Cruise.[13] Benji Taylor of Pretty Much Amazing wrote a favourable review of the album, calling it "an enthralling, stunning, deeply emotive album that perfectly marries understated electronica to sublime vocals and melodies." Vocalist Hannah Reid's voice was particularly praised: "underscored by an enduring brittle beauty and an underlying otherworldliness, as if she honed her craft singing amidst the gardens of Lothlorien, or some far-flung corner of Westeros."[1]
Commercial performance
If You Wait entered the UK Albums Chart at number two, selling 33,130 copies in its first week.[23] As of June 2017, it had sold 642,301 copies in the United Kingdom.[24] In the United States, the album debuted at number 91 on the Billboard 200 with 4,000 copies sold.[25]
Track listing
All tracks produced by Tim Bran, Roy Kerr and London Grammar, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hey Now" | Hannah Reid |
| 3:27 |
| 2. | "Stay Awake" | Reid |
| 3:05 |
| 3. | "Shyer" | Reid |
| 3:07 |
| 4. | "Wasting My Young Years" | Reid | Reid | 3:24 |
| 5. | "Sights" | Reid |
| 4:13 |
| 6. | "Strong" | Reid |
| 4:35 |
| 7. | "Nightcall" |
| 4:30 | |
| 8. | "Metal & Dust" | Reid |
| 3:28 |
| 9. | "Interlude" (live) | Reid | Reid | 4:04 |
| 10. | "Flickers" |
|
| 4:45 |
| 11. | "If You Wait" | Reid | Reid | 4:44 |
| Total length: | 43:22 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "High Life" | Reid |
| 4:03 | |
| 13. | "Maybe" | Reid |
| 4:23 | |
| 14. | "Strong" (US radio edit) | Reid |
|
| 4:10 |
| Total length: | 55:58 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Help" | Reid |
| 3:53 | |
| 13. | "Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me" | Reid |
|
| 3:02 |
| 14. | "High Life" | Reid |
| 4:03 | |
| 15. | "Maybe" | Reid |
| 4:23 | |
| 16. | "When We Were Young" | Reid |
| 3:06 | |
| 17. | "Feelings" | 3:46 | |||
| 18. | "Everywhere You Go" | 3:42 | |||
| Total length: | 69:17 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Help" | Reid |
| 3:53 | |
| 2. | "Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me" | Reid |
|
| 3:02 |
| 3. | "Help Me Lose My Mind" (Disclosure featuring London Grammar) | Reid | Disclosure | 4:06 | |
| 4. | "High Life" | Reid |
| 4:03 | |
| 5. | "Maybe" | Reid |
| 4:23 | |
| 6. | "When We Were Young" | Reid |
| 3:06 | |
| Total length: | 22:33 | ||||
Notes
- ^[a] signifies a co-producer
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of If You Wait.[31]
London Grammar
- Hannah Reid
- Daniel Rothman
- Dot Major
Additional musicians
- Tim Bran – additional programming (all tracks); additional keyboards (tracks 4, 7)
- Roy Kerr – additional programming
- Dot Major – additional programming (tracks 4, 7)
- Wil Malone – string arrangements, string conducting (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
- Tony Stanton – strings preparation (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
- City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra – strings (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
Technical
- Tim Bran – production
- Roy Kerr – production
- London Grammar – production
- Manon Grandjean – engineering
- Ben Siegal – engineering (tracks 3, 8, 10, 11); vocal recording, piano recording (track 11)
- Jan Holzner – string recording (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
- James Fitzpatrick – orchestra contractor (tracks 4, 5, 8, 11)
- Kevin "KD" Davis – mixing
- Tom Coyne – mastering
Artwork
- Mat Maitland – art direction
- Markus Karlsson – art direction
- Lee Kirby – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[70] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
| Belgium (BRMA)[71] | Platinum | 30,000* |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[72] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
| Germany (BVMI)[73] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[74] | 2× Platinum | 642,301[24] |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format | Edition | Label | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 6 September 2013 |
|
Dew Process | [75][76][77][78] | |
| LP | Standard | [79] | |||
| France | 9 September 2013 | CD | Because | [80] | |
| United Kingdom |
|
|
|
[81][82][83][84] | |
| LP | Standard | [85] | |||
| United States | 10 September 2013 | Digital download | Columbia | [86] | |
| Germany | 11 October 2013 | Deluxe | [87] | ||
| 15 November 2013 | CD |
|
Island | [88][89] | |
| United States | 25 March 2014 | US standard | Columbia | [90] | |
| Digital download | US deluxe | [27] | |||
| 1 April 2014 | LP | US standard | [91] | ||
| France | 28 April 2014 | LP + CD |
|
Because | [92] |
| Japan | 18 June 2014 |
|
Japan standard | Universal | [28][93] |
| France | 24 November 2014 | CD | Collector's | Because | [30] |