Like It Like That (album)

Like It Like That is the fifth studio album by Australian singer Guy Sebastian. The album was produced by David Ryan Harris and Fredrik Odesjo and was released in Australia on 23 October 2009 and in the US on 29 June 2010.Like It Like That. Sanity Music. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012.. popdirt.com. Archived from on 21 January 2012. The album contains a duet with Jordin Sparks, and also three tracks with John Mayer on guitar and backing vocals.Dennehy, Luke (30 November 2008). . Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.Davies, Rebecca (23 October 2009). Sebastian, Sparks record duet in NYC. Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. It peaked at number six on the ARIA Albums Chart and gained platinum certification.Like It Like That in the ARIA Charts. Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012.ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Albums.Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. The title track "Like It Like That" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart, and achieved 5× platinum certification.Like It Like That the single in the ARIA Charts. Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012.<ref name=ARIA23></ref> "Art of Love" was also a top ten single, spending five months in the ARIA top 50 and double platinum certification.Art Of Love in the ARIA Charts. Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. In 2010 Sebastian received six ARIA Music Award nominations for the album and two of its singles.ARIA Nominations. ariawards.com.au. 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.ARIA Awards History by Artist. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012.

Writing and development Like It Like That is an album of original soul music influenced by Sebastian's previous album, The Memphis Album, which was a covers album of Memphis soul songs recorded with members of The MGs including Steve Cropper in Memphis in 2007.Sebastian, Guy (29 August 2007). . Sunday Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Sebastian and Cropper remained friends, and Sebastian made several songwriting trips to Nashville in mid-2008, staying with the Croppers on these trips.Cashmere, Paul (21 April 2008). . undercover.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.. news.com.au. 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Sebastian said in an interview with The Age in October 2009, "The most comfortable I've ever felt in the studio was during The Memphis Album. And the success of that prompted me to make a record like this one."Like him like that. The Age. 18 October 2009. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Five of the songs on Like It Like That were co-written with the album's producer David Ryan Harris, four were written entirely by Sebastian himself, and three were co-written with other writers. He later said, "I wrote the music on this album based on how I feel when I listen to the Otis Reddings and the Wilson Picketts of the world. I'll put that music on and it always just lifts me and makes me feel great."Guy Sebastian Biography. getmusic.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012.

In late 2008 Sebastian again travelled to the US to record some of the tracks with members of John Mayer's band. Mayer was invited to the recording sessions to put a guitar solo on one track, but stayed to contribute guitar and backing vocals on four songs. One of these songs was not included on the album. The three which are on the album are "All to Myself", "Failed to Mention" and "Never Be You". The album's second single "Art of Love" is a ballad co-written by Sebastian and Adam Rielly. It was written as a duet, but Sebastian was unable to find a singer in Australia to record it with. He had also submitted the track to Jordin Sparks, and shortly before the album was due to be released Sparks agreed to sing on the track. Sebastian flew to Los Angeles to record her vocals and later returned to film the video with her. The final track on the album, "Perfection", was written by Sebastian as a tribute to his wife Jules, and was sung by him at their wedding. He was not going to release it originally, but was persuaded by friends and family to add it to the album.

Sebastian said in an interview in late 2009 that the songs for the album originally had a much more organic old school sound, as his US record company had wanted the album to have a similar sound to The Memphis Album. He said he didn't feel that was right for the Australian market, "I ended up with a new record of original songs that didn't have quite the right production, like it all sounded quite old school, it didn't really have a modern edge to it. I ended up going back and reproducing everything which was quite a nightmare. I mean "Like It Like That" for example was really old school, like real drums, real organic, so we reproduced that and we got it to sound a little more modern, in your face I guess, the way it is now and we did that with a lot of the tracks so yeah, it was a bit of a nightmare getting to the final product".The Yes interview. yesdating.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Sebastian said he felt he was exactly where he wanted to be creatively with this album: "I'm in a really happy place musically, because this is exactly the style of music I want to do and that I've wanted to do for so long. It's not about me changing the world; it's just about fun music – pure and simple. Music is so powerful. It's powerful enough on a personal level, without me trying to change the world."

Release and promotion "Like It Like That", the lead single and album title track, was released to radio in July 2009. It was the number one played song on Australian radio for five weeks.. aumreport.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2012 Sebastian performed the song on the Grand Final of the Seven Network's Dancing with the Stars in August 2009, and "Like It Like That" was used extensively by the network for their program promotions from August 2009 through to early 2010.. au.tv.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2009.. Retrieved 29 January 2012. The album was released on 23 October 2009. During the release week Sebastian made instore promotional appearances in New South Wales and South Australia which drew large crowds.Gilbertson, Matt (25 October 2011). Guy Sebastian muscles up to Adelaide fans at Tea Tree Plaza. Adelaide Now. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012.Sivric, Helena (5 November 2009). . Liverpool Leader. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. The second single "Art of Love" was released in November 2009. Sparks was meant to come to Australia to perform the song with Sebastian at the Australian Idol Grand Final, but due to her being taken ill with acute appendicitis she was unable to make the trip.Shen, Maxine (20 November 2009). Latest celeb appendectomy. New York Post. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Sebastian performed the song alone using the video for Spark's vocal parts. They eventually performed the song together in July 2010 during her American Battlefield Tour.Jordin Sparks and Guy Sebastian sing ‘Art of Love’ Nokia Theater, LA. mjsbigblog.com. 10 July 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. During December 2009 and January 2010 Channel 7 used "Art of Love" for the summer promotion of their drama series Home and Away.. Retrieved 28 January 2012 Sebastian toured the capital cities in February 2010 and a did a regional tour in June and July 2010.Like It Like That Tour For 2010. Guy Sebastian official website. Retrieved 9 September 2009. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.The Bring Yourself Tour!. Guy Sebastian official website. 11 May 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. In June he was the featured performer for a Take 40 Live Lounge concert. He sang songs from the album as well as covers of some of his favourite artists.Live Clip: "Art of Love" (Guy Sebastian). Soul 11 Music. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012.Guy Sebastian Impresses Fans At Take 40 Live Lounge . Take 40. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2012. The concert was screened on Channel Ten in July 2010.Watch Guy Sebastian's Live Lounge Performance On TV This Weekend! . Take 40 Australia. 17 July 2010. ARIA held five special concerts in the leadup to the ARIA Awards in November 2010 called the iTunes Live ARIA Awards Concert Series which were livestreamed on the internet and broadcast on Novafm. The genre category ARIA Awards were presented at these concerts. Sebastian was the headline act at one of the concerts.ARIA and iTunes unveil the 2010 Genre Awards at iTunes Live: ARIA Awards Concert Series 2010.Australian Recording Industry Association. 20 October 2010. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. He also performed at the main ARIA Awards event where he sang a gospel inspired reworking of "Like It Like That" with a choir as the closing performance.Molk, Steve (8 November 2010). 2010 ARIA Music Awards. molkstvtalk.com. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012.. Retrieved 29 January 2012

Singles "Like It Like That" peaked at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart. It spent 25 weeks in the Top 50, including 12 weeks in the top ten. It was the highest selling Australian artist song in Australia in 2009, and sixth highest seller overall.ARIA Charts Top 50 Australian Artist Singles 2009. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 23 January 2012.End Of Year Charts Top 100 singles 2009. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. In January 2010 ARIA published a list of the highest selling songs of the previous decade. "Like It Like That" ranked number 29, the sixth highest entry for an Australian artist song, with Sebastian's debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" named the highest selling song in Australia last decade.ARIA's End Of Decade Charts* (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 7 January 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. In 2023 "Like it Like That" reached 5× platinum certification.<ref name=ARIA23/> "Like It Like That" was also released in New Zealand in 2011, as the second single from Sebastian's retrospective album Twenty Ten. It peaked at number 30 and gained gold certification there.Guy Sebastian in the NZ charts. RIANZ Charts archives. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012.. RadioScope New Zealand. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012. "Art of Love" which features Jordin Sparks debuted at number 34 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It climbed for seven weeks before reaching its peak of number eight. "Art of Love" spent 21 weeks in the ARIA Top 50, including five weeks in the top ten, and gained double platinum certification. The song became Sebastian's first single to chart in New Zealand since 2004, peaking at number seven and gaining gold certification. "All to Myself" was released to radio in February 2010 and spent three months in the ARIA Top 100, peaking at number 51.The ARIA Report: Week commencing 24 May 2010. Pandora Archive. Retrieved 17 January 2012 "Never Hold You Down" was released to radio by the end of May 2010 and released digitally on 4 June 2010.

Critical reception The title track "Like It Like That" was named one of the best singles of the year by both Rave Magazine and The Music Network.Rave Magazine names Blood the best song of 2009. wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012.The Music Network Top 20 Singles Of The Year 2009. peergroupmedia.com. 7 January 2010. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012.