Glorious is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Foxes, originally due for release on 28 February 2014, but was pushed back to 12 May 2014, in favour of releasing the album simultaneously worldwide. The album is available in three versions: the standard album, a deluxe version and a limited edition vinyl.

Background and release After a spate of successful songs, appearing as a featured artist alongside Zedd, Fall Out Boy, Sub Focus and Rudimental as well as a successful single in "Youth", Foxes (Allen) showed intent at releasing a full album to steer away from the "featured artist" title. In an interview with Billboard, she stated the reason was "[...] Because I also have my music that's my baby." In an interview during the "Making of the Album" video featured on her VEVO page on YouTube, Allen calls the album "extremely personal", as well that its influence is from her childhood as well as growing up. She also claims the album is "me talking to myself", as music to her is a "form of therapy".

From the same video, Allen described her process for making the songs, in which she stated "I feel like the song already exists" and "I start with a big white piece of paper and I'll just write things I'm feeling [...] It kind of comes out of nowhere." The tracklist features several new songs, as well as two songs featured on her first EP Warrior (2012). The album was released on 12 May 2014, in both digital and physical formats. It has sold 83,009 copies to date in UK.

Promotion Although not classed as part of the promotion to the run up to Glorious, "Holding onto Heaven" was made available for free on iTunes during the month of December 2013. On 17 April 2014, Amazon Artist Lounge - EP was released to download from Amazon for free. It contains live versions of "Let Go for Tonight", "Youth" and "Holding onto Heaven".

Tour Foxes embarked on a 16-date tour in England, Scotland and Ireland, which started 24 February 2014 and ended on 24 May 2014.

Tour dates Date City Country Venue United Kingdom 24 February 2014 LiverpoolEngland East Village Arts Club 25 February 2014 Birmingham The Institute 26 February 2014 Glasgow Scotland King Tut's Wah Wah Hut 28 February 2014 OxfordEngland O2 Academy 1 March 2014 Nottingham Stealth 2 March 2014 Brighton The Haunt 4 March 2014 London Scala 6 March 2014 Leeds The Cockpit 7 March 2014 Bristol Thekla 8 March 2014 Manchester The Ruby Lounge Ireland 10 March 2014 Dublin Ireland O2 Academy 2 United Kingdom 19 May 2014 Portsmouth England The Wedgewood Rooms 20 May 2014 Brighton Concorde 2 21 May 2014 London Koko 23 May 2014 Sheffield Leadmill 24 May 2014 Edinburgh Scotland Potterrow

Singles "Youth" was released as the album's lead single on 6 September 2013. The song reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. "Let Go for Tonight" was released as the album's second single on 23 February 2014. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 7, becoming her highest-peaking single and first top 10 single. "Holding onto Heaven" was released as the album's third single on 4 May 2014. It debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 14. "Glorious" was confirmed to be the album's fourth single by Foxes, and it was released on 12 August 2014.

Other songs "Shaking Heads" was available to download alongside the pre-order of the album. The live version of "Clarity" was made available to download for free on the Amazon MP3 store.

Critical reception

Glorious received generally favourable reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 61, based on 8 reviews.

Rob Knaggs from Clash remarked that "Foxes has made a pop album that, despite occasionally drifting into melodrama, serves as an enjoyable listen stuffed with genuine pop-gems, sun-baked choruses and enough bite to warrant repeated listens." Writing for The Guardian, Paul MacInnes noted that "while the lyrics are too cloying and cliched to mean much, in conjunction with such a button-pushing soundtrack, they still carry the capacity to move." Laurence Day from The Line of Best Fit praised "Let Go for Tonight" for having "literally everything you want in massive single – the chorus, the hooks, the singalongability" and noted that Foxes "tends to deal with matters similar to Icona Pop", particularly those that are "centred around being youthful, frivolous and socially clumsy". In a review for AllMusic, Fred Thomas said that "while the infectiousness of singles like 'Youth' and 'Let Go for Tonight' is undeniable, so often artists like Foxes can't quite rise to the challenge of filling out an entire album's worth of solid material around a few hits" although also stating that "the album on the whole is wrapped in a unique atmosphere that somehow manages to be both darkly moody and carefree." Writing for Digital Spy, Lewis Corner commended the album, saying that it "strives to be celestial, booming and chart-worthy - and for the majority, it hits that mark" further noting "Let Go for Tonight" as the standout track "[resulting] in a magnificent centerpiece for Glorious; a stellar debut album that deserves to make Foxes a household name once and for all." Shefali Srivastava from DIY praised the title track's "huge, stunning chorus" and described Glorious as "sweeping, dramatic electro-pop" that balances light and dark with intention and power, adding that Foxes' days under the radar may be numbered.

Holly Williams from The Independent was less impressed, describing Glorious as a "summery package; glossily produced and personality free". Williams noted it sits in the overcrowded big-vocal dance-pop realm alongside Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Ellie Goulding, and Florence + The Machine, but "fails to make me either blub or buzz". Killian Fox of The Observer noted that "though the album is formulaic and polished, there is enough crackle in its dark, lustrous soundscapes and tales of nocturnal romance to intrigue – and Allen's voice has the power to match those booming drums." Alex Denney from NME noted similarities between "Youth" and "Talking to Ghosts" to the music of Bat for Lashes as well as comparing "Let Go for Tonight" to Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" and concluded the review stating that "Glorious is no failure". Writing for Financial Times, Ludovic Hunter-Tilney pointed out that Glorious is "designed for maximum exposure" and is "a big-screen production."

Track listing

Notes signifies an additional producer. "Talking to Ghosts" samples "Dr. Mabuse" performed by Propaganda and produced by Trevor Horn.

Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic.

Louisa Allen – primary artist, composer Iyiola Babalola – percussion, programming Tony Cousins – mastering Ralf Dörper – composer Steve Fitzmaurice – mixing, programming Future Cut – additional production Toby Gad – composer Ghostwriter – additional production, mixing, producer, programming Jonny Harris – bass, composer, drum programming, drums, instrumentation, piano, programming, synthesizer, background vocals Darren Heelis – bass guitar, Korg synthesizer, mixing assistant, programming Liz Horsman – assistant, programming Liam Howe – composer, engineer, mixing, producer Tom Hull – composer

Sam Kennedy – piano Darren Lewis – piano, programming Ben Mark – composer Paul McLean – cover photo Michael Mertens – composer Chad Pickard – cover photo Ben Preston – additional production Jarrad Rogers – bass, composer, drums, engineer, guitar, piano, producer, programming, Wurlitzer Jamie Snell – engineer Mike Spencer – additional production, bass, drums, bass guitar, keyboards, mixing, producer Andreas Thein – composer Matt Wiggins – Additional production Tim Young – mastering

Charts + Weekly chart performance for GloriousChart (2014) Peakposition US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) 27

Certifications

Release history RegionDateFormat(s)LabelRef.Australia 9 May 2014 Sony Germany Mexico12 May 2014Sign of the Times United Kingdom United States 23 June 2014 RCA

Notes

References