Behind the Light is the second studio album by American recording artist Phillip Phillips. It was released on May 16, 2014, by Interscope Records.

Background The album was produced by Gregg Wattenberg, Dereck Fuhrmann, and Phillip Phillips, and was recorded in New York City. Phillips discussed the concept of the album at the Billboard Music Awards red carpet: "It's so much more mature; I got to spend some more time on it. It's a little more on the rock side, which is me and how I represent it when I play live... I wanted to keep it the same because they know how I like to write," the 23-year-old says. "We worked so well together. It's very organic and it's not getting all these writers to come in [and say], 'We need a big pop song.' That's not how it is. It's an album as a whole, not just singles." - Phillip Phillips

Release and promotion Both Standard and Deluxe Editions became available on May 19, 2014.

Singles "Raging Fire", the lead single was released on March 3, 2014. The song speaks about "the power of love" and as described by Phillips "it's just a song wanting to feel those butterflies, you know you love and you know the first time you kissed that person" he says in an interview with Access Hollywood. The song was later solicited to Adult Album Alternative radio on March 17, 2014. The song received critical acclaim by music critics who praised Phillips vocals. He performed the song live on various TV shows, including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, American Idol and on Conan. Phillips also performed on Good Morning America on May 20 and on Today on June 27 and he returned to the PBS Independence Day celebration TV special, A Capitol Fourth.https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1199261010091725 The music video for "Raging Fire" premiered on Vevo on April 10. Before its release, Phillips stated that he and his writers just wrote the song a week prior to the release. The song was featured in the National Hockey League's Playoffs. Phillips received his first BMI pop music song writing award for "Raging Fire".

On April 22, "Fly" was released as a promotional single.

The second single from the album is "Unpack Your Heart". The song was featured in a TV commercial for Ram 1500 trucks, which premiered at the American Music Awards of 2014.

Critical reception

Behind the Light received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album three stars out of five, saying that "Perhaps Phillips has yet to find his distinctive voice, but there's no question he can color within the lines exceedingly well." Brian Mansfield of USA Today rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that "Phillips may not have a Home-style hit here, but does have the consistency and confidence that come with steady performing." At The Oakland Press, Gary Graff rated the album two-and-a-half stars out of four, stating that Phillips' deserved some "Props, then, for incremental growth, and respect for a more genuinely organic grounding than most of his 'Idol' brethren." Glenn Gamboa of Newsday graded the album a B, saying that "Phillip Phillips takes a giant leap forward on his sophomore album". At Billboard, Shirley Halprin gave the album a positive review, writing how "'Behind the Light' feels more like a collection of big singles as opposed to a coherent album, with ebbs and flows" on which Phillips "mostly adheres to a strict formula: acoustic-based melodies accented by strings, building up to a huge hook and back again." Chuck Campbell of Knoxville News Sentinel rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, stating that "His lyrics may be tortured at times, but sometimes he nails it".

Commercial performance The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 7 with sales of 41,000 units in the U.S. The album has sold 123,000 copies in the U.S. as of December 2014.

Track listing The track listing was announced April 22, 2014.

Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic.

Phillip Phillips – Guitar, producer, vocals John Alicastro – Background vocals Randy Andros – Trombone Dallin Applebaum – Background vocals Keith Armstrong – Mixing assistant Carrie Q. Brown – Background vocals Rob Carmichael – Art direction, design Todd Clark – Background vocals Errol Cooney – Guitar Jack Daley – Bass Michael Davis – Trombone Ian Discoll – Background vocals, engineer Dave Egger – Cello, soloist, string arrangement Mark Endert – Mixing Derek Fuhrmann – Background vocals, drum programming, guitar, keyboards, piano producer Jon Green – Piano engineer, vocal engineer David Ryan Harris – Drum programming James Hynes – Trumpet Katie Jacoby – Violin Ted Jensen – Mastering Doug Johnson – Mixing assistant Jeff Juliano – Mixing Anthony Kadleck – Trumpet Marris Kainuma – Tuba Nik Kainuma – Mixing assistant Ryan Keberle – Trombone Adam Krauthamer – French horn Katie Kresek – String arrangement, violin Michael Lauri – Background vocals

Chad Lefkowitz-Brown – Tenor saxophone Ryan Lipman – Mixing assistant Chris Lord-Alge –Mixing David Mann – Saxophone Gabriel McMahon – Background vocals, percussion Elisabeth Mercante – background vocals Maxim Moston – Violin Trevor Neumon – Trumpet Gunnar Olsen – Drums Chuck Palmer – Percussion, string arrangements Victoria Paterson – Violin Shawn Pelton – Drums, percussion Ross Petersen – Engineer Robert Randolph – Pedal steel guitar Alycia Scott – Background vocals Lee Scurry – Producer Lenny Skolnik – Pro-tools vocals Robert "JJ" Smith Jr. – Bass Andy Snitzar – Horn arrangement, saxophone Bobby Sparks III – Keyboards Rod Steger – Keyboard engineer Meredith Strang – Background vocals Jason "JT" Thomas – Drums Jonathan Verti – Background vocals Nick Walker – Photography Gregg Wattenberg – Background vocals, guitar, producer Dana Wise – Background vocals Paul Woodiel – Violin Robin Zek – Violin Joe Zook – Mixing

Charts

Peak positions Chart Peakposition

Release history +List of release dates, showing region, label, format and edition(s) Region Date Format(s) Label Edition(s)AustraliaMay 16, 2014CD, digital downloadUniversal Music GroupStandard, DeluxeBrazilFranceItalyNetherlandsInterscope RecordsPolandUniversal Music GroupCanadaMay 19, 2014JapanUnited KingdomPolydor UKUnited StatesInterscope Records, 19GermanyMay 20, 2014Universal Music GroupIrelandJuly 25, 2014

References