A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat (stylized as a girl a bottle a boat) is the tenth studio album by American rock band Train, released on January 27, 2017, through Columbia Records. It is the band's first album without guitarist and founding member Jimmy Stafford (whose departure makes vocalist Pat Monahan the last original member to remain), as well as their last with drummer Drew Shoals.
Background The first single "Play That Song" was released on September 29, 2016. To promote the lead single, they were featured at a Holiday Jam concert for New York City's local radio station WNEW-FM (also known as Fresh 102.7) at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan.
Promotion The band promoted the album on the Play That Song Tour, which ran from May 12, 2017 to July 15, 2017 in the United States. The tour then continued overseas, beginning with Germany on October 12, 2017 and October 13, 2017, shortly followed by the United Kingdom from October 16, 2017 to October 23, 2017, along with the Netherlands and Ireland later in October 2017.
Critical reception
Since its release, A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat has received mixed reviews among critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album a positive review, claiming that A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat is "an exuberant album, a celebration of everything that makes Train such a corny band. The hooks are big, the production is so glossy that it shines, and it's so cheerful it's bound to irritate anybody who isn't on the band's wavelength. If you're with them, though, a girl a bottle a boat is a good time because of its eagerness to please."
Commercial performance The album debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on its first week of release, making it Train's sixth album to chart in the top 10. It sold 30,000 copies in the United States in its first week. It also debuted at No. 5 for Australian Albums (ARIA) and at No. 13 for UK Albums (OCC).
Track listing
Notes signifies an additional producer "Lottery" contains a sample of "Volcano Song" by the Budos Band. "Silver Dollar" contains a sample of "Some of These Days", written by Shelton Brooks and performed by Cab Calloway.
Personnel Train Pat Monahan – lead vocals Jerry Becker – keyboards, guitar Hector Maldonado – bass Drew Shoals – drums Luis Maldonado – guitar
Additional musicians Jake Sinclair – guitar, bass, percussion, keyboards, background vocals William Wiik Larsen – guitar, bass, percussion, keyboards, programming Neff-U – keyboards Max Schneider – vocals Ilsey Juber – vocals Suzy Shinn – vocals
Technical Mike Endert – mixing Ted Jensen – mastering Doug Johnson – mixing assistance Suzy Shinn – engineering (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9) Taylor Carroll – engineering (tracks 2, 11) Celso Estrada – engineering (track 3) William Larsen – engineering (tracks 5, 7, 10)
Visuals Brendan Walter – photography Jade Ehlers – photography
Charts +Weekly chart performance for A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat Chart (2017) Peak position New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ) 2
References