| Phrazes for the Young | ||
|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Julian Casablancas | ||
| Released | October 30, 2009 | |
| Genre | Alternative rock, electronic, new wave, synthpop | |
| Length | 39:49 | |
| Label | Rough Trade (UK) Cult Records via RCA (US & Europe) |
|
| Producer | Jason Lader | |
| Singles from Phrazes for the Young | ||
|
||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| The Guardian | [2] |
| musicOMH | [3] |
| NME | (8/10)[4] |
| NOW Magazine | [5] |
| Pitchfork Media | (5.5/10)[6] |
| PopMatters | (8/10)[7] |
| Rolling Stone | [8] |
| Spin | [9] |
| The Times | [10] |
| Uncut | [11] |
Phrazes for the Young is the debut solo album by American songwriter Julian Casablancas, released on November 2, 2009 in the UK and November 3 in the US. Casablancas, who is best known for being the front man of New York rock band The Strokes, recorded the eight-song album in 2009 in New York, Los Angeles, and Nebraska. Jason Lader served as producer, and Bright Eyes/Monsters of Folk musician Mike Mogis contributed additional production.[12] The album title is a reference to Oscar Wilde's "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young".[13] Casablancas' dog, Balki, is pictured on the album sleeve.[14]
The album was previewed in its entirety on August 31, 2009 at the Duo Music Exchange in Tokyo, Japan.[15] To celebrate the release, Casablancas played a special series of shows every Friday night in November in Los Angeles. The first track released from the album, "11th Dimension", had its first airing on the Radio 1 Zane Lowe Show on September 17, and was marked as Zane Lowe's Hottest Record. The single was released on October 2, 2009 in the US.[16]
Julian performed "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" (based on a Saturday Night Live skit) on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on December 21, 2009. "Left & Right in the Dark", "Out of the Blue", "Ludlow St" and "11th Dimension" are featured on Gossip Girl episode "The Lady Vanished". "Out of the Blue" is featured on the trailer of The Kids Are All Right.
Contents |
A deluxe box set including b-sides and home recordings was made available after the album's release. It comes with a vinyl recording of the album and is housed within an antique style box.
The album debuted at #35 in the US Billboard top 200 (#11 in digital albums chart) and #19 on the UK Charts.
All songs written by Julian Casablancas, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Out of the Blue" | 4:43 |
| 2. | "Left & Right in the Dark" | 4:58 |
| 3. | "11th Dimension" | 4:05 |
| 4. | "4 Chords of the Apocalypse" (Casablancas, Fabrizio Moretti) | 5:02 |
| 5. | "Ludlow St." | 5:45 |
| 6. | "River of Brakelights" | 5:13 |
| 7. | "Glass" | 5:20 |
| 8. | "Tourist" (Casablancas, JP Bowersock) | 5:02 |
| iTunes bonus tracks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 9. | "Old Hollywood" | 4:33 | |||||||
| 10. | "30 Minute Boyfriend" | 3:31 | |||||||
| 11. | "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" | 3:11 | |||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
