Blue (iamamiwhoami album)

Blue
Studio album by iamamiwhoami
Released 7 November 2014
Recorded 2013–14
Genre
Length 51:32
Label To whom it may concern.
Director WAVE
Producer Claes Björklund
iamamiwhoami chronology

Bounty
(2013)		 Blue
(2014)
Singles from Blue
  1. "fountain"
    Released: 22 January 2014[1]
  2. "hunting for pearls"
    Released: 26 February 2014[2]
  3. "vista"
    Released: 28 April 2014[3]
  4. "tap your glass"
    Released: 12 August 2014[4]
  5. "blue blue"
    Released: 5 September 2014[5]
  6. "thin"
    Released: 2 October 2014[6]
  7. "chasing kites"
    Released: 2 October 2014[7]
  8. "ripple"
    Released: 18 November 2014
  9. "the last dancer"
    Released: 4 December 2014
  10. "shadowshow"
    Released: 22 December 2014

Blue (stylised as BLUE) is the third studio album by Swedish audiovisual project iamamiwhoami, led by singer-songwriter Jonna Lee. It was released on 7 November 2014. The album was announced on 8 July 2014 through a trailer on YouTube, and on the same day, it was made available for pre-order on Lee's label To whom it may concern.[8][9] Blue is musically produced by Claes Björklund and visually directed by Swedish collective WAVE (Lee, John Strandh and Agustin Moreaux), with costume design by Mathieu Mirano.

Release

Limited CD and 12-inch vinyl LP editions of Blue, as well as a CD and LP bundle, were made exclusively available via To whom it may concern.'s official online shop on 10 November 2014. All three editions include a 48-page book with lyrics and the Blue photo series.[10][11][12]

An exclusive digital edition of the album, titled Blue island, was released on 10 November 2014, taking the form of a website.[13] Created by To whom it may concern. in collaboration with creators of the iamamiwhoami fansite iambountyfan,[13] the Blue island website and community home allows fans to either download or stream all parts of the album in high resolution (including audio, films, moving and still image series, and lyrics), as well as share the album's content with other users.[14][15] A visitors' pass was also made available, giving fans streaming access only.[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 73/100[17]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [18]
DIY [19]
Loud and Quiet 5/10[20]
musicOMH [21]
NME 7/10[22]
Nothing but Hope and Passion 3.1/5[23]
Pitchfork Media 6.1/10.0[24]
PopMatters 8/10[25]
Uncut 6/10[26]

Blue received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on ten reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[17] Evan Sawdey of PopMatters opined that Blue "isn't only the most satisfying record in the collective's discography; it's also one of the best albums released this year."[25] Heather Phares of AllMusic concluded, "In its own way, this album might be Lee and Björklund's most balanced and unified work yet; it's certainly a confident journey into uncharted waters for the duo."[18] Leonie Cooper of the NME wrote, "At times [...] it feels like Lee has overdosed on the Drive soundtrack. Ultimately though, sensitivity outweighs '80s cliché."[22] Alex Jeffery of musicOMH viewed that "while Blue‍ '​s electropop soundscapes are hardly a great move forwards from their first two projects, there are genuinely majestic emotional moments to savour here."[21] El Hunt of DIY noted that "BLUE‍ '​s watery explorations demonstrate an intriguing new facet to the project, but it might well come at the expense of the fearsome impact that earlier releases packed in the shedload."[19]

Pitchfork Media's Sasha Geffen expressed that the album "encloses [Lee] in a space where she's far too safe", describing the song "thin" as "a rare moment of intrigue on an album that's generous in its beauty while leaving little to wonder about, a sky that never rains."[24] Miriam Wallbaum of Nothing but Hope and Passion praised Blue as "an elaborated total work of art, consisting of strong videos and harmonious pop-melodies", but suggested that "the music doesn't work on its own: leaving out the visuality, the record is only another ordinary standard pop album."[23] Chris Watkeys of Loud and Quiet concurred, commenting on how "[t]he visual aspect of the project is so superbly expressive that it feels churlish to denounce something so brave, ambitious, and visually compelling, but the music does need to stand up by itself, and it only occasionally does so".[20] At Uncut, Graeme Thomson felt that "between their 2012 debut, Kin, and their latest, Blue, the Stockholm duo have lost some of their Fever Ray-like ability to surprise and unsettle. Stripped of the visual element, what remains here is sparkling Nordic synth-pop, uplifting and accessible, but increasingly conventional."[26]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jonna Lee and Claes Björklund. 

Standard digital edition[27][28]
No. Title Length
1. "fountain"   6:00
2. "hunting for pearls"   5:16
3. "vista"   5:04
4. "tap your glass"   5:14
5. "blue blue"   5:27
6. "thin"   5:33
7. "chasing kites"   5:11
8. "ripple"   3:35
9. "the last dancer"   4:48
10. "shadowshow"   5:24
Total length:
 51:32

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Blue.[29]

  • Jonna Lee – executive music and visual production, instruments, lyrics, mixing, music, vocals
  • Claes Björklund – instruments, mixing, music, music production, vocals
  • Klara Bjärkstedt – additional costume
  • D-E-F – management
  • Eric Härle – management
  • Chris Higham – technical film team
  • Beatrice Johansson – visual production coordination
  • Viktor Kumlin – technical film team
  • Mathieu Mirano – costume
  • Agustin Moreaux – additional costume
  • Björn Olin – technical film team
  • Jan Scharlau – artwork, graphic design
  • Dan Smith – mastering
  • John Strandh – cinematography, still photography
  • WAVE – post-production, visual material directors

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Australia 7 November 2014 Digital download To whom it may concern. [30]
Germany [31]
Ireland [32]
France 10 November 2014 [33]
United Kingdom [28]
Worldwide
  • CD
  • LP
  • CD + LP
  • Blue island digital download
    (exclusively available via To whom it may concern.)
 [10][11][12]
United States 11 November 2014 Digital download [34]
Sweden 12 November 2014 [35]

References

  1. ↑ "Fountain: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Hunting for Pearls: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Vista: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Tap Your Glass: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Blue Blue: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Thin: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Chasing Kites: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  8. ↑ O'Mance, Brad (8 July 2014). "iamamiwhoami's new album 'BLUE' will be out in November". Popjustice. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  9. ↑ Price, Joe (11 July 2014). "Watch the Trailer for iamamiwhoami's Audiovisual Album "BLUE"". Pigeons & Planes. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "iamamiwhoami; BLUE (CD + Book) Ltd edition". To whom it may concern. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "iamamiwhoami; BLUE (LP + Book) Ltd edition". To whom it may concern. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "iamamiwhoami; BLUE (CD/LP Bundle) Ltd edition". To whom it may concern. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "We now open "the BLUE island", the digital edition...". To whom it may concern. Tumblr. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "the BLUE island". To whom it may concern. Tumblr. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "iamamiwhoami; BLUE island (digital edition)". To whom it may concern. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Now available in our SHOP: BLUE island visitors...". To whom it may concern. Tumblr. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Reviews for Blue by Iamamiwhoami". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Phares, Heather. "Blue – iamamiwhoami". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Hunt, El (12 November 2014). "iamamiwhoami – Blue Album Review". DIY. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Watkeys, Chris (November 2014). "Blue by iamamiwhoami". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Jeffery, Alex (10 November 2014). "iamamiwhoami – Blue". musicOMH. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Cooper, Leonie (17 November 2014). "iamamiwhoami – 'Blue'". NME. Inspire. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Wallbaum, Miriam (10 November 2014). "Iamamiwhoami – 'Blue'". Nothing but Hope and Passion. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Geffen, Sasha (17 November 2014). "iamamiwhoami: BLUE". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Sawdey, Evan (14 November 2014). "iamamiwhoami: blue". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Thomson, Graeme (December 2014). "New Albums". Uncut (211): 77.
  27. ↑ "Blue by iamamiwhoami". iTunes Store (SE). Apple. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Blue: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  29. ↑ Blue (CD liner notes). iamamiwhoami. To whom it may concern. 2003. TWIMC004CD.
  30. ↑ "Blue by iamamiwhoami". zdigital (AU). Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  31. ↑ "Blue: Iamamiwhoami: MP3-Downloads" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  32. ↑ "Blue by iamamiwhoami". 7digital (IE). Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  33. ↑ "Blue: Iamamiwhoami: Téléchargements MP3" (in French). Amazon.fr. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  34. ↑ "Blue: Iamamiwhoami: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  35. ↑ "Blue by iamamiwhoami". 7digital (SE). Retrieved 3 December 2014.