Daisy (Brand New album)

Daisy
Studio album by Brand New
Released	September 22, 2009 (2009-09-22)
Genre	Alternative rock, post-hardcore, noise rock
Length	40:47
Label	Interscope, DGC, Procrastinate! Music Traitors
Producer	Mike Sapone and Brand New
Brand New chronology
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (2006) Daisy (2009)
Singles from Daisy
"At the Bottom" Released: August 11, 2009 (2009-08-11)

Daisy is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Brand New, released September 22, 2009 on Interscope.^[1][2][3]

The album's first single, "At the Bottom," was released at the beginning of August 2009. The band toured the United States in support of the album in late 2009, and toured Australia in early 2010.

Production

The band worked in the studio with Mike Sapone, coming up with many of the albums tracks prior to recording—vocalist/guitarist Jesse Lacey stated in an interview with Spin that the band members conceive many of their song ideas on acoustic guitar, individually, before working on those ideas as a band during sound checks.

The opening music at the start of "Vices" and closing music at the end of "Noro" is "On Life's Highway," a gospel hymn written by Bertrand Brown. As Lacey remarked in an interview, "We've always been interested in putting strange things on the albums. We don't do it as much as we would like."^[4]

In an interview with Kerrang!, Jesse Lacey commented on the album's content: "It's a pretty exhausting record. It's quite dense and I think some of the decisions we made don't always go in the most obvious direction. We were thinking a lot more about what we'd want to play when we were up onstage rather than actually what you'd want to hear on a record."^[5]

Release and promotion

Brand New revealed in an interview with United Kingdom-based music magazine Rock Sound that they would not be talking to or promoting Daisy with any American media outlets. They also said they would be dealing with very few outlets internationally.^[6] On July 8, 2009, it was reported that the band had named their new album And One Head Can Never Die (typeset as "...and one head can never die") and that it would be released on September 21;^[7] not long after, the band announced that the album title had been changed to Daisy.^[2] The release of "At the Bottom" as the album's first single was also announced.^[8]

Spin magazine's website announced the track listing and displayed the album art for Daisy in August 2009.^[9] The first single from the renamed fourth studio album was released as a digital download on August 11, 2009, without a music video to accompany the release. The album was mixed by Dave Sardy with production by Mike Sapone.^[10][11][12]

In June 2009, UK music magazine Rock Sound claimed on their website that they had received a copy of the upcoming album, though it was, according to an image later posted by the editor, "incomplete."^[13] The site published a "tentative" track listing and reported the incomplete version that they had received to be roughly 30 minutes long.^[14][15]

On June 28, 2009, the band appeared at the Glastonbury Festival on the Other Stage, where they previewed "Bought a Bride" and "Gasoline." These songs were also previewed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals - with the performances being filmed by the BBC. The band, however, refused the BBC rights of use, denying the broadcasting of their live performance.^[6][16]

Lacey told Rock Sound that in regard to touring to promote Daisy: "I think we want to be at home more than ever before," with Vinnie Accardi adding: "We have become less ambitious about touring." Despite this, the band performed a single headlining date at Wembley Arena, in January 2010.^[6] It was their largest UK headline appearance to date.^[17][18] To coincide with the release of Daisy, the band embarked on a 34-date tour across the United States throughout all of October and November 2009. The tour also featured Thrice, Manchester Orchestra, Glassjaw and Crime In Stereo.^[19][20]

Brooklyn sessions

Over the summer of 2009, the band recorded various tracks from Daisy as well as their three previous albums, with each recording a reworked alternative to the original version. On September 11, 2009, the band's record label Interscope released a video featuring an acoustic, stripped-down version of "Sowing Season (Yeah)" with a small interview. Later, the band posted on their MySpace page that they were unhappy with the release of these videos, as the recordings were meant to have all been released together as a set: "We hoped that they would all come out as a set, with an explanation of what we did and how we did it. And it would give people insight into what we have been up to. Unfortunately...this did not happen."^[21] The videos were filmed in Brooklyn, New York by The apk with Daniel Navetta directing and producing. So far "Jesus" featuring Kevin Devine has been released as a video, along with "Sowing Season (Yeah)" and "Bought a Bride." The tracks were mixed by Mike Sapone. "At the Bottom" (Live in the Studio) is exclusive to iTunes, as was "Bed" (Live in the Studio) as a pre-order on iTunes only. "Bought a Bride" (Live in the Studio) is exclusive to Amazon.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	9/10[22]
Allmusic	[23]
Alternative Press	[24]
Kerrang!	[25]
NME	9/10[26]
Punknews	[27]
Rock Sound	9/10[28]
Rolling Stone	[29]
Spin	8/10[30]

Daisy received positive reviews from most music critics.^[31] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on twelve reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[31] Drew Beringer, staff reviewer for AbsolutePunk scored the album at 90%. He summarised in his article; "Brand New has created a record that will leave you exhausted. You’ll be worn out by the jarring tempo changes, confounded by the vague topics, and abused by Lacey’s prominent yell. Producer Mike Sapone does his best to help Brand New reach its darkest point, and Daisy is auditory proof, as this is the Long Island quintet’s most challenging and distinguished album yet. Some will love it, some will hate it, most will be perplexed by it and will need many listens to digest it. But one thing is certain, this is a record that will shake you".^[22] Andrew Leahey of Allmusic was less favourable, giving the album a three star rating. He was critical of the song structures by saying, "Drums, screams, and squelching guitars eventually gatecrash the piano recital, but the effect isn't jarring as much as it is familiar, a tell-tale sign of a band not quite ready to ditch its old habits". However, he also praised the experimental moments on the record; "Brand New may not be completely comfortable with the slow stuff, but Daisy's willingness to experiment is what makes the album so interesting, even as its furious rock songs struggle to pack a punch".^[23]

Alternative Press writer Scott Heisel was also slightly disappointed while awarding the album three and a half stars. He stated that "[I]t's entirely possible that the band simply wrote a good album this time around, not a great one."^[24] Dan Martin of NME was highly favourable in his review, describing Daisy as a "breathtakingly accomplished record". He awarded a score of 9/10 and also added that Brand New are now, "the most graceful rock band in America".^[26] Rock Sound also heaped praise upon the album, making comparisons to The Cure, The Smiths and Nirvana. Chris Hidden described the album as a more refined version of previous album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. He summarised by stating, "Brand New are now artistically unrivalled by their peers; it would be astonishing if they didn’t see where else they could go".^[28] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone was largely favourable in his review, awarding a 3 ¹⁄₂-star rating. He praised the band for not sticking to genre restraints; "The quartet's fourth album avoids genre commonplaces with subtle shadings. 'You tried to put a fire out, but you used gasoline' — and songs like the heroin-jag slow-burner "Bed" prove that letting rip isn't always Lacey's best move.^[29] Mikael Wood, journalist for Spin magazine awarded the album an eight out of ten rating. He particularly praised the moments of surprise throughout the album. "Jesse Lacey howls about burning in bed and turning to dirt while his bandmates churn out noisy, jagged art-punk riffs that routinely explode without warning. The sound is old-fashioned, but the fury is fresh".^[30]

Accolades

Track listing

All songs written by Brand New.^[36][37]

Personnel

The following people contributed to Daisy:^[36]

Chart performance

References