Horizons (Kris Allen album)

Horizons
Studio album by Kris Allen
Released August 12, 2014
Recorded 2014
Genre Pop, pop rock, indie pop
Label DogBear Records, +180 Records
Producer Charlie Peacock
Kris Allen chronology

Waiting for Christmas
(2012)
Horizons
(2014)
Singles from Horizons
  1. "Prove It to You"
    Released: July 7, 2014
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Rate Your Music [1]

Horizons is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Kris Allen. It was released on August 12, 2014, by Allen's independent label, DogBear Records. Allen also organized a Stageit show as a release party for the record where he performed the full album set and also a song called Unique. A portion of the proceeds from the album go to benefit Music Empowers Foundation.[2][3]

Background

Allen was dropped by RCA Records in 2012, after releasing two albums - Kris Allen (2009) and Thank You Camellia (2012) - through the label.[4] He released Horizons independently through his own label, DogBear Records.[5]

As a result of an accident which broke his wrist, Allen had to change his approach to music making for this album, in particular he began to use a finger-picking style of guitar playing. According to Allen, "it’s a different way to play and some of those songs were written when my hand was in a cast so all I had was my fingers. I think it made me a bit more melodic than just strumming a bunch of chords."[5] He sought out the producer Charlie Peacock to produce his album. Peacock introduced Allen to a number of people, including Lenachka with whom he recorded "Prove It to You".[6] "Prove It to You" was released as the lead single from the album on July 7, 2014.[7]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 80 with 4,000 copies sold for the week in the US.[8]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Young Love ("Paul Simon")"  Kris Allen, Cale Mills, Chris Torres 3:26
2. "Prove It to You" (feat. Lenachka)Allen, Cindy Morgan 3:34
3. "Beautiful & Wild"  Allen, Chris Lindsey 3:50
4. "In Time"  Allen, Mike Donehey, Charlie Peacock 3:27
5. "Lost"  Allen, K.S. Rhoads 3:18
6. "Don't Set Me Free"  Allen, Sam Ashworth 3:32
7. "Everybody Just Wants to Dance"  Allen 3:08
8. "Parachute"  Allen, April Geesbreght 3:17
9. "It's Always You"  Allen, Adam Hambrick 4:01
10. "Girl Across the Room[9][10]"  Allen 3:32

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[11] 80
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[12] 10

Personnel

  • Kris Allen — Acoustic guitar, beat box, electric guitar, primary artist, vocals
  • Sam Ashworth — Clapping, engineer, percussion, stomping, vocals
  • Richie Biggs — Engineer, mastering, mixing
  • CP — Engineer
  • Richard Dodd — Mastering
  • Cody Fry — Programming, vocals
  • Mark Hill — Bass
  • Evan Hutchings — Drums

  • Andy Leftwich — Fiddle, mandolin
  • Ken Lewis — Percussion
  • Brenton Little — Design, Photography
  • Andrew St. Marie — Piano
  • Jerry McPherson — Electric guitar
  • Charlie Peacock — Keyboards, percussion, piano, producer, programming
  • K.S. Rhoads — Piano
  • James Sweeting — Clapping, engineer, production coordination, programming, stomping

Release dates

Country Date Label Formats
United States[13] August 12, 2014 DogBear Records CD, digital download
Germany[14]

References

  1. "Horizons". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  2. ""American Idol" Kris Allen to Donate a Portion of "Horizons" Album Proceeds". Artist Direct. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  3. "Sales Of New Kris Allen Album, "Horizons" To Benefit Music Empowers Foundation". PR Newswire. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  4. Shirley Halperin (September 19, 2012). "'American Idol' Kris Allen and RCA Records Part Ways (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Michele Amabile Angermiller (August 12, 2014). "'American Idol' Champ Kris Allen Opens Up About New Album; Remembers Michael Johns". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  6. Lyndsey Parker (August 4, 2014). "Kris Allen Extends His 'Horizons' to Yahoo: See Him Perform!". Yahoo! Music.
  7. Lyndsey Parker. "Kris Allen Premieres Lyric Video for 'Prove It to You'". Rolling Stone.
  8. Keith Caulfield (August 22, 2014). "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: 'Idol' Hits New Low". Billboard.
  9. "Kris Allen Details Horizons with cover, tracklist, & Snippets". Celebrity Bug. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  10. "Horizons - Kris Allen". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  11. "Kris Allen Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Kris Allen. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  12. "Kris Allen Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Independent Albums for Kris Allen. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  13. "Horizons". iTunes. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  14. "Horizons". German iTunes. Retrieved August 7, 2014.

External links