Unlocked (Alexandra Stan album)

Unlocked
Studio album by Alexandra Stan
Released	27 August 2014
Recorded	2013-14
Genre	Dance-pop Pop-rock Electropop[1]
Length	57:30
Language	English French Spanish
Label	Fonogram Roton Ego Yeni Dünya Victor Kontor Blanco y Negro
Producer	Prince Chrishan Alexandru Cotoi Mika Moupondo Ionuț Adrian Radu Erik Lidbom Lukas Hällgren Anton Kuhl Șerban Cazan Gabriel Huiban Victor Bourosu Andreas Schuller Sebastian Jacome
Alexandra Stan albums chronology
Saxobeats (2011) Unlocked (2014) Alesta (2016)
Singles from Unlocked
"Thanks for Leaving" Released: 28 April 2014 "Cherry Pop" Released: 28 May 2014 "Dance" Released: 18 July 2014 "Give Me Your Everything" Released: 20 August 2014 "Vanilla Chocolat" Released: 5 December 2014 "We Wanna" Released: 8 June 2015

Unlocked is the sophomore studio album recorded by Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan. It was made available for digital download on 27 August 2014 through Victor Entertainment as a follow-up to her internationally successful album, Saxobeats (2011). Stan collaborated with several record producers on this album, including Andreas Schuller, Sebastian Jacome, Chrishan Prince, Erik Lidbom and Gabriel Huiban. She also took part at the FonoCamp 2013, the first international songwriting camp held in Romania, where she further worked on material featured on this album. Unlocked premiered following a violent incident between Stan and her former manager, Marcel Prodan, which caused Stan's hiatus in 2013. The incident was based on Stan's asking for her revenues.

The music of Unlocked draws from the EDM and dance-pop styles of her previous material, while also incorporating different forms of instrumentation from her previous releases, such as Bhangra and Caucasian music in "Kiss Me Goodbye" and "Give Me Your Everything", respectively. Lyrically, the album approaches themes such as issuance, retrieval and a new beginning, while also speaking about Stan's ups and downs with her unidentified boyfriend. The record received generally positive reviews from music critics, with them praising its material for being "catchy" and "infectious". Unlocked also drew comparisons to the works of Britney Spears, Rihanna and Sia. Adictivoz pointed out Stan's noticeable "dose of sensitivity" and "passion" throughout the record.

Upon its release, Unlocked became majorly successful in Japan, where it achieved its peak position at number 21 on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart in its debut charting week and sold over 17,000 registered shipments. Six tracks from the album were released as singles, of which three ("Cherry Pop", "Dance" and "We Wanna") charted on the Japan Hot 100. "Dance" reached the top 10 in Turkey, while "We Wanna the top thirty in Argentina, Poland and Turkey, and the top sixty in Italy, Romania and Slovakia. For further promoting Unlocked, Stan toured in Russia, Mexico, Japan and Turkey during her Unlocked Tour, which ran throughout 2014.^[2]

Background and development

After releasing her debut album Saxobeats back in 2011, Stan started to work on new material for a new record with Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi, her long-time composers and managers.^[2] "Lemonade", "Cliché (Hush Hush)" and "All My People" were subsequently released worldwide and were intended for her then-untitled second studio album.^[2] The record was intended for release in September 2013; this did not happen, however, following a violent incident between Prodan and Stan.^[2] Stan accused Prodan of beating her up after she asked for her revenues.^[4][5][6][7] After her recovery, Stan was sued by Marcel Prodan for using his songs in her live performances without his permission.^[8] Stan won the copyright battle in June 2013.^[9] Cliché (Hush Hush), Stan's last album under Prodan's label, Maan Records, was released in October 2013.^[2] It was a re-issue of Saxobeats with the addition of the three songs intended for Stan's second studio album.^[2] Cliché (Hush Hush) was only released in Japan; it failed to gain much success, although it did enter the top 60 on the Oricon Albums Chart.^[10] In late 2013, Alexandra Stan continued the work on her second studio album with new producers and songwriters, including Alex Cotoi and Erik Lidbom.^[2] She also switched from Prodan's label and signed a new deal with Fonogram Records.^[11] "Thanks for Leaving", the first single from Unlocked, was released on 28 April 2014.^[12] In the following four months, Stan released three more singles under Roton and Fonogram Records.^[13][14][15] Stan took part at the FonoCamp 2013, the first international songwriting camp in Romania, held in Azuga, where she further worked on Unlocked with fellow Romanian singers and producers.^[16]

Recordings and artwork

Stan was involved in the writing process of many songs featured on Unlocked.^[2] She has particularly said how the song "Thanks for Leaving" is personal to her, as it refers to her development following her violent incident with Marcel Prodan.^[2] Unlocked was influenced by several genres of music, including dance, techno, pop and rhythm and blues.^[17][18] Particular musical influences include EDM in "Back To Light", Bhangra music in "Kiss Me Goodbye", Spanish trumpet in "Trumpet Blows", Caucasian-flavoured music in "Give Me Your Everything" and German club music in both "Set Me Free" and "Celebrate".^[19] Lyrically, the album revolves around Stan's relationship with an unidentified man and approaches themes such as issuance, retrieval and a new beginning.^[19][3] The songs from the album were written in English, with two exceptions: "Vanilla Chocolat" and "We Wanna" include lyrics written in French and Spanish respectively.^[2] The official cover sleeve for Unlocked was a photograph by Dimitri Caceaune and shows Stan sporting a multicoloured jacket and standing in front of a neon light.^[2] An alternative artwork for the Japanese edition of the album portrayed her in sepia, with only one of her eyes being visible, as the left one is covered by her hair.^[2] During an interview, Stan expressed that "[Japanese people] are very obsessed with big eyes, so the photo sessions that [she has] prepared for the Japanese version of Unlocked feature [her] eyes being enlarged by make-up."^[3]

Reception

Unlocked was compared to the works of Britney Spears (right) and Rihanna (left).

Unlocked opened the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart at number 21, with it selling a total of 3,859 copies in its first week. It fell to numbers 33 and 39 throughout the next two weeks, bringing sales of 2,697 and 1,853 copies, respectively. Unlocked continued to drop down the Japanese Albums Chart over the following weeks, falling from number 39 to number 83. However, it climbed 5 positions higher to number 78 on 7 October 2014, selling 1,030 copies.^[20] Unlocked left the Japanese Albums Chart after 17 non-consecutive weeks, bringing total sales of 17,045 registered copies.^[20]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Adictivoz[21]

Pop Shock described Unlocked as a "good old-fashioned Europop" record. They praised its "infectious production, catchy absurd hooks and glossy vocals", and called the album's package and visuals "stunning". "Vanilla Chocolat" and "Holding Aces" were described as the best tracks of Unlocked; Pop Shock wrote that "Holding Aces" was good enough to be an X Factor winner's single.^[22] Robin Catling of Everything Express wrote a mixed review for Unlocked, stating that it was clearly influenced by the works of Britney Spears, Rihanna and Sia. "Dance" and "Little Lies" were compared to David Guetta and Britney Spears's Britney Jean album, respectively. Everything Express suggested that "Thanks for Leaving" could score highly at a Eurovision Song Contest. The review concluded, "Unlocked has some highlights amongst the derivative, magpie-collected sparkle of pilfered pop, you might just find it difficult to remember by the end."^[19] Adictivoz compared a track from the album, "Give Me Your Everything", to Shakira. The website praised Stan for her "dose of sensitivity" and "passion" throughout the record. "Kiss Me Goodbye" was described as a "rather interesting mix" of European and Latin-American sounds.^[21]

Promotion

	"Vanilla Chocolat" "Vanilla Chocolat" was the fifth single from Unlocked and features the vocal collaboration of Romanian rapper Connect-R. The refrain of the track was compared to Bollywood music by critics.[23] "Cherry Pop" "Cherry Pop", the second single from the record features a more J-Pop sound, which is heavy influenced by Eurodance.[24][25][2]
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"Thanks For Leaving" was released on 28 April 2014,^[12] and was the first single from Unlocked. An accompanying music video for the song was released simultaneously on Stan's YouTube channel.^[26] "Thanks for Leaving" peaked at number 42 on the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart,^[27] and at number one on the Ukraine Pop 100.^[28] "Cherry Pop" premiered on 28 May 2014,^[13] as the second single from the album. A music video for the song was shot by Khaled Moktar in Buftea, Romania, and presents Stan playing tennis against herself in a futuristic setting.^[29] The single was majorly successful in Japan, where it opened at number one on the Japanese iTunes Singles chart two hours after its release.^[30] "Cherry Pop" charted at number 64 on the Japan Hot 100.^[31] "Dance, the third single from the album, was released on 18 July 2014.^[14] The music video for the song was again shot by Khaled Moktar^[32] and the track also reached number one on the Japanese iTunes Singles Chart.^[33] It achieved a peak position of number 25 on the Japan Hot 100,^[31] and number 70 on the Austrian Singles Chart.^[34] The album's fourth single, "Give Me Your Everything", was released on 27 August 2014.^[15] The accompanying music video directed by Khaled Mokhtar portrays Stan chasing a man in a dark landscape.^[35] Upon its release, the video aroused controversy for a scene in which Stan is wearing a white robe with masonic symbols inscribed on its back. Particularly, Urban.ro named the clip "her most bizarre video ever".^[36][37] "Vanilla Chocolat" was released on 24 December 2014^[38] as the fifth single from Unlocked. The song includes vocal collaboration from Connect-R, a Romanian rapper.^[2] The accompanying selfie video sees Stan singing and performing in various live shows, as well as shots of her and Connect-R at Roton Music.^[39] The sixth single from the album, "We Wanna", featured fellow Romanian singer, Inna, and rapper Daddy Yankee and was released on June 8, 2015.^[40] "We Wanna the top thirty in Argentina,^[41] Poland^[42] and Turkey,^[43] and the top sixty in Italy,^[44] Romania^[45] and Slovakia.^[46]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Unlocked.^[2]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Unlocked.^[2]

Charts and sales

Release history

References