Electric Café (En Vogue album)

Electric Café
Studio album by En Vogue
Released April 6, 2018[1]
Genre R&B
Length 46:08
Label
Producer
En Vogue chronology
Soul Flower
(2004)		 Electric Café
(2018)
Singles from Electric Cafe
  1. "Rocket"
    Released: December 1, 2017
  2. "Reach 4 Me"
    Released: August 10, 2018

Electric Café is the seventh studio album by all-female American R&B group En Vogue, released worldwide on April 6, 2018. Their first studio album in fourteen years, it marks their first full-length release through eOne Music and En Vogue Records.[1][2][3][4] The trio worked with Raphael Saadiq, Ne-Yo, Dem Jointz, Curtis "Sauce" Wilson as well as regular contributors Foster & McElroy on most of the album.[5] Electric Café had a worldwide physical and digital release on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and Spotify.[6] The album was preceded by the promotional single "Déjà Vu",[7] followed by the release of the buzz-singles "I'm Good" and "Have a Seat" featuring Snoop Dogg as well as the official lead single "Rocket".[8] On August 10, 2018 the second official single "Reach 4 Me" was announced via the group's Facebook-page.

Background

In 2009, the original members of En Vogue reunited and began their En Vogue: 20th Anniversary Tour. While the original quartet performed several spot dates in North America and the release of new music through Los Angeles-based Movemakers Entertainment and Funkigirl was announced. The group also appeared on A&E Private Sessions where they confirmed to be recording a new studio album. Following their reunion tour in the fall of 2011, Robinson decided not to record on the forthcoming studio album after failing to agree on business terms.[9] On September 26, 2011, Ellis, Jones, & Herron released a single titled "I'll Cry Later" from their forthcoming album that was planned for release in December 2011. In May 2012, Jones also defected from the group after failing to agree on business terms involving En Vogue being signed to Rufftown Entertainment.[10]

In June 2012, Bennett rejoined the group and continued to perform throughout the tour. In July 2014, the trio signed with Pyramid Records,[11] and began filming the Lifetime musical Christmas movie An En Vogue Christmas (2014) for which they recorded the two original songs "Emotions" and "A Thousand Times" as well as a rendition of the Christmas standard "O Holy Night", all of which were later released on iTunes.[12] Also that year, the band announced that they had started work on Electric Café, their first album of original material since Soul Flower.[13]

In April 2015, Rufftown released the extended play Rufftown Presents En Vogue, which contained four songs recorded by the lineup of Herron/Ellis/Jones during their time with the label (prior to 2012), including the shelved single "I'll Cry Later".[14]

In 2016, Herron and Ellis founded En Vogue Records and the band signed a distribution deal with eOne Music.[15]

Recording

En Vogue began recording material for Electric Café in 2014.[13] Initially planned as an electronic dance music record, the trio reunited with their founders Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy to have them spearhead the album.[15] Sessions with the duo were held at the their FM Studios in Emeryville, California.[16] Each of their tracks were co-written by Bennett, Ellis, and Herron.[16] With recording postponed several times due to intense touring and further songwriters and producers such as Dem Jointz, Modern Future, Kid Monroe, Raphael Saadiq, and Taura Stinson joining the project, the record started to morph into a more traditional contemporary R&B and soul album.[17] While Jointz and Stinson would contribute two tracks each, Saadiq collaborated with the band on the his song "I'm Good" during recording at the Blakeslee Studios in North Hollywood.[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[18]

AllMusic editor Andy Kellman gave Electric Café three and a half out of five stars and called it "a whimsical yet surprisingly steady collection of material that continuously switches eras and styles with positive energy beaming all the way through it."[18]

Track listing

Electric Café – Standard edition[1]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Blue Skies"
Foster & McElroy5:24
2."Déjà Vu"
  • Bennett
  • Ellis
  • Foster
  • Herron
  • McElroy
Foster & McElroy4:34
3."Rocket"
Curtis "Sauce" Wilson3:51
4."Reach 4 Me"
Dem Jointz3:50
5."Electric Café"
  • Bennett
  • Ellis
  • Foster
  • Herron
  • McElroy
Foster & McElroy4:34
6."Life"
  • Bennett
  • Ellis
  • Foster
  • Herron
  • McElroy
  • Foster & McElroy
  • Modern Future[A]
4:09
7."Love the Way"
  • Bennett
  • Ellis
  • Foster
  • Herron
  • McElroy
  • Foster & McElroy
  • Modern Future[A]
3:48
8."Oceans Deep"
  • Dem Jointz
  • Foster & McElroy[B]
3:18
9."Have a Seat" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
  • Monroe
  • Stinson[C]
3:49
10."I'm Good"
  • Saadiq
  • Stinson[C]
4:05
11."So Serious"
  • Bennett
  • Ellis
  • Foster
  • Herron
  • McElroy
Foster & McElroy4:46

Notes

  • ^[A] denotes co-producer
  • ^[B] denotes vocal producer
  • ^[C] denotes additional producer

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[18]

  • Dwayne Abernathy – composition
  • Rhona Bennett – composition
  • Gerry Brown – mixing
  • Bobby Campbell – mixing
  • Kevin KD Davis – mixing
  • Dem Jointz – engineering, production
  • Terry Ellis – composition, executive production
  • Denzil Foster – composition, engineering, executive production, production, vocal production
  • Paul Grosso – art direction, design
  • Koen Heldens – mixing
  • Cindy Herron – composition, executive production
  • Hotae Alexander Jang – engineering, vocal production
  • Diallobe Johnson – production
  • Thomas McElroy – composition, engineering, executive production, production, vocal production
  • Kid Monroe – composition, production
  • Jake Nochimow – production
  • Isabella Peschardt – composition
  • Candice Pillay – composition
  • Zachary Rubin Rattet – production
  • Steve Rusch – engineering
  • Raphael Saadiq – composition, instrumentation, production
  • Shaffer Smith (Ne-Yo) – composition
  • Snoop Dogg – vocals
  • Taura Stinson – composition, production, vocal production
  • Curtis "Sauce" Wilson – composition, engineering, production

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[19] 47
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[20] 14
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[21] 69

Release history

Region Date Format Label Ref
Worldwide April 6, 2018
[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Electric Café (Bonus Track Edition)". iTunes (US). Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  2. ↑ Williams, Brennan (December 2, 2016). "En Vogue Dish On Their Music Comeback And Female Empowerment". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Platinum-Selling Trio En Vogue Signs Worldwide Deal with Entertainment One".
  4. ↑ "Electric Cafe Update".
  5. ↑ "En Vogue Interview on WGN TV".
  6. ↑ "En Vogue's Cindy Herron-Braggs, Forever a Funky Diva".
  7. ↑ "En Vogue Grammy nominated R&B/Pop vocal group". www.envoguemusic.com.
  8. ↑ "En Vogue Premieres 'Rocket' Video Off Their Forthcoming Album".
  9. ↑ "Look for a reunion of En Vogue in 2005". AcappellaNews.com. June 14, 2004. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  10. ↑ "New Music: En Vogue – "I'll Cry Later" (Radio Rip) « Pop Addicts". Popaddicts.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Pyramid signs En Vogue". PyramidRecords.com. June 14, 2004. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  12. ↑ Zuelke, Sydney (December 9, 2016). "En Vogue's Terry Ellis Talks New Importance of "Free Your Mind" and Upcoming Album". Golden1Center. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  13. 1 2 "En Vogue Vocal Outtakes for New Album "Electric Cafe"". YouTube (Rhona 'Rho' Bennett). December 17, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Rufftown Records Is Proud To Announce A New Exciting Release From En Vogue". Rufftown Entertainment. April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  15. 1 2 Mitchell, Gail (February 22, 2018). "En Vogue on New Album 'Electric Cafe': 'We Finally Got the Right Deal'". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 Electric Café (Media notes). En Vogue. En Vogue Records. 2018.
  17. ↑ "Interview: Terry Ellis of En Vogue Discuss Forthcoming Album "Electric Cafe"". Rnbjunkieofficial.com. April 3, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 Kellman, Andy. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  20. ↑ "En Vogue Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  21. ↑ "En Vogue Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
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