Bad Ideas (album)

Bad Ideas was released in October 25, 2019.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Bad Ideas is Tessa Violet's second album.[8][9][4][6] It was originally set to be released August 3, 2018.[10] She announced the album in October 4, 2019; and released the track list on October 7, 2019.[6] "Bad Ideas" is the title track.[5][6][7][11]

Previously, four singles were released.[12][5][6] "Crush" was released June 2018.[13][6] "I Like (the idea of) You" was released on MTV May 2, 2019.[4][14][15] "Games" was released September 27, 2019.[5][7] "Words Ain't Enough" was released October 24, 2019.[3] Seth Earnest, who has worked with Tessa Violet since 2013, produced the album.[13][3][1][7][15][16]

Tessa Violet admitted she went through a breakup during the writing of the album.[13][17] "Bad Ideas is a reflection of that snapshot of my life and reconciling ‘why do I keep doing things that make my life worse when I know they make my life worse?"[13] Violet wrote the songs—aside from "Crush"—in her bedroom.[7]

Production for Bad Ideas began in late spring 2017 while Tessa Violet was an independent artist.[7] Violet said the album did not coaslesce until she brought "Bad Ideas" to her producer.[1][18]

The Artist Group assisted in planning the album's release strategy.[7] Originally, there were plans to release three separate Bad Ideas EPs.[9][7] However, Violet was reluctant with the plan: "Man, I didn't really write three EPs though, I wrote an album and I think it should be experienced together."[7] Nevertheless, Bad Ideas (Act One) was released in July 26, 2019.[19][20][4][6][7][11][18] It features remixes by Le Youth and Viceroy; as well as a music download.[6][11]

In 2019, her first music festival, Lollapalooza was among the tour stops Tessa Violet promoted Bad Ideas's upcoming release.[19][7] At the time, her tour "I Like (the idea of) You" spanned Europe and the United States.[6][7]

Tessa Violet performed live acoustic versions of Bad Ideas for WGBH-TV in Boston.[21]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Scot Scoop	[5]

Upon its release, Bad Ideas was met with critical acclaim from the public and music critics. Flood Magazine's Jesse Cline noted Bad Ideas is "all about the hardships of romance."[3] NYU Local's Sophie Grieser recommended the album.[22] Scot Scoop's Zachary Khouri remarked it "encapsulates a wide variety of themes that I would say make it one of the best albums of the year."[5] Cherwell's Maya Little compared it with Mitski's Be the Cowboy stating "Violet refuses conventional love narratives in an album in which the whole point is to talk about romantic feelings as messy, brief, foolish, even funny."[23] Billboard's Hannah Malach said Bad Ideas "details all of the complexities of falling in love."[7] Monocle received the music favourably with "There is something fascinating about pop that achieves a lot with very little. Tessa Violet's secret is in almost minimal but enthralling background beats."[24]

• TESSA VIOLET - BAD IDEAS playlist on YouTube