Kind (album)

Kind is the eleventh studio album by Welsh rock band Stereophonics released on 25 October 2019 on Parlophone Records, nearly two years after their previous album, Scream Above the Sounds. Recorded over an eleven-day period between 29 June and 9 July 2019 at The Ramsbury Brewery & Distillery in Marlborough, Wiltshire, the album was produced by lead singer and guitarist Kelly Jones and George Drakoulias.[1] Kind topped the UK Albums Chart, becoming the band's first to do so since Keep the Village Alive (2015) and their seventh overall.

Kind
Studio album by
Stereophonics
Released25 October 2019 (2019-10-25)
Recorded29 June – 9 July 2019
StudioRamsbury Brewery & Distillery
(Marlborough, Wiltshire)
Length42:12
Label
Producer
Stereophonics chronology
Scream Above the Sounds
(2017)		 Kind
(2019)
Singles from Kind
  1. "Fly Like an Eagle"
    Released: 15 August 2019
  2. "Bust This Town"
    Released: 18 September 2019
  3. "Don't Let the Devil Take Another Day"
    Released: November/December 2019
  4. "Hungover For You"
    Released: 21 February 2020

Background and writing

At the end of the bands last world tour frontman Kelly Jones considered quiting the band because he had no inspiration to write new music after feeling burnt out on the road. He said "Our last gig of the world tour was September 2018, in Brooklyn – I was done, had written no songs, nothing new, I thought I felt like quitting."[2] Instead of quiting Jones spent some time with his family and he got some ideas for new songs. "Then by November I had a load of songs that just came through me, lyrics just filling up pages, no crossings out, complete songs formed. They became a very open and to be honest, bunch of really vulnerable songs about things I hadn’t quite worked out for myself, the songs began to inform me how I was feeling. I didn’t know, or really mind if others wanted to hear them or like them, I just needed to get them out of me."[3]

First single, 'Fly Like an Eagle' was one of the first songs to be written for the record. Jones said "I feel it covers a lot of ground on the record and the line came, ‘Wanna fly like an eagle, and dare to be reborn’ – not in a religious sense, but it’s about changing and growth, and learning not relying on the comfort zones of your life. And as people we all morph into new and different versions of ourselves. We don’t have to stay the same."[4]

'Hungover For You' was written in a hotel in Scotland before the band headlined TRNSMT festival in 2018.

Release and promotion

Artwork

The album artwork for Kind is a drawing of a tree by Jones’ eldest daughter Bootsy. The booklet for the album also features two paintings, 'I Just Wanted The Goods' by Steve Goddard and 'Moon' by Misty Jones.[5]

Formats

The record was released on five major formats, including: standard CD, deluxe CD, vinyl, cassette and digital download. The deluxe CD features a bonus disc which contains demo versions of six of the songs present on the album.[6] Kind was issued on three different vinyl editions, standard black vinyl, pink vinyl and on picture disc.

Singles

On 15 August 2019 the band debuted the song "Fly Like an Eagle" on Radio X and released the official music video for the track.[7][8] The video is an emotionally affecting coming-of-age tale, which was shot by Charlotte Regan and stars Charlie Creed-Miles.[9] On 18 September 2019 the single "Bust This Town" was released.[10] An official video was released for "Bust This Town" on 30 September 2019.[11] The video was directed by Kes Glozier and follows two lovers on the run, who build a love nest in a derelict manor house.[12] In November or December 2019 the third single "Don't Let the Devil Take Another Day" was often played on most radio stations like BBC Radio 2 and was scheduled to be released.

Reception

Critical response
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(60/100)[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash Music(8/10)[14]
Classic Rock[15]
Q[16]
Uncut[17]
Hot Press(6/10)[18]
Evening Standard[19]

Kind has received mixed or average reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60 based on 4 reviews.[13] Susan Hansen of Clash Music gave the album 8 out of 10 and said "‘Kind’ signifies some of the band’s finest work released to date."[20]

Commercial performance

Kind topped the UK Album Chart giving Stereophonics their seventh number one album, selling just under 30,000 in its first week, including just over 3,000 copies on vinyl.[21] On 27 December 2019 the album was certified Silver in the UK for sales of 60,000.[22]

Track listing

All tracks written by Kelly Jones.

No.TitleLength
1."I Just Wanted the Goods"4:33
2."Fly Like an Eagle"4:32
3."Make Friends with the Morning"4:51
4."Stitches"4:46
5."Hungover for You"4:08
6."Bust This Town"3:54
7."This Life Ain't Easy (But It's the One That We All Got)"6:12
8."Street of Orange Light"3:02
9."Don't Let the Devil Take Another Day"3:04
10."Restless Mind"3:10
Total length:42:12

Charts and certifications

Release history
RegionDateVersionFormatLabel
United Kingdom 25 October 2019 (2019-10-25)
  • Standard edition
  • deluxe edition
Parlophone Records

References
  1. "New album release date announced". Stereophonics.com. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  2. "Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones said he almost "quit" the band after their last tour". Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via NME.
  3. "Stereophonics return with Fly Like An Eagle song and reveal details of Kind album". Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Radio X.
  4. "STEREOPHONICS return with brand new track 'Fly Like An Eagle' – Watch Video". Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via xsnoize.
  5. Kind (CD). Stereophonics. Parlophone Records. 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Kind (Deluxe) by Stereophonics on Apple Music". Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via Apple Music.
  7. "Stereophonics return with Fly Like An Eagle song and reveal details of Kind album". Radio X. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  8. "Official music video". Retrieved 15 August 2019 – via YouTube.
  9. "New Album 'Kind' Released October 25th". Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via stereophonics.com.
  10. "Sterephonics - Bust This Town (Official Lyric Video)". Retrieved 20 September 2019 – via YouTube.
  11. "Sterephonics - Bust This Town (Official Video)". Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via YouTube.
  12. "Stereophonics 'Bust This Town' by Kes Glozier". Retrieved 1 March 2020 – via promonews.
  13. "Kind by Stereophonics". Metacritic. 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  14. "Kind". Clash Music. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  15. "Stereophonics: Kind". Classic Rock. December 2019. p. 84.
  16. "Stereophonics: Keep the Village Alive". Q. December 2019. p. 114.
  17. "Stereophonics: Kind". Uncut. January 2020. p. 31.
  18. "Album Review: Stereophonics, Kinde". Hot Press. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  19. "Stereophonics - Kind review: Back-to-basics tracks prove band's staying power". Evening Standard. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  20. "Keep the Village Alive". Clash Music. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  21. "Stereophonics see off challenge from Kanye West to claim seventh UK Number 1 album". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  22. "Stereophonics - Kind". BPI. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  23. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Digital Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  24. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 44, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  25. "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2019. 44. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  26. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Stereophonics". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  27. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  28. "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 44: del 25.10.2019 al 31.10.2019" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  29. "Swisscharts.com – Stereophonics – Kind". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  30. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  31. "British album certifications – Stereophonics – Kind". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 January 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Kind in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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