Starting Over, Starting Now

Starting Over, Starting Now, is Ollie West’s first album and his debut album, which was released on May 5th, 2022 by record label Startime. This is the first music project that Ollie would release since he left his band, Ophelia’s Roses.
== Background ==
In March 2020, after COVID was declared a pandemic, Oliver “Ollie” West decided to leave his band Ophelia’s Roses, after years of experiencing assault, forced alcohol consumption, sexual abuse, homophobia, and ableism from his band members. After he left, Ollie began attending therapy for PTSD. At the same time, he got to work on his solo album.
“i forgot to tell you guys! i’m working on my debut album right now! no clue when i’ll be finished with it, but i know y’all will love it!” - Ollie on Twitter in 2021
Ollie announced his album’s name, “Starting Over, Starting Now”, and it’s release date on May 4th, 2022.
== Promotion and release ==
=== Cover ===
The cover depicts a 3D rendered monster, who appears to be sad. Ollie chose a monster as his album cover because "it looked cool".
"I was gonna put myself on the cover, but I decided to put a monster my friend made on the cover instead! I thought my friend's creation looked cool and he let me use it. Don't worry guys, he's not an NFT artist." - Ollie in a ROX interview
=== Album Release ===
Ollie released Starting Over, Starting Now, on May 5th 2022. He did not release any singles prior to the album's release.
=== Marketing ===
Ollie went on ROX's radio show "Rockin' to Friday" to discuss his new album, along with his departure from Ophelia's Roses. He performed "you :)" and "sprite" on the show. Ollie's album was promoted by Rolling Stone in three articles. 
== Critical reception and commercial performance ==
Starting Over, Starting Now gained critical acclaim all across the world. Critics and fans agree that the album is uplifting and a helpful distraction from real-world issues. 
=== Professional ratings ===
* Metacritic: 93/100
* AnyDecentMusic?: 9/10
* AllMusic: 4.5 stars
* The Daily Telegraph: 4.5 stars
* Entertainment Weekly/EW: A+
* The Guardian: 4 stars
* The Independent: 5 stars
* The Line of Best Fit: 10/10
* NME: 5 stars
* Pitchfork: 8.5 stars
* Rolling Stone: 5 stars
* The Times: 4 stars
Starting Over, Starting Now sold over 19k albums in a week, and sales are rising at the moment. "home (ft. Xavier Ellis)" is the most popular song on the album, for obvious reasons.
== Track list ==
# home (ft. Xavier Ellis)
# earth to ollie
# traffic jam
# can you check my pulse?
# superstar (ft. Naomi Hall)*
# you :)
# sprite
# figuring it out
# switch
# merry go-round
# universe to ollie (envoi)
*Not to be confused with the Feelside song of the same name, which includes Naomi Hall on the vocal tracks.
Category:Music
Category:Albums