In Colors

Album cover for In Colors (2007)

### Genre

Alternative rock, pop rock, pop punk, emo pop, baroque pop, synth-pop, electropop

## Singles

### Single #5

Alphabet Aerobics But I Changed The Title

### Single #6

Sex Is Nice But Euphoria Is God Level

***In Colors*** is the fifth studio album by American-Romanian singer-songwriter Nicholas Stewart. The album was in contrast to Stewart's previous album *Sweet Dreams* which featured very dark themes. Motivated by his positive experience on his Sweet Dreams Tour (2005-2006), Stewart sought to make an album with bright and lighter tones with focus on the foundational strengths of his songcraft, but in a very explicit way.

The album incorporates new genres for Stewart such as synth-pop and electropop, but the record was still mainly focused on being a pop punk and rock record. Songs from *In Colors* delve into themes such as toxic relationships, sex, fake friends, and bullying, which Stewart refer to as a timely issue. Sunrise Records promoted *In Colors* as an alternative rock album, but many critics disputed this categorization, calling it a straightforward pop album.

The album was supported by six singles, four of them peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100: "Euphoria", "Tongue Twisters". "Nicky-Icky", and "Alphabet Aerobics But I Changed The Title". Stewart promoted the album with the In Colors Tour (2008), which grossed over $223 million upon completion. *In Colors* was a commercial success not just in the United States, but outside too. It became his fourth consecutive album to sell one million units in the United States on their first week. It spent five weeks atop the Billboard 200 and is certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

*In Colors* generally received positive reviews but divided critics on its genre-spanning sound: praise directed at Stewart's versatility, and criticism targeted the inconsistency. It is Stewart's first album to be nominated and win Best Pop Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards and has also been nominated for Album of the Year.

## Background and Production

By the end of 2005, Stewart has already written more than 50 new songs on his notebook during his touring. He shared "meeting with a lot of fans and having a proper rest between shows, I think it's a great combination of being very satisfied and not overworking. I also had a lot of experience with the new and broken relationships I had on this period so my notebook is handy." At that time, he was still in the middle of his touring period and the public was already questioning his insanity even the previous year, tagging him as the "emotional sad boy of America".

As a response, Stewart decided to have more feels for his new record. He would admit that he still enjoyed wearing dark outfits for the "era" people are still seeing, and also going on tour and didn't care about what everyone said. As early as March 2006, Stewart already headed to the studio to work on new material while his Sweet Dreams Tour was still ongoing. Days passed and Stewart shared that he felt that the lyrics he wrote for the next record were even darker and more explicit than his previous record *Sweet Dreams* and was a bit confused on what he was doing. Recording sessions lasted very long and concluded in February 2007, with a lot of polishing by Stewart. In late 2006, headlines about Stewart's outfit every day were a trend (e.g. "What Did Nicky Wear?.com") and were surprised to see one time when he wore a colorful suit in Christmas Eve. Stewart told on an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2007 that he found this silly considering that a lot of people wear different outfits every day. During the planning of the record release, Stewart then decided to focus less on dark colors on his album cover.

## Release and promotion

### Singles

Throughout 2007-2008, six songs were released as singles, "Euphoria", "Tongue Twisters", "Nicky-Icky", "23 Street", "Alphabet Aerobics But I Changed The Title", and "Sex Is Nice But Euphoria Is God Level". Except "23 Street", all of the singles became top ten hits in the US, with four of them being #1 hits, making *In Colors* one of the albums that spawned four or more #1 hits. On June 25, 2007, Stewart released "Euphoria", which is the lead single for his fifth studio album, *In Colors*. The single was his first #1 single on iTunes and debuted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and instantly debuted at #1 on all countries except Europe. The following week, the single shot to #1 on the Hot 100 due to strong sales. "Euphoria" was included on the Billboard's Top Ten Songs With The Most Ironic Titles, due to the lyrical content of the song being opposite of the title.

### Tour

To promote the album, Stewart embarked his In Colors Tour which ran from January 2008 to April 2008, with 60 shows (similar length from his previous tour Sweet Dreams Tour) and grossing $179 million upon completion.

## Critical reception

*In Colors* received generally positive reviews from contemporary critics, most of whom commended Stewart's songwriting. Jon Dolan from *Rolling Stone* lauded Stewart's autobiographical lyrics and themes resulting in songs that linger on like "different colors". In a positive review, Matt Collar of AllMusic praised the album's exploration of different genres. In another positive review, Eric Allen of *American Songwriter* stated that while the album seems to be extremely dissimilar in the first listen, Nicholas Stewart's personal lyrics thematically tie them all together. In a mixed review, Jordan Blum of *PopMatters* wrote that the album felt like a continuation of *Sweet Dreams* and came off as obnoxious, explicit, and too uninvolving to listen to. In a retrospective review published 2019, *Pitchfork*'s Brad Nelson described the album as Stewart's fully-realized effort as a versatile songwriter, who explored his deeper observations and perspectives.

## Commercial performance

On August 20, 2007, Stewart's fifth studio album *In Colors* was released. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 1.5 million copies. Stewart became one of the artists who had four consecutive albums that sold more than 1 million copies on their first week of selling. As of December 2026, *In Colors* is certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) for selling over 10 million units. Despite the decline of sales in United States, *In Colors* experienced massive success outside the country.

Except Asia, *In Colors* sold a lot more than his previous album *Sweet Dreams. In Colors* generally received positive reviews but divided critics on its genre-spanning sound: praise directed at Stewart's versatility, and criticism targeted the inconsistency. In Canada, it debuted at #3 selling 25,000 copies. It went on to stay stable due to the popularity of its singles, spending twelve nonconsecutive weeks at #1 and is certified 7x Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for selling over 700,000 copies in the country. In United Kingdom, it debuted at #1 and spent seven nonconsecutive weeks atop. As of December 2026, it is certified 4x Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) denoting shipments over 1,200,000 copies. *In Colors* experienced massive success in Europe. It went on to spend seven weeks at #1 and is certified 9x Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for selling over 9 million copies in the region, becoming his second best-selling album there behind his 1998 album *Miles*. In Australia, it spent seventeen nonconsecutive weeks at #1 and is certified 19x Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for selling over 1,337,000 copies in the country. In Asia, it sold over 3 million copies and is certified 6x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for selling over 1,200,000 copies in the country.

## Accolades

On the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, *Sweet Dreams* won his first ever Best Pop Vocal Album award with *In Colors*. The album was also nominated for Best Engineered Album and Album of the Year. "Euphoria" and "23 Street" were also nominated for Best Pop Video on the 2007 and 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, respectively.

## Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by Nicholas Stewart.

***In Colors*** - Standard edition

***In Colors*** - Dirty deluxe edition

 12
 13
 14

## Personnel

### Musicians

* Nicholas Stewart - lead vocals; lead guitar; backing vocals percussion ; brushes ; guitar; programming; keyboard arrangements ; drums; acoustic guitar; piano; production coordinator; additional engineering; mastering; mixing
* Jude Garfield – drums
* Ryan Martin – bass guitar ; backing vocals

### Design

* Alli – art direction
* Ro-Starr – art direction, logos/design
* Christine Alicino – front cover photo
* Kate Garner – photography
* Gregory Stewart - food
* Mitch Stewart - distraction

## Charts

### Year-end charts

**Year-end chart positions for *In Colors***

**Decade-end chart positions for *In Colors***

 US *Billboard* 200
 US Top Rock Albums (*Billboard*)

**All-time chart positions for *In Colors***