Undertow

### Producer

Matt Schwartz, Pharrel Williams, Noah Shain, Calvin Harris, Peter Barish, J.R. Rotem, Daft Punk, Robopop, Klas Ahlund, Peter Mayes, Nick Littlemore, Benjamin Garret, Richie McCartney and Max Martin

## Alternative Cover

***Undertow*** is the fifth studio album by American singer Richie McCartney, released on December 2, 2014 by Musik Factory. It debuted atop of the Billboard 200 selling more than 310,000 copies.

The album is known for having McCartney's biggest musical evolution and a different style from his previous works. It's considered to be one of the biggest marks in today's pop music, and it was even included in the list "1000 albums to hear before you die". It also has multiple awards accolades, such as Grammy's Album Of The Year.

*Undertow* had a big promotion, including TV shows, radios, awards, magazines and a tour, which was recorded in Sidney and released on theaters around the world. The Undertow Experience World Tour was later released on CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray.

## **Background and musical style**

*Undertow* started being recorded on April 2013. It was intended to be completely different from what was released, and was supposed to have a electropop and dark oriented sound. The album was going to be called Checkmate but after all changes of ideas, label switch, and creative freedom, McCartney decided to scrap the project and start from scratch.

In middle January 2014, McCartney started recording the album that is now called Undertow. He was closely involved with the project and called producers he had never worked with before, including Matt Schwartz, Pharrell Williams, Noah Shain, Calvin Harris, Peter Barish, J.R. Rotem, Daft Punk, Robopop, Klas Ahlund, Peter Mayes, Nick Littlemore, and Benjamin Garret. McCartney was frequently seen going to studios with producers and posted updates about the album on social media multiple times.

In an interview with Billboard, McCartney told: "I want my album to have a different feel from what I've done so far, so we're going really 80s. I want something new; I feel the need to take this step in my career." The singer also said in another interview that *Undertow* was his *Continuum/Interrupted*.

## **Release and promotion**

McCartney made the announcement of his comeback on the MTV Video Music Awards 2014, where he received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. The singer revealed on the red carpet that he was planning to release new music soon and that it would be different from everything he had done before. That same month McCartney also announced his Private Talk Promo Tour, where he performed remix versions of his old hits in an 80s and retro style.

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In late September he started promoting his comeback single on internet, releasing snippets of "Somebody". The song was released to the radio and digital platforms on October 5. He also added the song to the three final shows of the promo tour. The song was later performed in multiple TV shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Good Morning America. McCartney also promoted the album in Europe, Japan and South America. Undertow was also promoted on important music magazines, including Rolling Stone and Billboard.

## **Singles**

"Somebody" was released on October 5, 2014. It was a moderate hit around the world, entering various top 20. It peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number three in the UK Singles Chart. It was number on France, Italy and German.

"Teacher" was released on November 25, 2014. It was one of the biggest hits from the album, peaking at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as in the UK, Ireland, German, France, Italy and Canada. It was heavily promoted along with the album release, which boosted its performance.

"Kids Again" was released as the third single on January 28, 2015. It was a fan favorite when Undertow was released and it had one of the best performances out of the non singles on iTunes at that time, which made it an obvious single choice. It peaked at number one in the US, UK, Italy, German, Sweden, Australia and Canada.

"Video Games was released as the fourth single on March 23, 2015. It was a smash hit in many countries, such as UK, Ireland, Sweden, France and even the US, where it peaked at number four. It also reached number one on the CSAV Chart Singles, which was a big deal at that time.

"I Believe" was released as the fifth and final single from the album on June 22, 2015. It didn't match the success from the previous singles, peaking outside the top 20 in the US, UK Canada and Australia. However it was a moderate hit in some countries, as Sweden and France.

## **Critical reception**

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, *Undertow* has an average score of 81 based on 20 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

## Review scores

### Rolling Stone

4/5

Brittany Spanos of *Rolling Stone* called the album "a refreshing, cohesive package. It's definitely a needed reinvention for the artist"; it combines "the 80s groovy danceful style from the album and the potential for hits of the others." Spanos concludes that it is McCartney's "best album yet, and one of 2014's strongest pop releases by far." Kate Solomon of *The Independent* commented that with music that is "often unexpected, sometimes in a good way, it is an album by an artist in flux – trying to move forward with his sound while using old ideas."

Writing for *NME*, Douglas Greenwood deemed the album "a confident and accomplished collection of pop bangers, proving that he's not shy of experimentation." He also commented that "there are a couple of songs on *Undertow* that you'd happily leave on the shelf." Similarly, in *The Guardian*, Alexis Petridis said that "some songs just cut the mood of the album by being too generic." However, Petridis felt that "the world could use more pop music as imaginative as *Undertow*'s highlights."