America

One of ten covers created for the album.

### Producer

Tommy English, KillaGraham, Jared Leto, Robopop, Jamie Schefman, Yellow Claw, Zedd

***America*** (stylized in uppercase) is the fifth studio album by Thirty Seconds to Mars, released on April 6, 2018 through Interscope Records. It is their first album in five years, after *Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams* (2013)*,* as well as their first release for Interscope, following the band's departure from Virgin Records in 2014. It is also the final album by the band to feature lead guitarist Tomo Miličević, who left the band two months after its release.

Produced by frontman Jared Leto alongside Yellow Claw, Zedd, Robopop, and others, the album represents a drastic shift from the experimental compositions of their previous efforts, opting for an electronic and art pop influenced sound. Lyrically, it is a concept album exploring themes such as politics, sex, and fame. The album was promoted with three singles – "Walk on Water", "Dangerous Night", and "Rescue Me" – in addition to the Monolith Tour.

The album received polarized reviews from critics. Some commended the conceptual themes, while others felt that they were not fully developed; critics were also divided over the band's change in sound. Upon its release, *America* debuted at number two on the US *Billboard* 200, becoming the band's highest entry on the chart, and reached the top five in several other countries.

## Background

Thirty Seconds to Mars released their fourth studio album *Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams* in May 2013. The album, produced by frontman Jared Leto and previous collaborator Steve Lillywhite, marked a shift in the band's musical direction from an alternative rock sound, recognized with *A Beautiful Lie* (2005) and *This Is War* (2009), to a more experimental and electronic-influenced sound. The band parted ways with Virgin Records in 2014 after tumultuous years with the label, and later signed with Interscope.

The group began preparations for new music in November 2015, with Leto expressing his desire to experiment and explore new musical grounds. Additionally, Leto started working on the documentary film *A Day in the Life of America*, which was conceived as a companion piece to the band's fifth album. The film includes user-submitted footage from July 4, 2017, depicting Independence Day in the United States, and is scheduled for release in 2019. The band later embarked on a promotional tour with Muse and PVRIS, which was one of the highest-grossing North American tour of 2017, according to *Pollstar*'s annual year-end tour chart.

While touring, Thirty Seconds to Mars announced "Walk on Water" as the lead single from the album. Critics acknowledged a slight political edge in the song's lyrics, inspired by the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. The song earned the band an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Alternative. While collecting the award, Jared Leto made a remark at Trump's immigration policy as he stated, "We are Americans – a land of immigrants – and we just want to say that we welcome you with open arms and with open hearts, and we love you."

## Promotions

*America* was first announced by the band in February 2018 under a placeholder name, alongside the North American leg of The Monolith Tour. Tickets for the tour, including the previously-announced European leg, were sold with a copy of the album, to be delivered upon its release on April 6, 2018. A presale of tickets were offered to people that had pre-ordered the album before February 12. *America* was officially unveiled by the band and Interscope Records on March 22, 2018. It was unveiled with an advertising campaign featuring billboards and posters reproducing the album's art direction and design. Billboards were located at landmark locations such as Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, New York City's Times Square, and outside of a number of London Underground stations. A listening session for the album took place on April 3 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.

### **Singles**

On August 22, 2017, Interscope released "Walk on Water" as the lead single promoting the then-unannounced fifth studio album by the band. The song was performed live for the first time at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on August 27 with Travis Scott as a special surprise guest. A music video for the song premiered on Vevo on November 8, 2017, featuring footage from the documentary film *A Day in the Life of America*. "Walk on Water" was used by ESPN as the promotional theme for the network's coverage of the 2017 College Football season.

"Dangerous Night" was released as the second single from the album on January 25, 2018, after it premiered on Zane Lowe's radio show of Beats 1 in London. The band debuted the song live the same day at *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert*. Their performance was filmed through the use of advanced robotic cameras which changed frame following the beat of the track, and featured an interpretive dancer. Nicholas Rice from *Billboard* commended the band's performance, praising its visuals and calling it "one-of-a-kind".

"Rescue Me" was released as the third single from the album on June 15, 2018. The official music video premiered three days earlier. On May 27, 2018, the band were joined on stage by Shawn Mendes to perform the song at BBC Music's Biggest Weekend.

## Personnel

Credits adapted from Qobuz.

* Stevie Aiello – composition (tracks 2, 8, 10)
* ASAP Rocky – composition (track 4), vocals (track 4)
* Alice Aufray – background vocals (track 12)
* Neal Avron – audio mixing (tracks 1, 7, 11)
* William Binderup – mixing assistance (tracks 9, 12)
* Will Borza – mastering assistance
* Scott Desmarais – mixing assistance (tracks 3, 6)
* Tommy English – production (track 12)
* Robin Florent – mixing assistance (tracks 3, 6)
* Chris Galland – mix engineering (tracks 3, 6)
* Jordan Galvan – audio mixing (tracks 5, 10)
* Serban Ghenea – audio mixing (track 4)
* Halsey – composition (track 6), vocals (track 6)
* John Hanes – mixing assistance (track 4)
* KillaGraham – composition (track 3), production (track 3)
* Rob Kinelski – audio mixing (track 8)
* Jared Leto – composition (except track 10), production, art direction, design
* Shannon Leto – composition (track 10)
* Erik Madrid – audio mixing (tracks 9, 12)
* Manny Marroquin – audio mixing (tracks 3, 6)
* Willo Perron – art direction, design
* Robopop – composition (track 4), production (track 4)
* Jamie Schefman – production (tracks 6, 9)
* Ryan Shanahan – mixing assistance (track 2)
* Scott Skrzynski – mixing assistance (tracks 1, 7, 11)
* Thom Van Der Bruggen – composition (track 8)
* Howie Weinberg – audio mastering
* Yellow Claw – composition (track 8), production (track 8)
* Zedd – production (track 2), audio mixing (track 2)