Tell Me (album)

For the re-recorded album, see Tell Me (Revisited) (album).
For the song, see Tell Me (song).

## ***Tell Me***Studio album by Sean Kennedy

* Standard
* Deluxe
* Radio Sampler

## Singles

1. "Anyone"
September 13, 2018
2. "Tell Me"
August 18, 2019
3. "Nona (100th Birthday Edition)"
May 8, 2020

***Tell Me*** is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter, Sean Kennedy, independently released on March 8, 2019. Following mixed reactions to his voice after the release of his debut single, "Anyone", Sean focused on stregthening his vocal ability. The album serves as a culmination of Kennedy's work over the six years he had been creating music. Of the 10 songs on the standard edition, Sean wrote and produced 9 of them alone.

*Tell Me* delves into many different topics, including the loss of loved ones and partying. Sean told his local newspaper that the album’s title reflects on the search for answers throughout his teenage years for the many new questions he developed. In an Instagram post Sean shared on the day of the album’s release, he wrote, "I think ever since my first demo leaked I was always wary of other people's opinions, but I believe I have finally made something that I am so extremely proud of that I want to show people."

The album was later removed from streaming to make way for a completely re-recorded version, reissued as *Tell Me (Revisited)*, on March 11, 2022.

## Background and Release

Sean first learned how to write a song from his music teacher in 2013. That same year, Kennedy began working on his first demo album, *Crazy*. In the summer of 2017, Kennedy was gifted a studio session with Shaul Dover, and the pair recorded the song "Nona" together. In mid 2018, Kennedy registered *Crazy* with the United States Copyright Department, and began working on his second demo album, *The Next Chapter*. After spending the summer convincing his parents to let him release a song, Sean put out his debut single, "Anyone" on September 13, 2018. Following the initial reaction to the song, Kennedy decided he wanted to release an album.

Soon after, Kennedy scrapped the demo albums, and pulled songs from *Crazy*, *The Next Chapter*, and additional material he began to write at the start of high school to create his debut album. Upon choosing his favorite songs from each body of work, Kennedy began to brainstorming ideas for the album's title, eventually landing on *Tell Me*.

Reflecting on the album in his documentary, Kennedy stated:

> When I was getting ready to release my debut album, I thought a lot about what I wanted to say...There were a lot of things that I didn't know making that album. It was just me, and my friend Evan Volkman helped out a little bit. The album wasn't professionally mixed or mastered, it was just me in my basement. I just wanted to say, 'Hi, I'm Sean Kennedy. This is who I am.'
>
>

Sessions for the record were held in Kennedy's home studio. Sean would work on a track and then receive feedback from friend Evan Volkman. The album was completed on February 8, 2019. That same day, Sean posted an Instagram video announcing the album. He simply wrote "Tell Me - The Debut Album. 3.08.19". The video consisted of a snippet of the album's title track, along with revealing the cover art, tracklist, and pictures of Sean recording the album. In the following weeks leading up to release, Sean shared some more pictures of the album process, along with clips of each song. In an instagram post on the album's release day, Sean wrote:

> This album is full of everything that has happened to me from 3rd grade to now. Music has always been my way of expressing my feelings, whether it be good or bad. And now I’m putting those feelings out in the world. These are the melodies that have been stuck in my head for weeks, and the little lyrics that I’ve written down during classes.
>
>

Sean cited Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Kacey Musgraves and Troye Sivan, among others, as inspiration for the record. Both the standard and deluxe versions of the album were released on March 8, 2019 worldwide.

## Music and Lyrics

The standard edition of *Tell Me* includes 10 tracks; the deluxe edition includes 3 additional remixes. The album is primarily focused around acoustic and electric guitars, drums and pianos. Occasionally, the record steers into synth-pop.

The first half of *Tell Me* explores several different genres. The album's opening track "The Next Chapter" is a pop-rock song centered around Kennedy's excitement to start high school. "I Want You", driven by an 80's-inspired drum sample, explores Kennedy's regret in not showing feelings for a crush. The album's title track veers off into EDM. The guitar ballad "Nona" was written for Kennedy's late great-grandmother. An acoustic version of the lead single, "Anyone" substitutes in on the standard edition. The single version was featured on the deluxe edition.

The back half of the record sticks closely to a singer-songwriter genre. "Aftermath", a down-tempo track about a breakup, is filled with ambient sound clips of a storm. "High" is accompanied by a thick layer of synth pads and guitars to create a dreamy atmosphere. The Evan Volkman collaboration, "Alone at Last" is a breakup song with added elements of synth basses and percussion. The penultimate track, "Better Day" serves as a follow-up to "Anyone" and the standard edition's closing track, "Had My Chance" serves as a reflection in which Kennedy learns a lesson about showing up too late.

## Title and Artwork

Kennedy named the record *Tell Me* as an acknowledgment its overarching theme of questions, and the answers that he desired. Sean said he felt the title sounded demanding, and mentioned that he believed he was quite demanding throughout many of the songs, often asking, "Why?" The artwork for the standard edition shows Sean standing solemnly against a beige wall in a striped baja hoodie. The title is written in a big, bold font, with Kennedy's name written underneath in cursive. The album's deluxe edition features an alternate photograph of Sean looking down in front of a console, wearing an abstract grey t-shirt and a dark grey bomber jacket. This would set a precedent for Kennedy wearing a jacket on each of his album covers in The High School Trilogy.

### Photoshoot

On February 8, 2019, Sean shared the album cover and track list on social media. The album shoot consisted of self-portraits by Kennedy, taken in his house. Prior to the album's release, additional photos by family members were used to promote "Anyone".

* Look 1
* Look 2
* Look 3
* Look 4
* Look 5

### Packaging

Standard Edition artworkTrack List
(Standard Edition)Disc
(Standard Edition)Deluxe Edition artworkTrack List
(Deluxe Edition)Disc
(Deluxe Edition)
### Digital Booklet

Standard Edition
1/10
Deluxe Edition
1/10
## Singles

Kennedy's debut single, "Anyone" was released on September 13, 2018 as the album's lead single. An acoustic version of the track was included on the standard edition, and the single version was included on the deluxe.

On August 18, 2019, the album's title track and its alternate version were released as promotional singles on streaming platforms.

On May 8, 2020, over a year after the release of the record, Sean released a re-recorded version of the album track, "Nona". The song was completely redone, and included new instrumentation and fresh vocals.

"**Anyone**""**Tell Me**""**Nona (100th Birthday Edition)**"
## Tour

*Main article: Tell Me: Live*

***Tell Me: Live*** was a concert by Kennedy in support of his debut studio album. The concert was part of his high school's fundraiser, *Meals, Wheels & Deals* (also referred to as *Wheels, Meals & Deals*). The show was announced on September 14, 2019 and took place on September 15. It was Sean's debut performance, and took place almost exactly one year after the release of his debut single, "Anyone".

## Personnel

*(Credits derrived from the album booklet)*

### Musicians

* Sean Kennedy - acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drum programming, electric guitar, keyboards, organ, percussion, piano, strings programming, synthesizer
* Evan Volkman – drum programming, keyboards, percussion, piano, synthesizer (Track 8)

### Production

* Shaul Dover – engineer, mixing, programming (Track 4)
* Sean Kennedy – engineer, mastering, mixing, production, programming
* Evan Volkman – engineer, mastering, mixing, production (Track 8)

### Visuals and Design

* Bret Kennedy – photography
* Sean Kennedy – creative director, photography
* AnnaMarie Mazzella – photography

### Singers

* Sean Kennedy – lead vocals, background vocals

## Radio Sampler

Along with the release of the album, a radio sampler including five songs from the record was sent to domestic radio stations. The songs were either shorted or featured slightly altered instrumentation. The sampler was released to streaming services as an EP for a short period of time, before being pulled. Copies were sold on Sean's website.

*Note: the radio edit of "Alone at Last" was different than the radio edit included on the deluxe edition of* Tell Me *on streaming platforms.*

## *Tell Me (Revisited)*

*Main article: Tell Me (Revisited)*

***Tell Me (Revisited)*** is the first re-recorded studio album by American singer-songwriter Sean Kennedy, independently released on March 11, 2022. It is a re-recording of Kennedy’s debut studio album, *Tell Me* (2019). The record consists of re-recorded versions of all 10 standard edition tracks, two remixes from the deluxe version, and six bonus “From the Vault" songs that were originally cut from the original record and its reissues.

## Scrapped Tracks

*Tell Me* was composed from songs written for Sean's two demo albums, *Crazy* and *The Next Chapter*, as well as songs he wrote entering high school. In 2016, Sean told *The Strategist* that he had 13 songs written for an album, and gave a handful of song names. In 2018, *Crazy* was registered with the US Copyright Office, which included 15 song titles. Upon the release of his third record, Kennedy confirmed an early version of Rebound was originally written during the process of *Tell Me*. Several scrapped tracks were later added to the re-recorded album.

*Note: The track "Saying Goodbye" is not to be confused with "Goodbye", off of Kennedy's second studio album, which was not written until June 16, 2019.*

* Awkward
* Buying It
* Crazy
* Delete You
* Distant
* Forever Together
* The Good Part
* I Pray
* I'll Be Fine Without You
* Inside
* Inspiration
* Invisible
* Just Leave
* Little Boy
* Now
* Oh Well
* One Last Dance
* Part One
* Rebound
* Say What You Want
* Saying Goodbye
* Tonight
* Top of My Game
* This Ain't Love
* Vintage

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sean’s Instagram post on the album release.
2. ↑ Sean's Original Spotify Bio.
3. ↑ *Tell Me* at Sean’s official site.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Teen Drops His First Pop Album.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Where I Am".
6. ↑ Sean Twitter.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sean’s Instagram post announcing the album.
8. ↑ *Tell Me* on Amazon.
9. ↑ "Tell Me: The Album" on YouTube.
10. ↑ Somers Events.
11. ↑ Live at Somers High School.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sean Kennedy – Tell Me (Radio Edits) on Discogs.
13. ↑ Tell Me (Radio Edits) on Spotify.
14. ↑ Interview: Sean Kennedy – The Wandering Ear.
15. ↑ What Should I Gift a 13-Year-Old? Interview With Sean Kennedy.
16. ↑ Sean's "WLU" Story Highlight.
17. ↑ Sean Kennedy - The High School Trilogy (Live From Home).