Why Is It So Hard To Accept The Party Is Over? (album)

### Producer

Blood Diamonds ‧ DJ Dahi ‧ Cashmere Cat ‧ Danja ‧ J.R. Rotem ‧ Ricky Reed ‧ Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins ‧ Carter Lang

## Singles

1. "Lottery"
July 10th, 2016
2. "Heard It All Before"
August 8th, 2016
3. "Love Galore (feat. Travis Scott)"
September 2nd, 2016
4. "Hard Place"
November 9th, 2016

***"Why Is It So Hard To Accept The Party Is Over?"*** is the debut studio album by English singer LYNX. It was released in September 09th, 2016 on Warner Music Group. It features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar and Missy Elliott. Originally scheduled for release in January 2016 it was delayed by Lynn's dissatisfaction with the initial direction of the album. She worked and reworked the album until the record company felt like the material was ready.

LYNX wrote most of the album's lyrics and collaborated with producers including Blood Diamonds, Cashmere Cat, Danja, J.R. Rotem, Darkchild, Carter Lang and Ricky Reed to achieve its sound. The efforts resulted in a primarily alternative R&B album, with elements of hip-hop, electronic, indie, pop and soul. Lyrically the album has a confessional theme, which touches upon LYNX's personal experiences and complexities of modern love; including desire, competition, jealousy, sexual politics, social media, and body positivity.

The album was released to acclaim from music critics. It debuted at number three on the US *Billboard* 200, moving 60,000 equivalent-album units in its first full-tracking week. It generated the singles *"Lottery"*, *"Heard It All Before"*, *"Love Galore (featuring Travis Scott)"*, and *"Hard Place"*.

As of March 2018, the album has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for accumulating over 1,000,000 in album-equivalent units and pure sales. The album and its songs were nominated for two Grammy Awards, while LYNX was nominated for Best New Artist.

Critics rated tracks like *"Crucify Me*", *"Warm Enough"* and *"Cold Sweat"* as *"forward-thinking and even timeless jams with subversive, ambient production".* Lansky noted that *"In its own way, [the album] neatly illustrates the dangers artists face when labels aggressively try to keep up with commercial music"*.

 Background and development

In 2014, Lynn signed a contract with Tap Management, directed by Ben Mawson and Ed Millett, while working as an audio engineer in Abbey Road Studios. Subsequently, they offered her a monthly salary to leave her job and focus on writing and submitting songs to other artists. She recorded demos for songs like "Tempo", "Lottery" and "Like I Do" (the latter still unleaked to this point) to be pitched to other UK acts. However, Warner Music Group felt like Lynn had the "full package and talent" to make the songs come to life. And eventually it led to her signing a two album record deal with Warner Music Group in the summer of 2015.

The demos open the label's executives eyes to her potential. The LYNX persona, embodied not long before, and the music was a clear chance to break a UK act into the competitive US market. *“When I started to make music signed with the label, I've envisioned songs for other people to pay my rent (laughs). And suddenly they liked it too much and I found myself trapped in a box. People expected me, as a black woman, to necessarily make traditional R&B. Don't get me wrong, it's a genre that I love and it's obviously a part of my DNA. Literally. But I was trying to reach my own voice and I couldn't; a few white men felt like they understood my voice better than I did "*, said LYNX.

The direction set by the label was an attempt to recreate and modernize R&B from the 90s and 2000s - whose subtones are noticeable on tracks like "Lottery", "Heard It All Before" and "Warm Enough".

## Writing and recording

Trying to recreate the characteristic sound of the 90s and 00s, the label arranged sessions with a star-spangled team, responsible for the great hits of the era: Danja, J.R. Rotem, Ricky Reed and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins were some of the names that worked on the initial sessions of the album, tentatively titled *"Feline".*
After two months of sessions and a camp of songwriters, LYNX met up with her label and expressed dissatisfaction with the direction the album was taking and tried to grant some creative and artistic freedom to experiment. *"We had like a board on the studio with thirteen slots. Each slot had a music style direction, a topic that should be addressed and even timeframe of the track. I mean,, process was so technical that it took the pleasure and humanity out of art. That was not for me. The songs started to sound lifeless and the same"*, says.

Some executives didn't like the newbie's stance; however, the large amount of acquaintances she had on music industry - because of her period in College and working at the Abbey Road Studios - and the number of record labels that were eager to get her to their casts caused the label do rethink the process. Some producers like Cashmere Cat, Blood Diamonds and independent producer DJ Dahi and Carter Lang were recruited.

The songs that came out of those sessions had a sultry and melancholic vibe over glacial beats. The alternative R&B vibe, though, didn't fit in with the label's expectations to break into the urban-contemporary radios. And, after a bunch of meetings, LYNX, the label and their managers met halfway: they would recruit hip-hop powerhouses such as Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Missy Elliott to try to make some tracks more commercial and appealing to the radios.

The result was an intersectional album with commercial moments and gems of icy alternative R&B with hints of 90s and 00s nostalgia. LYNX contributed heavily to the album's lyrics co-writing all twelve tracks. LYNX would freestyle the songs in a hope to "let the moments happen in the studio." Initially she tried to record phone notes and write down ideas in journals in order to help her write.

## Title and packaging

The album is named after the initial line of the track "Warm Enough", where LYNX asks the question before dissecting the challenges of self-esteem problems and male attention. LYNX stated in an interview for New Music Express that the track the named the album was inspired by her times in high school. "I went to a party for a boy I liked, despite rarely going to parties. Before I went, I've bought a whole bottle of gin for us. However, the boy ended up bringing a different girl, so I got wasted drinking the whole bottle by myself. I felt lonely but empowered", stated.

The album cover portrays the empowerement with LYNX wearing a white-hooded fur mink coat and a matching one piece in front of a tumbledown house holding a pit bull on a leash.

## Critical reception

The album received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". *The Observer*'s Tara Joshi said the songs are "delicious slow jams with delicate yet powerful vocals and intimate insights into femininity, self-esteem and youth". *Pitchfork*'s Claire Lobenfeld called the album "an opulent, raw R&B crossover pop album that constantly tests the borders of the genre", and named "Warm Enough" as one of the standout tracks. Siena Yates of *The New Zealand Herald* described it as "a brutally honest, sonically rich leap down the rabbit hole."

## Review scores

### The Times

★★★★½

In his review of the album, *The New York Times*'s Jon Pareles said "she fully commands the foreground of her songs. Her voice is upfront, recorded to sound natural and unaffected, with all its grain and conversational quirks." *Vibe*'s Jessica McKinny said the album "has definitely kick-started her journey in the right direction. It's raw, soulful, rhythmic and uplifting in all the right places and will surely be a summer gift" . Gerrick D. Kennedy of *Los Angeles Times* called the album "equal parts aching, brazen and gorgeously honest" and said of the songs, "Some records are tender, vulnerable and often defiant. Other, feels like could've been on anyone else's album. LYNX is better when she's on her own".

Ryan B. Patrick of *Exclaim!* referred to LYNX as "the full package in terms of artistry: killer singing and songwriting abilities with a distinct perspective on life, love and destiny". He went on to say that *Why Is It So Hard To Accept The Party Is Over?* "is craft in action, a uniquely excellent album from a uniquely excellent artist." Jamie Lansky of *NME* said it "effortlessly winds between narratives and genres like it's child's play" and went on to say that the artist "isn't a star in the making, it's a fully-fledged talent who's practically showing off with her *forward-thinking and even timeless jams with subversive, ambient production".* Lansky noted that *"In its own way, [the album] neatly illustrates the dangers artists face when labels aggressively try to keep up with commercial music"*.

Most of the tracks, including the hit single *"Hard Place"*, though, were critically acclaimed, turning *"Why Is It So Hard To Accept The Party Is Over?"* into a cult classic among alternative pop and R&B enthusiasts. By the end of 2016, LYNX was ranked as one of the artists to watch in 2017 and rated as the Next Best Thing on BBC Lists. New Music Express (NME) said that *"even with clear commercial handcuffs, LYNX's talent shines through and turns bland tracks into great songs"*.

## Singles

* "Lottery"
* "Heard It All Before"
* "Love Galore [feat. Travis Scott]"
* "Hard Place"