After Party (Nicholas Stewart album)

## After Party

Official cover for After Party

***After Party*** is the twelfth studio album by American-Romanian singer-songwriter Nicholas Stewart, released on November 25, 2024, through Sunset Records. Featuring twenty-seven tracks that focus mostly in various electronic and dance music genres, such as disco, Hi-NRG, and house, Stewart described the album as a "two-year labor of love" upon his announcement of its release in November 2024, further citing the album as his visions of "escapism [and] groove", wanting to move away from his usual "melancholy" sound in his previous release. Inspired by late 1970s funk and 1980s synth pop to create a record that act as a continuation and would face stylistic differences to its predecessor, *ready. set. launch.* (2020), Stewart enlisted himself as the single producer on his new pop record and named the album for people addicted to parties, Stewart teased on *Billboard.*

The album is divided into two sides. Side A leans more with funk, indie rock-oriented side of the record while Side B leans more with synth-pop, disco, dance-oriented style of the record. The album's synth-pop sound is characterized by heavy synthesizers, programmed drums, and processed backing vocals while its funk sound is composed of psychedelic guitar solos and heavy bass riffs. Music journalists have noted the album as an artistic reinvention for the Stewart, with the introduction of new wave and dream pop influences. Mostly, the media noted this album that solidified Stewart into pop legend status. To compensate the lack of promotion his previous album had due to the 2020 pandemic, Stewart and Sunset Records promoted the album extensively through product endorsements, television, radio appearances and social media.

*After Party* was supported by six singles: "Blue Hour", "Soul Control", "Are We Alone Yet?", "Lost In The Dancefloor", "After Party", and "Surviving Tenth Drink", three of which reached number one on the *Billboard* Hot 100. The album received widespread acclaim from music critics, with some naming it the Stewart's best work in terms of production. It debuted atop the *Billboard* 200, marking the Stewart's twenty-fourth number-one album in the US, and stayed atop the chart for six nonconsecutive weeks. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the album eight times platinum. *After Party* also reached the top spot in other countries. To support the album, Stewart went on to embark his After Party World Tour which ran from August 2026 to July 2027. In 2030, *Rolling Stone* ranked the album at number 395 on their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", joining *Miles, Venom, Sweet Dreams, OC., and Ozymandias,* making Stewart the artist with the most placements in the list.

## Background and production

During the release of his final re-recording *OPERATION CANCELLED. (NOT THE CANCELLED VERSION),* Stewart wrote on his latest post that he has been working on something for the past couple of years that might 'satisfy anybody'. During the releases of his re-recordings and also starring on his ongoing Broadway musical in 2023, he started mixing on random beats for fun for a couple of days which turned into an album-making process. During the release of the lead single "Blue Hour", Stewart told *Billboard* that the new record will mostly contain more upbeat tracks compared to his previous album. The album is divided into two sides. Side A leans more with funk, indie rock-oriented side of the record while Side B leans more with synth-pop, disco, dance-oriented style of the record.

## Release and promotion

### Singles

Before the album's release, three singles were released "Blue Hour", "Soul Control" and "Are We Alone Yet?". On September 23, 2024, the album's lead single, "Blue Hour", was released digitally on music stores and streaming services, the same day its music video got released. The single peaked and debuted at number three on the US *Billboard* Hot 100. The second single "Soul Control" was released on October 28, 2024 digitally on music stores and streaming services, the same day its music video got released. The single peaked and debuted at number two on the US *Billboard* Hot 100. One week before the album's release, the third single "Are We Alone Yet?" was released digitally on music stores and streaming services, on November 18, 2024. Its music video was released one week later. The single debuted at number two on the US *Billboard* Hot 100. During the album's release, the single peaked at #1 on the Hot 100 and stayed there for one week. The album's fourth single "Lost In The Dancefloor" impacted on radios in March 17, 2025. It debuted at #5 during the album's release. It lead seven nonconsecutive weeks at #1 and sold over 10 million units in the United States, becoming Stewart's fifth to do so. The final two singles "After Party" and "Surviving Tenth Drink" peaked on the top spot as well.

### Super Bowl LXI halftime show

On November 12, 2026, Stewart announced that he would be performing during the Super Bowl LV halftime show. His performance took place on on February 7, 2027. Dave Meyers executive produced the show, while Roc Nation produced and creatively directed. Hamish Hamilton, the event's annual director since 2020, returned to direct the performance. In contrast to past years, a stage within the stadium was built (as opposed to a stage on the field), to ensure the safety of workers and players. For the performance, he wore his signature blue blazer and was touched by the zombie marching band with black ink on their hands when he performed "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka". There were many notable outfit changes. His 14-minute performance began with the arena opening intro of "We Party Like It's 1974", the opening track of his recent album *After Party* and concluded with "Surviving Tenth Drink". In 2030, *Billboard* ranked it as the greatest Super Bowl performance ever since 2007. The show resulted in a surge in streaming and downloads for all of Stewart's albums as well as for the eight other songs he performed. He made history on the Billboard 200 as he charted 12 albums on the Billboard 200 simultaneously, with three of them charting inside the top ten. Stewart earned an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Special Class Program category for the performance.

### Tour

To support the album, Stewart went on to embark his After Party World Tour which ran from August 2026 to July 2027. Upon completion, it grossed over $612 million with 180 shows.

## Title and artwork

The album cover was inspired by various 80s films such as *Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Footloose, and Back To The Future.* The title of the album was based on the storyline of the album, where a man goes to parties after parties after getting heartbroken. The image is shot with slightly blue shade with Stewart's shadow appearing at the wall, behind himself.

## Critical reception

*After Party* received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 91, based on 35 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

Tara Joshi of *The Guardian* praised the upbeat nature of *After Party* and compared it to other "grown-up disco" albums like Lady Gaga's *Chromatica* and Robyn's *Honey*. *NME* editor Hannah Mylrea called it "an intoxicating cocktail of seductive beats, exhilarating choruses and sleek production." Owen Myers of *Pitchfork* complimented the album's musical references to disco divas of the past like Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, and Anita Ward and awarded it the website's Best New Music distinction. Myers remarked positively on Stewart's commitment to making uplifting music while allowing "a little of his signature psychodrama to creep into the nocturnal escapades he describes, and the flecks of ennui make the highs even higher." In a five-star review, Heather Phares of AllMusic said that the record "taps into the wonder and excitement" of music from the 1970s and early 1980s.

Most critics tagged this album as Stewart's most experimental work on his career as he continued riding more genre shifts and never fail to impress people.

## Legacy and impact

*After Party's* critical and commercial success introduced Stewart's new persona, cementing his status as a long-living legend, from a grunge guy rock star next door to becoming a multifaceted lyrical animal in the late 2010s. While Stewart is known by the media for being "closet-changer" on every record he makes, *After Party* is considered to be his greatest constant "reinvention". Andy Battaglia from *The A.V. Club* praised Stewart's bold manner of genre-riding without alienating his demographic. The academic Shaun Cullen specializing in the humanities described Stewart as a figure "at the cutting edge of post Gen-Z pop". According to the BBC's Neil Smith, *After Party* "[forged] a path for artists who no longer wish to be ghettoized into separated musical genres". The album became Stewart's most recent proper pop record before focusing on Broadway music later on the decade switching to various genres on his next albums. Turning 50 at the time the album was released, Stewart became on of the rare artists to achieve long music career prominence on their 50s. This was further extended as Stewart went star on Broadway and became the lead star of his musical *Bloodfly* and as he finally worked on his NASA career and won many accolades on his researches.

On a period when pure sales is on its rock bottom, *After Party* became one of the few albums which managed to do well in that certain component, selling over 6.5 million copies worldwide by the end of the 2020s decade. After a year of its album's release, IFPI has reported that Stewart has already sold 290 million albums, surpassing Sandra Akwa and was officially given the title as the best-selling artist of all time. While its pre-album release singles rollout weren't that good, the album spawned one of Stewart's biggest hits "Lost In The Dancefloor" which ran for more than a year on the chart, beating Billboard's 25/52 recurrent rule. Hailed as a cult classic years later after its release, *After Party* became one of the albums that charted more than 15 years on the Billboard 200, achieving the feat. his two studio albums *Sweet Dreams* (2004) and *Ozymandias* (2017).

In 2025, Google reported that the word "After Party" was the #3 most-searched term on the web engine. Blue blazers became a popular fashion trend during the album's dominance. On a period where bedroom pop was the most popular subgenre, *After Party* brought resurgence to dance pop in the late 2020s.

## Commercial performance

*After Party* was released on November 25, 2024, experiencing massive success and oversold commercial expectations, as it performed better than Stewart's previous studio album *ready. set. launch.* in many countries. It opened atop the Billboard 200, selling 1.31 million album-equivalent units, including 860,000 pure album sales, fueled by holiday bundles, and also sold 444,000 units from streaming, garnering 666M on-demand streams first week. The album went on to lead for six nonconsecutive weeks. Additionally, after the album's first week of availability, all twenty-four non-interlude album tracks charted simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100, a record yet to achieve. As of 2035, the album is certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In Canada, *After Party* debuted at number-one on the *Billboard* Canadian Albums Chart as Stewart's fourteenth chart-topper in the country. By the end of 2025, the album had moved over 400,000 units (including 95,000 pure copies) in Canada. *After Party* landed at number 1 on the 2025 year-end Top Canadian Albums list. It was certified 7x Platinum by Music Canada (MC).

In Europe, *After Party* garnered massive success, leading the chart for ten nonconsecutive weeks and is certified fsix times platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI Europe). In United Kingdom, it led the chart for fifteen weeks and is certified 8x Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling over 2,400,000 units. In Australia, it sold over 130,000 units on its first week and went on to stay atop for eleven weeks. It is certified six times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for selling over 420,000 units in the country.

The album was also a massive success across Asia, peaking at #1 on all countries.

## Accolades

At the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, *After Party* won Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album, and made Stewart rack his sixth Album of the Year win.

## Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by Nicholas Stewart.

**Side A**

**Side B**

## Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.

**Musicians**

* Nicholas Stewart – vocals, bass, synth, solo guitar.
* Tyler Ford - backing vocals, drums
* Emily Watkins - French horns
* Maggie Walsh - trumpets, flugelhorns
* Danica Liner – bass trombone

**Technical**

* Nicholas Stewart – mastering, mixing, recording, engineering

### Artwork

* Nicholas Stewart – art direction
* Harold Gypsy – art direction, cover photography

## Charts

### Weekly Charts

**Peak chart positions for *After Party***

### Year-end charts

**Year-end chart positions for *After Party***

### Decade-end charts

**Decade-end chart positions for *After Party***

 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (*Billboard*)

### All-time charts

**All-time chart positions for *After Party***