All I Need (album)

"*I was inspired a lot more with this record with stripping things back and making it a lot more emotional. I didn't want to do a concept album, I always like it when I can write from a diary in a way. It's quite an emotional album. It's got elements from the first one, but it's definitely not as produced. The tracks feel a lot more vocal [with] piano and strings. It's still cinematic in ways but I'm a lot more honest on this record this time around, which is quite a scary thing to be.*" - Foxes talking about *All I Need.*

***All I Need*** is Foxes' second studio album which released on 5 February 2016. The album features sixteen tracks including "All I Need" which is the titular track to the album like "Glorious" in her debut album. This was Foxes' second and final album with her label Sign of the Times.

This was the second instance of Foxes naming her album after a song in the album, in this case, being "All I Need". This was originally done with "Glorious" for her first album.

## Background

Foxes commenced work on the album in January 2015. On 21 January, Foxes tweeted a picture of herself sitting on a chest with a caption about it. Eight days later, on 29 January, she posted a black and white photograph of herself standing with two men in a studio. The next day, she tweeted about how she couldn't stop smiling about the album..

On 27 March, Foxes posted a picture of herself and three other people clapping in the same studio she claimed Tina Turner recorded "What's Love Got to Do with It" in.

On 12 June, she tweeted a video of herself in the studio with a choir of children. On June 17, she posted a picture of herself surrounded by keyboards. The next day, she tweeted a picture of herself with a tambourine.

On 1 July, she tweeted a picture of herself eating Nando's in the studio. On 3 July, she announced that she was finally deciding on the album's track listing. From 15 to 16 July, various Twitter accounts were sent postcards containing titles of some of the album's tracks. Foxes confirmed the album's title and full track listing on 28 July.

*All I Need* was made available for pre-order on 21 August.

On 9 July 2023, Foxes announced that she was looking to explore the possibility of releasing music from *All I Need* which never made the final cut whilst in the process of writing new music.

## Critical reception

*All I Need* received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Metacritic gave the album a score of 67 out of 100 and the album received three to four stars out of five on media reviews.

AllMusic praised the album and said: "*All I Need* is a refreshing blast of deftly produced, stylish pop. At its best, All I Need is on par with the smarts of Marina and the addictive joy of Ellie, while mirroring the focused vision of Carly Rae. From the double whammy of the two singles that open the album to the stirring numbers that close it, it's a dose of unabashed emotion that never overwhelms with treacle or plastic detachment."

Rachel Aroesti from *The Guardian* was critical of the album and wrote: "With the notable exception of Cruel, a track anchored gratifyingly around a staggered Eurodancey vocal sample, Allen tends to favour either dreary mid-tempo balladry or unremarkable electropop. Her lyrics may be personal, but the package as a whole feels disappointingly generic."

Whilst *The Guardian*'s review was critical, their sister paper, *The Observer* praised it for the mix between optimism and sadness. Reviewing the album, Michael Cragg said: "On second album *All I Need*, Southampton’s Foxes, aka Louisa Allen, manages to pull off pop’s greatest trick; making sadness danceable."

## References

1. ↑ "All I Need (Deluxe) by Foxes". iTunes (VN). https://itunes.apple.com/vn/album/all-i-need-deluxe/id1019553218. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
2. ↑ Davidson, Amy (3 May 2015). "Foxes shares 10 secrets about her new album: From Tina Turner to giant gongs". *DigitalSpy*. http://www.digitalspy.com/music/feature/a645272/foxes-shares-10-secrets-about-her-new-album-from-tina-turner-to-giant-gongs.html#~pmIfIYCjvZe5qr. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
3. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (21 January 2015). "Been in hibernation working on #ALBUM2 I CANT WAIT FOR YOUR EARS TO HEAR THIS!!!!! 😜😁😜". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/557989761336758272.
4. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (21 January 2015). "Recording ALBUM 2 'Ere we go then!!!!!!!!". https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/560867676374179841.
5. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (30 January 2015). "Can't stop smiling #Album2 💫". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/561273181852663808.
6. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (27 March 2015). "We're clapping in the same room Tina turner recorded wutsss luuuv got ta do wit it #Album2 #luvuTina 👏". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/581499581269184512.
7. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (12 June 2015). "kids choir in the studio today #makingthealbum". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/609419027782369280.
8. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (17 June 2015). "Gettin deep in the synth maze 🎹👀". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/611215796652625920. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
9. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (18 June 2015). "tamborine zone 👽". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/611596588029448192. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
10. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (1 July 2015). "Now laying on the studio floor in a Nandos recovery position 😳". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/616275226964402176. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
11. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (3 July 2015). "It's happening...picking the album track listing right now ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/616996395531243523. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
12. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (15 July 2015). "So glad you guys are getting your postcards! Here's the title of the first track on album 2 #FoxesTracklistReveal ❤️". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/621380724470476800. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
13. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (15 July 2015). "#FoxesTracklistReveal here's track two...". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/621423442894696448. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
14. ↑ "Can't believe this is working! No 7 Devil side #FoxesTracklistReveal". @JulianMusicFan. Twitter. 16 July 2015. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/621797843360198656. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
15. ↑ "Glorious postcard rec'd from @iamfoxes Looking forward to No8 Feet Don't Fail Me Now on new lp #FoxesTracklistReveal". @JulianMusicFan. Twitter. 16 July 2015. https://twitter.com/JulianMusicFan/status/621771425766969344. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
16. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (28 July 2015). "FULL ALBUM. PRE ORDER COMING SOON!". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/626095666117410821. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
17. ↑ Allen, Louisa Rose (21 August 2015). "ALL I NEED is available to preorder! Get Feet Don't Fail Me Now instantly by preordering here http://smarturl.it/FoxesDLX". @iamfoxes. Twitter. https://twitter.com/iamfoxes/status/634784921429647360. Retrieved 28 August 2015.

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