You Are We

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You Are We
Studio album by While She Sleeps

admission

2016-2017

Label (s) SharpTone Records , Arising Empire , UNFD

Format (s)

CD , vinyl , download

Genre (s)

Metalcore

Title (number)

11

running time

50 min 58 sec

occupation
  • Electric guitar, vocals: Sean Long

production

While she sleeps

Studio (s)

The Barn , Sheffield

chronology
Brainwashed (2015) You Are We -
Single releases
20th November 2016 Hurricane
23rd February 2017 Silence Speaks
15th May 2017 Empire of Silence

You Are We is the third studio album by the British metalcore band While She Sleeps . It was released on April 21, 2017 via SharpTone Records in North America , Arising Empire in Europe and via UNFD in Australia .

The album has eleven tracks with a total length of 50 minutes and 58 seconds. The pieces Hurricane and Silence Speaks were released in advance as singles ; the third single Empire of Silence appeared after the album was released. Oliver Sykes from Bring Me the Horizon is a guest singer in the song Silence Speaks .

You Are We is the group's second album , after its predecessor Brainwashed from 2015, to reach a listing in the German album charts . The album also entered the British and, for the first time, the Swiss and Austrian album charts . The album received mostly positive reviews in the English-language media, including Metal Hammer , Rock Sound and the New Musical Express . You Are We was also largely rated positively in the German-language media .

Emergence

In September 2016, the musicians announced that they would produce the album without the support of a record label. To do this, the group started a crowdfunding campaign at PledgeMusic to finance the production of the album. On the first day, 46 percent of the goal was achieved; In January 2017, the specified target was even exceeded. Campaign supporters had the opportunity, among other things, to download the piece Civil Isolation in advance.

The album was written and recorded at The Barn , the band's own music studio in Sheffield , which was previously used as a warehouse. The group spent almost a year setting up the studio in the building.

Album title

The title You Are We was influenced, among other things, by Brexit , with which the musicians did not agree. Guitarist Mat Welsh said in an interview with Alternative Press magazine that "the country [Great Britain] has decided to leave the European Union and the people have the mentality that one should not work with other nations" e what the band strictly rejects.

"Our country decided to leave Europe, which we firmly disagreed with. That's been a big influence. And people thinking that they shouldn't work together — we sort of disagree with that, which is what the album's name is about. There's no 'you' without 'we.' "

- Mat Welsh opposite the Alternative Press

The album cover also has the name of the album in the four most widely spoken languages ​​in the world: Chinese , English , Spanish and Hindi .

Track list

# title length Remarks
1. You Are We 4:47
2. Steal the Sun 4:37
3. Feel 4:39
4th Empire of Silence 4:29 3. Single
5. Wide awake 5:04
6th Silence Speaks 4:55 with Oliver Sykes , 2nd single
7th Settle Down Society 4:56
8th. Hurricane 4:43 1. Single
9. Revolt 3:57
10. Civil isolation 4:22 Pre-download for crowdfunding supporters
11. In Another Now 4:35

success

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
You Are We
  DE 15th 04/28/2017 (2 weeks)
  AT 16 05/05/2017 (1 week)
  CH 31 04/30/2017 (1 week)
  UK 8th 04/28/2017 (1 week)

Commercially

In the first week of sales, You Are We sold just under 2,500 in the United States alone, which was not enough for a listing in the US album charts. In the UK , While She Sleeps was first placed in the top ten. There the album went straight to number 8, where it could only last for a week. In Germany the band reached number 16, in Austria number 16 and in Switzerland number 31.

You Are We also achieved placements in Scotland , France , Belgium and Australia .

Media response

You Are We received a rating of 84 percent on Metacritic based on four English-language reviews from various music platforms and magazines. This value means that the album was able to achieve "worldwide success".

English language reviews

You Are We received mostly positive reviews in the English-language media . Allison Stewart wrote from Revolver that the group had released the best post- Brexit or post- election fear album to date. She described the album as hectic and dark and mostly concerned with personal and political decay. The track Silence Speaks was highlighted as the highlight of the album. Anita Bhagwandas from the New Musical Express praised the production of the album, which she described as perfection. Compared to While She Sleep, other bands from the metalcore scene would, in their opinion, overproduce their albums so that they looked almost clinical. Rob Sayce from British Rock Sound was also satisfied with the album.

German-language reviews

Most of the critics in the German-language media were also enthusiastic. Jan Hassenpflug from the online music platform Laut.de wrote that the group had the playful class to be able to move on thin ice. However, the critic annoys the template-like structures that would be presented by each group of the heavier music. Matthias Weckmann from Metal Hammer, on the other hand, wrote that the group did not deliver Core off the drawing board like most representatives. He is of the opinion that the musicians have found their strength again and could play more loosely on the album than on the previous Brainwashed . He described the music as a mixture of " Refused- Punk, Bring-Me-the-Horizon- Truth, Parkway-Drive- Choir and a lot of While She Sleeps."

Nadine Schmidt judged for the Metal.de portal that the band almost always succeeds in writing songs that evoke several emotions that are varied and coherent. The result is that the musicians have created their own sound. Björn Backes from Powermetal.de added that the standard was extremely high, so that it was hardly possible to highlight a song, as it would do the other pieces injustice. Backes predicted that the competition would have to dress warmly in 2017 as the group had set the bar high.

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Natasha Van Duser: Alternative Press : While She Sleeps open up on releasing new album without the help of a label
  2. ^ Caitlyn Ralph: Alternative Press : While She Sleeps go independent for new album, launch crowd fund
  3. ↑ Alexandra Michels: Rock Hard : While She Sleeps: "You Are We" -Album comes out in April
  4. ↑ Chart tracking: DE - AT - CH - UK
  5. ↑ Note: The Scottish music charts are determined by the Official Charts Company , which also collects and publishes the British charts. There, however, it is viewed as a regional chart table.
  6. ^ Metacritic : You Are We
  7. ↑ Allison Stewart: Revolver : While She Sleeps - You Are We Review ( Memento June 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Anita Bhagwandas: New Musical Express : While She Sleeps - You Are We Criticism
  9. ↑ Rob Sayce: Rock Sound : While She Sleeps - You Are We Review
  10. ↑ Jan Hassenpflug: Laut.de : While She Sleeps - You Are We Criticism
  11. ^ Matthias Weckmann: Metal Hammer : While She Sleeps - You Are We Criticism
  12. ↑ Nadine Schmidt: Metal.de : While She Sleeps - You Are We Criticism
  13. ↑ Björn Backes: Powermetal.de : While She Sleeps - You Are We Criticism
  14. ↑ Rob Sayce: Rock Sound : Rock Sound Top 50 Releases of the Year 2017: 10-1