Wikipedia

Smiling with No Teeth

Smiling with No Teeth is the debut studio album by Australian musician Genesis Owusu, released on 5 March 2021 through Ourness. The album features a guest appearance from Kirin J. Callinan and production from Callinan, Andrew Klippel, Dave Hammer, Harvey Sutherland, Joe LaPorta, and Matt Corby.

Smiling with No Teeth
Studio album by
Genesis Owusu
Released5 March 2021
Genre
Length53:54
Label
  • Ourness
  • House Anxiety
Producer
Genesis Owusu chronology
Cardrive EP
(2017) 		Smiling with No Teeth
(2021) 		Struggler
(2023)
Singles from Smiling with No Teeth
  1. "Don't Need You"
    Released: 15 May 2020
  2. "Whip Cracker"
    Released: 6 June 2020
  3. "The Other Black Dog"
    Released: 19 November 2020
  4. "Gold Chains"
    Released: 19 February 2021
  5. "Drown"
    Released: 3 March 2021
  6. "Waitin' On Ya'"
    Released: December 2021[1]
Singles from Missing Molars
  1. "Same Thing"
    Released: 2 June 2021
  2. "The Fall"
    Released: 14 July 2021

Preceded by five singles—"Don't Need You", "Whip Cracker", "The Other Black Dog", "Gold Chains", and "Drown" (featuring Kirin J. Callinan)—Smiling with No Teeth debuted at number 27 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

At the 2021 ARIA Music Awards, the album won Album of the Year, Best Hip Hop Release and Best Independent Release while Andrew Klippel and Dave Hammer won Producer of the Year. Owusu was nominated for Best Artist and Kofi Anash & Bailey Howard were nominated for Best Cover Art.[2]

At the J Awards of 2021, the album won the Australian Album of the Year[3][4] and in March 2022, won the Australian Music Prize[5] and Best Record at the 2022 Rolling Stone Australia Awards.[6] at the AIR Awards of 2022, it won Independent Album of the Year.[7]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10[8]
Metacritic86/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
DIY     [10]
Earmilk9/10[11]
Gigwise          [12]
Loud and Quiet9/10[13]
musicOMH     [14]
NME     [15]
The Arts Desk     [16]
The Independent     [17]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[18]
The Sydney Morning Herald     [19]

Smiling with No Teeth received critical acclaim.[20] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 86 based on six reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[9] The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.1 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[8]

Mark Salisbury of Earmilk praised the album, saying that it "is a visceral sonic attack on the senses and should cement Genesis Owusu as an international renaissance man".[11] Mike Vinti of Loud and Quiet said, "A triumph from top to bottom, Smiling with No Teeth sets the stage for Genesis Owusu to become a potentially generation-defining star".[13] John Murphy of musicOMH said, "it's an album that's easy to feel intimidated by at first listen, due to its sheer scale and ambition. However, after a few listens you'll be in no doubt that Genesis Owusu is one of the most exciting names of the year".[14] Steven Loftin of The Line of Best Fit said, "Owusu's debut offering not only manages to deftly balance style with substance, but does so with a jubilance that gives as much reason to curl up your own most toothy grin".[18] Simone Ziaziaris of The Sydney Morning Herald said, "via forays into multiple musical genres, Smiling with No Teeth creates a space both for Owusu to express his own personal experiences, and for others to question nuanced complexities".[19] Jenessa Williams of DIY said, "like Gorillaz, Outkast or even The Weeknd before him, he plays well with dark and sinister, throwing theatrical voice in a musical hall of mirrors with real versatility".[10] Cyclone Wehner of NME said, "with Smiling With No Teeth, Genesis Owusu has delivered a riveting album that underscores the power of self-knowledge, perspective and art – one that should be cranked loud".[15] Thomas H Green of The Arts Desk found that the album "brings to mind an overdose of references, but the musical magpie-ism is more Prince than pastiche".[16] Rachel Brodsky of The Independent said, "with strong, clear-eyed subtext, overlaid by compositions that touch on every influence from TV on the Radio to Prince, Childish Gambino and Radiohead, Smiling With No Teeth is not so much an album as it is a memoir".[17] Sofie Lindevall of Gigwise said that the album "has plenty of not only good, but great, songs and whether you are a fan of high energy hip-hop, raw punk-esque guitars or soulful R&B, there is something on the album for you".[12]

Mid-year lists

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Smiling with No Teeth on mid-year lists
Publication List Rank Ref.
The Music The Music's Top 25 Albums Of 2021 (So Far) —
[21]

Year-end lists

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Smiling with No Teeth on end of year lists
Publication List Rank Ref.
Double J The 50 Best Albums of 2021 11
[22]
NME The 50 Best Albums of 2021 29
[23]
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2021 50
[24]

Commercial performance

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Smiling with No Teeth debuted and peaked at number 27 on the ARIA Albums Chart for the chart dated 15 March 2021.[25]

The album also debuted at number 3 on the ARIA Top 20 Vinyl Albums Chart,[26] and at number 5 on the ARIA Top 20 Australian Albums Chart.[27]

Track listing

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Smiling with No Teeth track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."On the Move!"
  • Klippel
  • Dave Hammer
1:47
2."The Other Black Dog"
  • Klippel
  • James Dring
  • Hammer
4:23
3."Centrefold"
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
3:16
4."Waitin' on Ya"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
Klippel5:44
5."Don't Need You"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Haddad
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
3:05
6."Drown" (featuring Kirin J. Callinan)
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Haddad
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
2:57
7."Gold Chains"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
3:38
8."Smiling with No Teeth"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
Klippel4:59
9."I Don't See Colour"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
Klippel2:56
10."Black Dogs!"
Corby2:00
11."Whip Cracker"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
Klippel4:41
12."Easy"
  • Ansah
  • Harvey Sutherland
Sutherland3:02
13."A Song About Fishing"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
3:25
14."No Looking Back"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
Klippel3:42
15."Bye Bye"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
4:09
Total length:53:44
Missing Molars (Swnt Deluxe) track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Fall"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Haddad
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
2:18
2."What Do I Fear?"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Haddad
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
3:34
3."Same Thing"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
3:12
4."Fallen Branches"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
4:13
5."Crosses"
  • Ansah
  • Klippel
  • Callinan
  • Di Francesco
  • Sudek
  • Klippel
  • Hammer
3:11
Total length:70:12

Notes

  • The deluxe version removes the outro of "The Other Black Dog", changing the length from 4:23 to 3:30

Personnel

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Musicians

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Backing band

Other musicians

  • Dave Hammer – writing (5)
  • David Haddad – writing (1, 6)
  • Harvey Sutherland – writing (12)
  • Matt Corby – writing (10)

Technical

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  • Andrew Klippel – production (1–9, 11, 13–15)
  • Dave Hammer – production (1, 3, 5–7, 9, 13, 15), engineering (4, 8, 14)
  • Harvey Sutherland – production (12)
  • Joe LaPorta – production (5), engineering (1, 3–4, 6–10, 12–15)
  • Matt Corby – production (10)
  • Andrew Dawson – engineering (10)
  • George Nicholas – engineering (1–9, 13–15)
  • James Dring – engineering (2)
  • Konstantin Kersting – engineering (12)
  • Simon Cohen – engineering (2–4, 7–9, 11, 13–14)

Charts

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Chart performance for Smiling with No Teeth
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[28] 27

References

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  1. ^ "Watch Genesis Owusu get lost on an island in new "Waitin' On Ya'" video". NME Australia. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  2. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (20 October 2021). "ARIA Awards nominees revealed: Amy Shark & Genesis Owusu lead the charge". The Music Network. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  3. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (1 November 2021). "Triple j reveals J Awards nominees". The Music Network. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Genesis Owusu leads this year's 2021 J Awards winners". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Genesis Owusu has won the $30,000 Australian Music Prize". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  6. ^ "All the winners from the 2022 Rolling Stone Australia Awards". The Music Network. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  7. ^ Tyler Jenke (5 August 2022). "Genesis Owusu Wins Big At The 2022 AIR Awards". MusicFeeds. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Smiling With No Teeth by Genesis Owusu reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Smiling with No Teeth by Genesis Owusu". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b Williams, Jenessa. "Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth | Reviews". DIY. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b Salisbury, Mark (8 March 2021). "Album Review: Genesis Owusu—Smiling With No Teeth". Earmilk. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  12. ^ a b Lindevall, Sofie (4 March 2021). "Album Review: Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth | Gigwise". Gigwise. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  13. ^ a b Vinti, Mike. "Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b Murphy, John (5 March 2021). "Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth | Album Reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  15. ^ a b Wehner, Cyclone (5 March 2021). "Genesis Owusu – 'Smiling With No Teeth' review: a transcendent conceptual opus". NME. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  16. ^ a b Green, Thomas H (6 March 2021). "Album: Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  17. ^ a b Brodsky, Rachel (4 March 2021). "Album reviews: Genesis Owusu and Zara Larsson". The Independent. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  18. ^ a b Loftin, Steven (1 March 2021). "Smiling With No Teeth finds Genesis Owusu perfectly balancing style with substance". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  19. ^ a b Ziaziaris, Simone (5 March 2021). "Music reviews: Kings of Leon, Jane Weaver, Genesis Owusu and more". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Gallery: The 2022 Sailor Jerry Rolling Stone Australia Awards". Rolling Stone Australia. 10 April 2022. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  21. ^ "Are these the best albums of 2021 so far?". The Music. 1 July 2021. Archived from the original on 1 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  22. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2021". Double J. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  23. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2021". NME. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  24. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2021". Paste. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  25. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums for week of 15 March 2021". Australian Recording Industry Association. 15 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  26. ^ "ARIA Top 20 Vinyl Albums for week of 15 March 2021". Australian Recording Industry Association. 15 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  27. ^ "ARIA Top 20 Australian Albums for week of 15 March 2021". Australian Recording Industry Association. 15 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  28. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2021.

Notes

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  1. ^ Tracks 1–9, 11, 13–15
  2. ^ Tracks 1, 3, 5–7, 9, 13, 15
  3. ^ Track 12
  4. ^ Track 5
  5. ^ Track 10
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