Black Friday (Tom Odell album)

(Redirected from The Orchestra Takes Flight)

Black Friday is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter Tom Odell. It was released on 26 January 2024 through UROK Management. The title track "Black Friday" was nominated for the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically on Thursday 23 May 2024.[1]

Black Friday
Studio album by
Released26 January 2024 (2024-01-26)
Length28:34
LabelUROK
Producer
  • Tom Odell
  • Cityfall
Tom Odell chronology
Best Day of My Life
(2022)
Black Friday
(2024)
Singles from Black Friday
  1. "Black Friday"
    Released: 22 September 2023
  2. "Somebody Else"
    Released: 13 October 2023
  3. "Answer Phone"
    Released: 17 November 2023
  4. "The End"
    Released: 22 December 2023

Background

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Recording took place at Odell's studio in London, mainly consisting of him "just sitting on the sofa" with his guitar and recording vocals in order to "capture" what they were trying to capture since other methods did not work. According to Odell, this procedure was directly inspired by the way Kurt Cobain would record music.[2] The eponymous track, released as the lead single on 22 September 2023, was written on his 32nd birthday in 2022 and deals with "admiration and love for the people" in his life as well as the "proclivity to be unkind" to himself.[3] "Black Friday" was followed-up by the singles "Somebody Else",[4] "Answer Phone"[5] and "The End".[6]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash7/10[7]
Laut.de     [8]
The Times     [9]

Writing for Laut.de, Josephine Maria Bayer thought Black Friday was neither "monotonous" nor "predictable" with Odell surpassing himself as a songwriter and arranger.[8] Emma Harrison at Clash noted that Odell takes him and the listener "on an emotional and intimate journey" with moments that are "enthralling" and some that are "a bit too melancholy and a smidge lacklustre".[7] Being more critical of the record, Will Hodgkinson of The Times admitted that, despite "structure" and "interludes of orchestras tuning up", the album did not move them, calling it "all so humourless".[9]

Track listing

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Black Friday track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Answer Phone"Tom Odell2:40
2."Black Friday"
  • Odell
  • Laurie Blundell
  • Max Clilverd
3:40
3."Loving You Will Be the Death of Me"
  • Odell
  • Blundell
  • Jonny Coffer
2:11
4."The Orchestra Tunes Up"Odell0:49
5."Spinning"
  • Odell
  • Blundell
2:11
6."The End of the Summer"
  • Odell
  • Blundell
2:07
7."The Orchestra Takes Flight"
  • Odell
  • Lucy Payne
  • Vincent Ott
0:45
8."Somebody Else"
  • Odell
  • Blundell
  • Eric Leva
3:23
9."Parties"
  • Odell
  • Blundell
  • Leva
2:15
10."The Orchestra Is Feeling Tense"Odell0:33
11."Nothing Hurts Like Love"
  • Odell
  • Blundell
  • Leva
3:51
12."Getaway" (Voice note)
  • Odell
  • Blundell
0:45
13."The End"
  • Odell
  • Blundell
  • Leva
3:24
Total length:28:34

Charts

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Chart performance for Black Friday
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10] 43
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[12] 46
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 9
French Physical Albums (SNEP)[14] 110
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 32
Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] 64
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[17] 62
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 4
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 5

References

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  1. ^ Taylor, Mark (23 April 2024). "Nominations announced for The Ivors with Amazon Music 2024". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  2. ^ Baltin, Steve (27 January 2024). "Saturday Conversation: Tom Odell On Songwriting, Fame And Literature". Forbes. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Tom Odell pulls apart his appearance on honest new song Black Friday". ZM. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  4. ^ "MTV präsentiert Tom Odell auf The Black Friday Tour 2024". MTV Germany (in German). 17 November 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  5. ^ Villacañas, Javier (20 November 2023). "Aquí está la canción que abre el próximo disco de Tom Odell: "Answer Phone", intimismo exacerbado". Cadena 100 (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  6. ^ Johnson, Christopher (13 January 2024). "Tom Odell sings the end". WECB. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  7. ^ a b Harrison, Emma (26 January 2024). "Tom Odell – Black Friday". Clash. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  8. ^ a b Bayer, Josephine Maria (26 January 2024). "Black Friday von Tom Odell". Laut.de (in German). Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b Hodgkinson, Will (24 January 2024). "Tom Odell: Black Friday review — this dreary album didn't move me". The Times. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Tom Odell – Black Friday" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Ultratop.be – Tom Odell – Black Friday" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Ultratop.be – Tom Odell – Black Friday" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Tom Odell – Black Friday" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Top Physical Albums (Week 5, 2024)". SNEP. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Odell – Black Friday" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  16. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 2 February 2024". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  17. ^ "OLiS - oficjalna lista sprzedaży - albumy" (in Polish). OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Note: Change the date to 26.01.2024–01.02.2024 under "zmień zakres od–do:". Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Tom Odell – Black Friday". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 February 2024.