Owl John (album)

Owl John is the only album by Owl John, the solo musical project by Frightened Rabbit vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison.[1] It was released on Atlantic Records on 4 August 2014 (perhaps coincidentally, the date also being International Owl Awareness Day since 2011).

Owl John
Studio album by
Owl John
Released4 August 2014 (2014-08-04)
StudioAtlantic Studios, Hollywood; Creature Club Studios, Echo Park; Fluorescent Egg, Laurel Canyon
GenreIndie rock
LabelAtlantic Records
ProducerAndy Monaghan

The music for the album was written and recorded on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, in early 2014, with Hutchison working with Frightened Rabbit's Andy Monaghan and Simon Liddell. He then moved to Los Angeles, where the lyrics were written and recorded. Scottish musician Peter Kelly plays drums on the album, which was mastered by Mazen Murad.[2][3][4]

A further two tracks were recorded for the project but not included on the album: the Christmas song "It Gets Cold", released on Soundcloud under the artist name Christmas John, and "All I Want for Me Is You", which features Ed Harcourt on piano.

Three music videos were released for songs from the album: "Los Angeles, Be Kind", "Hate Music" and "Red Hand". All were directed by Storme Whitby-Grubb and Charles Gibson.

In 2019, Coldplay sampled "Los Angeles, Be Kind" in its song "Champion of the World".

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Drowned in Sound[6]
MusicOMH[7]
SputnikMusic[8]
AllMusic[9]
DIY Magazine[10]

On its release the album received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 76, based on 13 reviews which is categorised as "Generally Favourable Reviews".[5]

In other media
  • The Royals featured "Los Angeles, Be Kind" and "Songs About Roses" in its first season (2015).
  • "Cold Creeps" appeared on the Shameless season 6 episode "Going Once, Going Twice" (January 2016).

Track listing

All lyrics by Scott Hutchison and all music by Andy Monaghan, Scott Hutchison and Simon Liddell.

No.TitleLength
1."Cold Creeps"4:25
2."Two"3:46
3."Hate Music"2:48
4."Songs About Roses"3:50
5."Los Angeles, Be Kind"3:40
6."Ten Tons of Silence"3:14
7."A Good Reason to Grow Old"4:12
8."Red Hand"3:30
9."Don't Take Off the Gloves"3:24
10."Stupid Boy"2:29

Charts
Chart Peak
position
UK Album Chart 99[11]
gollark: I'm planning to avoid the US eternally.
gollark: I guess shipping stuff there is hard.
gollark: What about that random African place with no government?
gollark: He did ask some weird things at some point, but not that as far as I know? Lots of random sacrifices and murder in general.
gollark: The one thing with a baby's ribs being crushed is obvious evidence that the entire idea is bad but one idiot in Christianity is an isolated case?

References
  1. "Interview: Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison". Village Voice. 14 October 2008.
  2. Bermingham, Finbarr (1 August 2014). "Saving Grace: Owl John on the record that rescued Frightened Rabbit". The Skinny.
  3. Hutchison, Scott (1 August 2014). "Listen to the new Owl John album from Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison - Exclusive Guide". Q Magazine.
  4. Hannah, Andrew (5 August 2014). "Scott Hutchison on Owl John: "I would love it if this album appealed to people who hate Frightened Rabbit"". The Line of Best Fit.
  5. "Reviews for Owl John by Owl John". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  6. Reynolds, Aidan. "Album Review: Owl John - Owl John". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  7. Dowden, Neil. "Owl John - Owl John". Music OMH. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  8. "Review: Owl John - Owl John". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  9. Kerr, Scott. "Owl John - Owl John". All Music. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  10. Morris, Hugh. "Owl John - Owl John". DIY Mag. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  11. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 10 August 2014 - 16 August 2014". Official Charts. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
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