Perennial (album)

Perennial is the second studio album by Australian folk musician Vera Blue (the first under the name Vera Blue). The album was announced on 15 June 2017, and released on 21 July 2017.

Perennial
Studio album by
Vera Blue
Released21 July 2017
Length44:52
LabelUniversal Music Australia
Vera Blue chronology
Fingertips
(2016)		 Perennial
(2017)		 Lady Powers Live at the Forum
(2018)
Singles from Perennial
  1. "Private"
    Released: 17 February 2017
  2. "Mended"
    Released: 26 May 2017
  3. "Regular Touch"
    Released: 14 July 2017
  4. "First Week [1]"
    Released: 8 December 2017
  5. "Lady Powers [2]"
    Released: 2 March 2018

Upon announcement, Vera Blue said: "Perennial is a term for plants that come back year after year, and I like to relate that to memory, feelings and emotions. It's what the record is all about; relationships can be very cyclical, or never-ending, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just part of life."[3] The album was recorded between Sydney and Los Angeles and is arranged into three chapters which chronologically trace the development of the songwriter.[4]

Vera Blue promoted the album with a national tour across Australia from July to September 2017.[5]

At the J Awards of 2017, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.[6]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Herald Sun[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Renowned for Sound[9]
Beat(favourable)[10]

Cameron Adams from the Herald Sun said: "Pavey and her creative partners Andy and Thom Mak fire up a deep house beat, where the bass goes low while Pavey's voice hovers above, detailing how with a few billion humans on the earth she can afford to be choosy. "Magazine" and "Regular Touch" are what you could even call bangers — it's as if Pavey is cutting out the middle man and remixing herself ... and it works." He added: ""First Week" has flashbacks to her Simon and Garfunkel origins, before the gentle verses are punctured by an epic chorus that sounds like New Order playing a gig in a church. Yet there's still gorgeous harmonies and melodies in the mix and personal lyrics about a bespoke heartbreak song. "Said Goodbye to Your Mother" captures Pavey's precise way with words, a bruised relationship post-mortem that is as raw musically as it is emotionally, while "Fools" follows the Troye Sivan organic electronic blueprint in style. "Pedestal" secures a sweet spot between Kate Bush, Coldplay and Radiohead... But there's also brutally tender moments like piano ballad "We Used To" and "Mended" — which manages to pull off being both anthemic and haunting all at once".[7]

Annabel Ross from Rolling Stone said "There’s nothing subdued about the dubby organ chorus on "First Week", or the calamitous, whirring sirens on "Private", and with Andy and Thom Mak producing, it's all reasonably tasteful, if reeking a little of artifice. Pavey's lyrics, meanwhile, are undoubtedly hers. She's been through a breakup and spends a good few tracks singing about it." adding "Pavey needn’t forget that her unvarnished voice has always been her biggest asset."[8]

Haydon Benfield from Renowned for Sound said "Pavey hasn’t sought to reinvent the wheel she rolled out with the EP. If anything, she has doubled down on the formula that proved so successful last year." adding "Knowing that her voice is the drawcard, and recognising the value in restraint, Pavey selectively deploys the gorgeous vocal harmonies and layers, and the surprising combinations of these with the music, throughout Perennial." [9]

Ross Maurice from Beat said "While there is a stylistic distinctiveness between individual tracks, the album is cohesive overall. Perennial is an ambitious debut. It follows a narrative of the initial rawness of a relationship which is then transformed into a celebration of renewal and vivacity."[10]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."First Week"
  • Andy Mak
  • Adam Anders
4:13
2."Give In"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Mak
  • Anders
3:41
3."Regular Touch"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Anders
  • Croome
  • Mak
  • Anders
3:28
4."We Used To"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Mak
  • Anders
3:21
5."Said Goodbye to Your Mother"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Mak
  • Anders
4:02
6."Private"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
Mak2:29
7."Lady Powers"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Anders
  • Mak
  • Anders
2:53
8."Magazine"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Anders
  • Mak
  • Anders
3:39
9."Fools"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
Mak3:14
10."Overachiever"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Anders
  • Mak
  • Anders
3:39
11."Pedestal/Cover Me"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Mak
  • Anders
5:08
12."Mended"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Anders
  • Samuel Telford
  • Mak
  • Macken
  • Anders
5:05
Total length:44:52
iTunes edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Settle"
  • Pavey
  • A. Macken
  • T. Macken
  • Croome
3:40
14."Hold"
Pavey
Mak4:08
Total length:52:40

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 6

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label Catalogue
Australia 21 July 2017 Digital download,[12] CD[13] Universal Music Australia 5766890
1 September 2017 Vinyl[14] Universal Music Australia 5775089
gollark: Humans can't do the fast switching thing well.
gollark: Your computer is running several thousand tasks "at once" right now. Multiple cores aren't even needed, it just context-switches really fast.
gollark: It might do that, or you might just get one stream of consciousness/parallel task split across both.
gollark: That might be doable. The corpus callopsum thing between the two hemispheres is apparently not a very high-bandwidth link.
gollark: Then you'll probably just have problems with the brain not having control logic for the new ones. Also, is there *room*?

References
  1. "First Week (acoustic)". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  2. "Lady Powers (single)". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  3. "VERA BLUE ON A PERENNIAL HIGH". auspOp. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  4. "Vera Blue Announces Debut Album Details & Drops Brand New Music Vid". The Music. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  5. "Vera Blue Tour". The Music. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  6. "The J Award 2017". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  7. Adams, Cameron (20 July 2017). "Latest Album Reviews: Vera Blue, Henry Saiz, Coldplay, Foster The People & Dizzee Rascal". news.com.au. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  8. ROSS, ANNABEL (18 July 2017). "Vera Blue Perenial". news.com.au. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  9. Benfield, Haydon (31 July 2017). "ALBUM REVIEW: VERA BLUE – PERENNIAL". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  10. Maurice, Ross (31 July 2017). "Vera Blue : Perennial". Beat. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  11. "Australiancharts.com – Vera Blue – Perennial". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  12. "Perennial by Vera Blue (DD)". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  13. "Perennial (Limited Edition) (CD)". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  14. "Perennial (Limited Edition JB Hi-Fi Exclusive Bone Vinyl)". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
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