Let the Road (album)

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Let the Road is the debut studio album by British pop band Rixton, and was released on 3 March 2015. The album was released via School Boy Records, Giant Little Man, Mad Love Records and Interscope Records.[1] It was preceded by the release of the UK number-one hit single "Me and My Broken Heart", as well as the second international single, "Wait on Me".

Background
The band premiered deluxe edition bonus track "Make Out" on October 22, 2013 in the form of a music video which lampooned famous music videos such as "Stay" by Rihanna, "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus, "Roar" by Katy Perry, "Applause" by Lady Gaga, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and "Beauty and a Beat" by Justin Bieber.[2] As well as the lead single, "Me and My Broken Heart", three other songs from the album were released as part of an EP on March 18, 2014 - "Hotel Ceiling", "We All Want the Same Thing" and "Appreciated". Rixton said of the EP, "It's overwhelming to have gone from writing songs in Danny's caravan to seeing the world performing our music. We've worked extremely hard and have had a blast recording the EP. The songs are very eclectic and we think there's something for everyone!".[3]

"Wait on Me" was then premiered as the second single to be released from the album. "Whole" was also pre-released prior to the album's launch, being made available as part of the soundtrack to the film "The Giver". An acoustic version of "Speakerphone" was uploaded to the band's official Vevo account in September 2014, while both "I Like Girls" and "Beautiful Excuses" were premiered live during the summer of 2014, with live versions being uploaded to YouTube. This leaves the only track yet to be premiered from the album as the title track, "Let the Road".

Recording
The album was predominantly co-written and produced by Benny Blanco, with additional production from the likes of ROBOPOP, Ross Golan, Steve Mac, Daniel Wilkin and Chris Sclafani. Band members Roche, Wilkin, Morgan and Bagnall only have a co-writing credit on one song on the entire album, "Whole". Ed Sheeran, Mike Posner and Rob Thomas all have co-writing credits on the album. The Sheeran-penned "Hotel Ceiling" was the first song written for the album.[4] The British deluxe edition of the album includes a live version of "Wait on Me" as a bonus track, while the American version features a remix of "Me and My Broken Heart". Lead singer Jake Roche said of the album: "Let The Road is something we're incredibly proud of. Songs have survived 6 years to make it on this album, back when me and Danny were writing in the caravan having no idea where they would end up. We feel incredibly humbled to be able to share this with our fans, and we hope you enjoy listening to it, just as much as we enjoyed making it."[1]

Singles

 * "Me and My Broken Heart" was released as the first single released from Let the Road on 14 March 2014. The single was pre-released as part of a four-track EP in the United Stateson 18 March 2014.[5] The single peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The music video features the band being arrested after being conned during a card game.


 * "Wait on Me" was released as the second single from the album on 23 July 2014.[6] The music video premiered on October 8, 2014 in the form of an interactive video, where the viewer is able to choose the direction that the video will take.[7]


 * "Hotel Ceiling" was released as the third single from the album on 21 January 2015.[8]


 * "We All Want the Same Thing" was released as the fourth single from the album on 31 May 2015.[9]

Critical reception
Let the Road received positive responses from critics. Chuck Campbell from Knoxville News Sentinel gave the album 3 and a half stars out of 5 and stated that "the best takeaway from Let the Road is that the release is solid. It's not frontloaded with highlights and then filled out with forgettable fluff; if anything, it only gets stronger as it goes. The album reached no.32 In the US Billboard charts