To Love Is to Live is the debut studio album by Jehnny Beth, some of the songs in which were co-produced with Flood. It was released in June 2020 on Caroline Records. The Guardian described the record as "a restless album that thrives on contrast: from delicate piano ballads to thrashing metal".[5] The album was released to critical acclaim.
Beth presented it as a collaborative album rather than a solo album, saying it was also a personal record. The record features several collaborations. Atticus Ross co-wrote and co-produced the opening track "I Am". Romy Croft of the xx recorded backing vocals on "We Will Sin Together" and co-composed the tracks "Heroine" and "French Countryside". Joe Talbot of Idles co-wrote and sings with Beth the lyrics of "How Could You", while actor Cillian Murphy recites poetry on "A Place Above".
Beth had previously recorded two albums with John & Jehn, and two albums with the band Savages. To Love Is to Live is her fifth studio album with long time partner, collaborator, and producer Johnny Hostile. She hadn't planned to work on a solo album until January 2016, when she woke up in the middle of the night and learned that David Bowie had died. She then listened to Blackstar and the idea to release an album on her own became a necessity. It reminded her that albums outlived artists, so she worked on her new record “as if I was going to die.”[6]To Love Is to Live was composed over a period of several years. She wrote the lyrics first in 2016 and each song was orchestrated many times differently. She selected certain emotions of each version.
Q notes that the album includes both "haunting" ballads such as the piano led "French Countryside" and industrial beats like on the "fierce" single "I'm the Man".[7]The Guardian wrote that "there’s the glitchy fury" of "How Could You".[5]The Independent described "Flower" as a whispered single and "Innocence” as a number with half-spoken vocals and industrial noise.[8] Reviewer Elisa Bray noted that "The Rooms” is "one of the most tender tracks on the album" with "sparse piano, cello, muffled vocal samples and saxophone", with a soft and melancholic voice.[8]
ArtworkEdit
The sleeve was a collaboration of several months with Tom Hingston (who had previously conceived the artworks of Massive Attack's Mezzanine and Nick Cave's Push the Sky Away). Beth had mentioned to him that she had started doing boxing workouts and that she was fascinated by some photographs of bodybuilders. She worked with a choreographer during a one-day photo session and they then picked the pose that was the most representative of her on stage.
ReleaseEdit
The album was released on 12 June 2020. It was issued on several formats: CD, black vinyl, red vinyl (limited edition for North America),[9] and white vinyl (limited edition for the UK and Europe).[10]
To Love Is to Live was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 80, based on 19 reviews.[11]
In a review rated 9 out of 10, Pop Matters hailed the album saying, "To Love Is to Live is an emotional essay in which Jehnny Beth has created one of the most compelling and sincere albums of the year so far".[17]NME lauded it writing, Beth's solo debut "pulses with power and sensitivity", including tracks such as "Flower" described as "a trip-hop ode to a dancer" and "We’ll Sin Together" arranged with "delicate synths".[15]AllMusic hailed "the complexity within Beth's songwriting" and "the sheer intensity" of the songs, including "the inclusion of a piano ballad as heartfelt and classically beautiful". Reviewer Heather Phares concluded: "[it] is an unabashedly, thrillingly wild ride, and as Beth throws everything she has at her audience, she fully reveals the multitudes she contains".[12]The Independent praised the record for, "taking you on a journey which reveals new landmarks and perspectives each time you listen, To Love is to Live is a compelling and real cinematic picture of the emotions that life throws at us. It’s a journey you will want to relive".[8]Q rated it 4 out of 5 stars and presented it as a "majestic solo outing", noting that the album was eclectic, including dreamy ballads and "fist-clenched chorusing". Reviever Niall Doherty qualified it as a "masterful record".[7]
^"Jehnny Beth - "I'm The Man" (Official Video)". Jehnny Beth on YouTube. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^"Jehnny Beth - "Flower" (Official Video)". Jehnny Beth on YouTube. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^"Jehnny Beth - "Heroine" (Official Video)". Jehnny Beth on YouTube. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^"Jehnny Beth - "We Will Sin Together" (Official Video)". Jehnny Beth on YouTube. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^ abcCliff, Aimee (12 June 2020). "Jehnny Beth: To Love Is to Live review – solo Savage defiant and intimate". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^Reilly, Phoebe (5 February 2020). "Savages' Jehnny Beth Is Going Solo". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
^ abcDoherty, Niall. To Love Is to Live [Q Review]. p. 99. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ abcdBray, Elisa (11 June 2020). "Album reviews: Jehnny Beth – 'To Love is to Live'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^"To Love Is to Live - Red vinyl". Discogs. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
^"To Love Is to Live - White vinyl". Discogs. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
^ ab"Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^ abPhares, Heather. "To Love Is to Live [AllMusic Review]". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^Berridge, Megan (12 June 2020). "Clash Magazine Review". Clash. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^Bell, Kaelen (10 June 2020). "Savages' Jehnny Beth Finds Power in Softness on Solo Debut 'To Love Is to Live'". Exclaim!. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^ abTrendell, Andrew (12 June 2020). "Jehnny Beth – 'To Love Is To Live' review: Savages singer's solo debut pulses with power and sensitivity". NME. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^Horn, Olivia (16 June 2020). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^ abB, Sassons (12 June 2020). "Savages' Jehnny Beth Creates One of the Most Compelling Albums of 2020 with 'To Love Is to Live'". Pop Matters. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^Grow, Kory (11 June 2020). "Jehnny Beth Beautifully Creates Her Own Apocalypse on Solo Debut 'To Love Is to Live'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
^"Ultratop.be – Jehnny Beth – To Love Is To Love" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
Store. Universal Music. Jehnny Beth. (Black vinyl only, CD and fanzine)
October 21, 2023
love, live, debut, studio, album, jehnny, beth, some, songs, which, were, produced, with, flood, released, june, 2020, caroline, records, guardian, described, record, restless, album, that, thrives, contrast, from, delicate, piano, ballads, thrashing, metal, a. To Love Is to Live is the debut studio album by Jehnny Beth some of the songs in which were co produced with Flood It was released in June 2020 on Caroline Records The Guardian described the record as a restless album that thrives on contrast from delicate piano ballads to thrashing metal 5 The album was released to critical acclaim To Love Is to LiveStudio album by Jehnny BethReleased12 June 2020 2020 06 12 GenreAlternative rock industrialLength38 37LabelCaroline RecordsProducerJohnny HostileFloodAtticus RossAdam BartlettSingles from To Love Is to Live I m the Man Released 3 December 2019 1 Flower Released 12 February 2020 2 Heroine Released 15 May 2020 3 We Will Sin Together Released 12 June 2020 4 Beth presented it as a collaborative album rather than a solo album saying it was also a personal record The record features several collaborations Atticus Ross co wrote and co produced the opening track I Am Romy Croft of the xx recorded backing vocals on We Will Sin Together and co composed the tracks Heroine and French Countryside Joe Talbot of Idles co wrote and sings with Beth the lyrics of How Could You while actor Cillian Murphy recites poetry on A Place Above Contents 1 Background writing and music 2 Artwork 3 Release 4 Critical reception 5 Track listing 6 Charts 7 Personnel 8 References 9 External linksBackground writing and music EditBeth had previously recorded two albums with John amp Jehn and two albums with the band Savages To Love Is to Live is her fifth studio album with long time partner collaborator and producer Johnny Hostile She hadn t planned to work on a solo album until January 2016 when she woke up in the middle of the night and learned that David Bowie had died She then listened to Blackstar and the idea to release an album on her own became a necessity It reminded her that albums outlived artists so she worked on her new record as if I was going to die 6 To Love Is to Live was composed over a period of several years She wrote the lyrics first in 2016 and each song was orchestrated many times differently She selected certain emotions of each version Q notes that the album includes both haunting ballads such as the piano led French Countryside and industrial beats like on the fierce single I m the Man 7 The Guardian wrote that there s the glitchy fury of How Could You 5 The Independent described Flower as a whispered single and Innocence as a number with half spoken vocals and industrial noise 8 Reviewer Elisa Bray noted that The Rooms is one of the most tender tracks on the album with sparse piano cello muffled vocal samples and saxophone with a soft and melancholic voice 8 Artwork EditThe sleeve was a collaboration of several months with Tom Hingston who had previously conceived the artworks of Massive Attack s Mezzanine and Nick Cave s Push the Sky Away Beth had mentioned to him that she had started doing boxing workouts and that she was fascinated by some photographs of bodybuilders She worked with a choreographer during a one day photo session and they then picked the pose that was the most representative of her on stage Release EditThe album was released on 12 June 2020 It was issued on several formats CD black vinyl red vinyl limited edition for North America 9 and white vinyl limited edition for the UK and Europe 10 Critical reception EditProfessional ratingsAggregate scoresSourceRatingMetacritic80 100 11 Review scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 12 Clash9 10 13 Exclaim 7 10 14 The Guardian nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 5 The Independent nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 8 NME nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 15 Pitchfork7 7 10 16 Pop Matters9 10 17 Q nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 7 Rolling Stone nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 18 To Love Is to Live was met with generally favorable reviews from critics At Metacritic which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications this release received an average score of 80 based on 19 reviews 11 In a review rated 9 out of 10 Pop Matters hailed the album saying To Love Is to Live is an emotional essay in which Jehnny Beth has created one of the most compelling and sincere albums of the year so far 17 NME lauded it writing Beth s solo debut pulses with power and sensitivity including tracks such as Flower described as a trip hop ode to a dancer and We ll Sin Together arranged with delicate synths 15 AllMusic hailed the complexity within Beth s songwriting and the sheer intensity of the songs including the inclusion of a piano ballad as heartfelt and classically beautiful Reviewer Heather Phares concluded it is an unabashedly thrillingly wild ride and as Beth throws everything she has at her audience she fully reveals the multitudes she contains 12 The Independent praised the record for taking you on a journey which reveals new landmarks and perspectives each time you listen To Love is to Live is a compelling and real cinematic picture of the emotions that life throws at us It s a journey you will want to relive 8 Q rated it 4 out of 5 stars and presented it as a majestic solo outing noting that the album was eclectic including dreamy ballads and fist clenched chorusing Reviever Niall Doherty qualified it as a masterful record 7 Track listing EditNo TitleMusicProducer s Length1 I Am Atticus RossJohnny HostileJehnny BethAtticus RossJohnny Hostile3 422 Innocence J HostileJ BethAdam BartlettFloodJ Hostile3 223 Flower J HostileJ BethTristane MesquitaA BartlettFloodJ Hostile3 204 We Will Sin Together J HostileJ BethJ Hostile3 005 A Place Above featuring Cillian Murphy J HostileJ BethJ Hostile1 136 I m the Man A RossJ HostileJ Beth 2 397 The Rooms J BethA BartlettFloodJ Hostile4 198 Heroine J HostileJ BethRomy CroftA BartlettFloodJ HostileAnders Trentemoller4 029 How Could You J HostileJ BethJoe TalbotA BartlettJ Hostile3 0010 French Countryside J HostileJ BethR CroftA BartlettFloodJ Hostile3 5811 Human A RossJ HostileJ BethA RossJ Hostile6 02Total length 38 37Charts EditChart performance for To Love Is To Live Chart PeakpositionBelgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 19 136Scottish Albums OCC 20 28Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 21 96UK Albums OCC 22 95Personnel EditCredits adapted from Tidal 23 Musicians Jehnny Beth lead vocals all tracks piano tracks 7 10 Johnny Hostile acoustic guitar tracks 3 bass guitar tracks 1 2 3 4 8 9 10 11 guitar tracks 1 9 piano tracks 1 2 4 5 8 11 backing vocalist tracks 9 11 Tom Herbet double bass track 7 Kirk Hellie guitar tracks 1 11 Nick Chuba mandolin track 1 cello track 11 keyboard track 11 Wendy Killmann drums tracks 2 3 8 Romy Croft vocalist track 4 Cillian Murphy vocalist track 5 Iggor Cavalera drums track 7 Jorja Chalmers saxophone track 7 Joe Talbot vocalist track 9 Production Atticus Ross producer tracks 1 2 11 Johnny Hostile producer tracks 1 2 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 programmer tracks 3 8 Adam Bartlet producer tracks 3 7 8 9 10 programmer track 8 Flood producer tracks 2 7 8 10 programmer track 3 Richie Kennedy programmer track 3 Tom Herbet mixing assistant all tracks Mike Bozzi engineer all tracks Caesar Edmunds mixing all tracks Alan Moulder mixing all tracks Oli Kraus string arrange tracks 1 11 Shuta Shinoda engineer tracks 7 10 Anders Trentemoller producer track 8 References Edit Jehnny Beth I m The Man Official Video Jehnny Beth on YouTube 3 December 2019 Retrieved 8 July 2020 Jehnny Beth Flower Official Video Jehnny Beth on YouTube 12 February 2020 Retrieved 8 July 2020 Jehnny Beth Heroine Official Video Jehnny Beth on YouTube 15 May 2020 Retrieved 8 July 2020 Jehnny Beth We Will Sin Together Official Video Jehnny Beth on YouTube 12 June 2020 Retrieved 8 July 2020 a b c Cliff Aimee 12 June 2020 Jehnny Beth To Love Is to Live review solo Savage defiant and intimate The Guardian Retrieved 8 July 2020 Reilly Phoebe 5 February 2020 Savages Jehnny Beth Is Going Solo The New York Times Retrieved 10 July 2020 a b c Doherty Niall To Love Is to Live QReview p 99 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help a b c d Bray Elisa 11 June 2020 Album reviews Jehnny Beth To Love is to Live The Independent Archived from the original on 21 June 2022 Retrieved 8 July 2020 To Love Is to Live Red vinyl Discogs Retrieved 2 July 2020 To Love Is to Live White vinyl Discogs Retrieved 2 July 2020 a b Metacritic Review Metacritic Retrieved 8 July 2020 a b Phares Heather To Love Is to Live AllMusic Review AllMusic Retrieved 8 July 2020 Berridge Megan 12 June 2020 Clash Magazine Review Clash Retrieved 8 July 2020 Bell Kaelen 10 June 2020 Savages Jehnny Beth Finds Power in Softness on Solo Debut To Love Is to Live Exclaim Retrieved 8 July 2020 a b Trendell Andrew 12 June 2020 Jehnny Beth To Love Is To Live review Savages singer s solo debut pulses with power and sensitivity NME Retrieved 8 July 2020 Horn Olivia 16 June 2020 Pitchfork Review Pitchfork Retrieved 8 July 2020 a b B Sassons 12 June 2020 Savages Jehnny Beth Creates One of the Most Compelling Albums of 2020 with To Love Is to Live Pop Matters Retrieved 8 July 2020 Grow Kory 11 June 2020 Jehnny Beth Beautifully Creates Her Own Apocalypse on Solo Debut To Love Is to Live Rolling Stone Retrieved 8 July 2020 Ultratop be Jehnny Beth To Love Is To Love in French Hung Medien Retrieved 8 July 2020 Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 8 July 2020 Swisscharts com Jehnny Beth To Love Is To Love Hung Medien Retrieved 8 July 2020 Official Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 8 July 2020 To Love Is To Live Jehnny Beth Tidal Retrieved 8 July 2020 External links EditTo Love Is to Live at Discogs list of releases Store Universal Music Jehnny Beth Black vinyl only CD and fanzine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title To Love Is to Live amp oldid 1172201555, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
