| “ | The real substance of life is made up of meantimes. All that we experience between birth and death, pain and joy, heaviness and lightness, old and new, stuck and unstuck, point A and point B, and as of last year: worldwide doom and not worldwide doom. We’ve all been recently shown that the peaks and valleys of our meantimes are only amplified when we’re faced with ourselves for long enough. Time, despite it’s constant moving, can make you feel stuck when you have too much of it on your hands. It’s like a giant magnifying mirror held up to your face: not always fun to look at, but definitely shows you what’s there. I, like all of us, had endless hours to hash things out with myself and it felt suffocating until I could finally look behind me 2 years later and see all the layers I’d shed in order find a sigh of relief. | ” |
– Alessia talking about In The Meantime | ||
In The Meantime is the name of the third studio album by Alessia Cara. It was released on September 24, 2021 through Def Jam Recordings. Cara collaborated with Jon Levine, Salaam Remi and Joel Little among several other producers on the project. Deemed as a concept album based "In the meantime between life and death", the album unravels the anxieties of introspection, healing, love and self reflection.
Four songs were released to promote the album: "Sweet Dream", "Shapeshifter", "Best Days", and “You Let Me Down”, with "Sweet Dream" charting at number 51 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 chart while the latter two acted as promotional singles. In the Meantime follows Cara's EP This Summer (2019) and Holiday Stuff (2020).
Background and promotion[]
On July 2, Cara announced the release of the lead singles titled Sweet Dream and Shapeshifter, for her third studio album.[1] Both songs were released on July 15, along with a music video for Sweet Dream. Alessia decided to release two songs since the recurring theme on the album is duality.[2]
"When I finally put the pen down on this album, I noticed the thread that runs throughout it is the theme of duality. So I decided to release two songs— one for each end of that thread."
On July 23, Cara released the music video for Shapeshifter, and teased the title of the album in the video.[3] She also releasing episodes of a short series titled; Shapeshifter Studios Presents: Get Them Back or Get Them Back starting on August 16, and ending on September 9.[4][5]
The album was announced on September 2, along with an album pre-order the next day.[6] Merch was revealed the next day. The track-list was revealed on September 13.[7] Starting September 18 and ending September 23, Cara would release a snippet of each song on the album to build hype.[8][9]
A vinyl LP was released on April 8, 2022. A signed CD was also made available on Cara's webstore prior to the album's release.
Singles[]
- "Sweet Dream" was released as one of the two lead singles for the album on July 15, 2021, along with "Shapeshifter". The former of the two reached number 57 in Canada.
Promotional Singles[]
- "Best Days" was released as the first promotional single, alongside the album on September 24, 2021. Its music video was released on the same day. A remix EP, which included a new version performed with American a capella group Pentatonix, was released on January 21, 2022. Cara performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen Show, and Good Morning America.
- The second promotional single, “You Let Me Down“ was supported by a remix EP on September 23, 2022.[10] Prior to being released a promotional single, Cara released a music video for the song, directed by her brother Dario Caracciolo, on the 12, May 22.[11] During her performance at Lollapalooza, she sang the song alongside Brazilian singer Jão.[12]
Marketing[]
The album's tracklist was revealed through Cara's social media on September 13, 2021. A website dedicated to the album, and its lead single "Sweet Dream", was also launched.[13] To promote and discuss In the Meantime, Cara appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Ellen Show, among other programmes.
Critical Reception[]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.4/10 |
| Metacritic | 80/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  
|
| NME |
|
| Pitchfork | 7.1/10 |
| PopMatters | 9/10 |
| RollingStone | 
|
In the Meantime received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. On the review aggregator site Metacritic, the album holds an average score of 80 out of 100, based on five reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14] It is Cara's highest rated album on the site.
Writing for AllMusic, Andy Kellman noted that the album's tracks all have a "common" sound while opining that "from start to finish, lolling hooks flood Cara's mind as much as indecision, skepticism, and other negative thoughts ... enabling the listener to have a proper sulk that soothes."[15] Nick Levine of NME wrote that the album proves "there's still plenty of creative gas in the tank" and opined that "I Miss You, Don’t Call Me" could be "the best song she has ever written," ending his review by stating "her best days definitely lie ahead."[16] Dani Blum of Pitchfork appreciated Cara's voice and the album's themes, but felt that "she dilutes them when she relies too much on metaphor and conceit."[17] Writing for PopMatters, Jeffrey Davies called the album "sonically and lyrically her best work yet," noting that no song "ever feels like filler" while pointing out "Best Days" as one of the standout tracks.[18] Sarah Grant of Rolling Stone named the album a "mighty pop opera" that "walks us through the five stages of grief."[19]
Track listing[]
| Standard edition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Unboxing Intro" | Alessia Cara, Jon Levine | Jon Levine | 0:41 |
| 2. | "Box In The Ocean" | Alessia Cara, Jon Levine | Jon Levine | 3:16 |
| 3. | "Bluebird" | Alessia Cara, Albert Beach, Cameron Breithaupt, Charles Trenet | Cameron Bright | 3:14 |
| 4. | "Lie To Me" | Alessia Cara, Clément Langlois-Légaré, Johann Deterville, Matthew Samuels, Milos Angelov, Yannick Rastogi, Zacharie Raymond | Boi 1da, YogiTheProducer, Don Mills, Banx & Ranx | 2:31 |
| 5. | "Shapeshifter" | Alessia Cara, Salaam Remi | Salaam Remi | 3:06 |
| 6. | "Fishbowl" | Alessia Cara, Micheal Joseph Wise | Mike Wise | 3:08 |
| 7. | "I Miss You, Don’t Call Me" | Alessia Cara, Jon Levine | Jon Levine | 3:20 |
| 8. | "Middle Ground" (featuring CHIKA) | Alessia Cara, Jane Chika Oranika, Micheal Joseph Wise | Mike Wise | 3:43 |
| 9. | "Somebody Else" | Alessia Cara, Dylan Wiggins, Martin McKinney | Doc McKinney, Dylan Wiggins | 3:34 |
| 10. | "Drama Queen" | Alessia Cara, Alyssa Reid, Jamie Appleby, Micheal Joseph Wise, Nathan Ferraro, Soran Dussaigne | Mike Wise | 3:01 |
| 11. | "Clockwork" | Alessia Cara, Greg Kurstin | Greg Kurstin | 2:27 |
| 12. | "Best Days" | Alessia Cara, Jon Levine | Jon Levine | 3:31 |
| 13. | "Sweet Dream" | Alessia Cara, Jason Evigan, Jon Levine, Caroline Ailin & Spencer Stewart | Jason Evigan, Jon Levine & Spencer Stewart | 3:02 |
| 14. | "Find My Boy" | Alessia Cara, Micheal Joseph Wise | Mike Wise | 3:12 |
| 15. | "Voice In My Head" | Alessia Cara, Mathieu Jomphe Lépine | Billboard | 2:57 |
| 16. | "Slow Lie" | Alessia Cara, Jake Torrey, Jeff Halavacs | Halatrax, Jake Torrey | 2:42 |
| 17. | "You Let Me Down" | Alessia Cara, Micheal Joseph Wise | Mike Wise, Hrag Sanbalian | 3:13 |
| 18. | "Apartment Song" | Alessia Cara, Joel Little, Kyle Harvey | Joel Little | 3:41 |
| Total length: | 54:27 | |||
Gallery[]
|
"Don't you know you're no good for me?" To view the In The Meantime gallery, click here. |
References[]
- ↑ https://twitter.com/alessiacara/status/1410939228687585281?s=21
- ↑ https://twitter.com/alessiacara/status/1415499209730576386?s=21
- ↑ https://youtu.be/YyDcXK_SqJA
- ↑ https://youtu.be/8uI_6lGYGbg
- ↑ https://youtu.be/m9x8VdrUmo8
- ↑ https://twitter.com/alessiacara/status/1433550412406091777?s=21
- ↑ https://twitter.com/alessiacara/status/1437433902352773123?s=21
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CT-Vu5rp8HQ/?utm_medium=copy_link
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CULB-3SrtYR/?utm_medium=copy_link
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-let-me-down-the-remixes-ep/1645468925
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/alessiacara/videos/you-let-me-downofficial-video-out-wednesday-written-by-medirected-by-dario/407368940967862/
- ↑ https://www.universalmusic.com.br/2022/03/26/de-surpresa-alessia-cara-e-jao-cantam-juntos-no-palco-do-lollapalooza/
- ↑ https://alessiacara.glitch.ge/
- ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/music/in-the-meantime/alessia-cara
- ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-the-meantime-mw0003583891
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/alessia-cara-in-the-meantime-review-3053259
- ↑ https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/alessia-cara-in-the-meantime/
- ↑ https://www.popmatters.com/alessia-cara-in-the-meantime
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/alessia-cara-in-the-meantime-1231964/