The Pains of Growing

“	I wanted to make the album title feel like it’s a story. Like a storybook. And I thought calling it The Pains of Growing sounds like you’re about to read a book about someone or about something. It’s just a full cohesive thing. And I’ve always really been drawn to albums that just feel like one big body of work and one big story. It would just be more impactful and sound more like a story, honestly.	”
– Alessia talking about The Pains of Growing

The Pains of GrowingStudio album by Alessia Cara
Album artwork
General information
Released	November 30, 2018
Recorded	2017 - 2018
Studio	4220 (Los Angeles) Paramount Recording (Los Angeles) Revolution Recording (Toronto)
Genre	Pop, R&B
Length	45:44 (Standard) 67:20 (Japanese)
Label	Def Jam
Producer(s)	Pop & Oak, Ricky Reed, Trevor Brown, Zaire Koalo, ClickNPress, Jon Levine, No I.D., Steve Wyreman, Rick Nowels, Dean Reid, Nate Mercureau
Formats	Digital download • streaming • CD • LP
Alessia Cara chronology
← Previous	Know-It-All (2015)
Current	The Pains of Growing (2018)
Next →	This Summer (2019)
Singles from The Pains of Growing
"Growing Pains" Released: June 15, 2018 "Trust My Lonely" Released: October 5, 2018 "Out of Love" Released: January 29, 2019
Promotional singles from The Pains of Growing
"A Little More" Released: July 11, 2018 "Not Today" Released: November 13, 2018

The Pains of Growing (commonly abbreviated as TPOG) is the sophomore studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara. It was released on November 30, 2018,through Def Jam Recordings.

Its songs were mostly written by Cara herself, with co-writing from producers Pop & Oak. Musically. The Pains of Growing is a "coming of age" record, inspired by three years of the singer's life that led up to its release. Critics named Cara and her sound as "the big-sister of pop", and praised Cara's songwriting ability. The album would eventually win a Juno Award for Album of the Year at the The Juno Awards, and would also receive accolades on other categories that same year.

The album debuted at 71 on the Billboard 200 and at number 21 in Canada. The Pains of Growing generated three singles. "Growing Pains", released as the album's lead single on June 15, 2018, charted at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 36 in Canada. "Trust My Lonely" and "Out of Love" were respectively released as its second and third singles. Cara promoted the album through a series of public appearances and televised live performances, and later, on May 11, 2019, began embarking on The Pains of Growing Tour, in Ottawa, Ontario. In addition to her own tour, Cara opened for Shawn Mendes Tour during his American, Canadian & some European dates.

Background

According to Cara, The Pains of Growing explores "the nuance and mentality of what it's like to age out of your teen years", as she was 21 during the writing and recording of it. She added that the album is "a little bit more mature, and a little bit more cohesive. It just feels more like a full album. And then conceptually, I know I already touched on it before, but just life experiences and just a lot more transparency". Steven J. Horowitz of Billboard called the album a "more mature, radio-ready body of work".

Release

From December 2018 to April 2021, Cara uploaded videos to her YouTube channel as a part of a series called "The Making Of: The Pains of Growing", in the videos she puts together a collection of behind the scenes for her songs, giving fans a look at how the songs came together in short summaries. She has created videos for nine songs from her album: "Comfortable" "Out of Love" "All We Know", "I Don't Want To", "Trust My Lonely", "Wherever I Live", "7 Days", "Not Today" and "Growing Pains".

Title and artwork

The main symbol on the album cover is an oversized gray suit worn by Cara, visually representing the awkwardness and ill-fit of trying to "grow up" or take on adult responsibilities prematurely. Her upward gaze with a slightly blank or confused expression reinforces the uncertainty of entering adulthood. A mustard yellow geometric wallpaper and the presence of indoor plants create a nostalgic 1970s-1980s aesthetic. The warm yellow background contrasts with the cool gray suit and light purple tie, keeping Cara as the central focus.

The album title and her name are handwritten across the photo, adding a personal, diary-like feel that reflects the introspective nature of the songs. The Pains of Growing explores the struggles, confusion, and loss of innocence that come with growing up, including feelings of emptiness and nostalgia, even amidst success.

Main front artwork

Back cover

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Exclaim!	8/10
The Guardian
The Line of Best Fit	7/10
NME
The Observer
Rolling Stone

Upon its release, The Pains of Growing received generally favorable reviews from music critics. On the review aggregator site Metacritic, the album holds a score of 72/100, based on 13 reviews. Rob Sheffield, writing for Rolling Stone, awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, commending Cara's songwriting and vocals and noting her growth from her previous record; Sheffield ends his review by commenting that "all over The Pains of Growing, she’s got a style that’s all her own." NME likewise gave the album 4 stars out of five and commended "The Girl Next Door" as "the most revealing song" on the album, calling the album "impressive and winningly authentic."

Some critics were more mixed in their assessments of the album. Ben Beaumont-Thomas, writing for The Guardian, criticized "some production that sounds suspiciously like focus-grouping" and also deemed the lyrics a "mixed bag", but commended "7 Days" and "A Little More" as "much more affecting." He gave the album 3 stars out of 5. Pitchfork critic Jayson Greene scored the album 6.8 out of 10; he opined that "a few songs here feel like homework assignments done en route to arrive at a better song." However, he also wrote that, unlike its predecessor, the album "has the tinge of a project made with love and devotion" and singled out "Not Today", "Trust My Lonely", "Nintendo Game", "Wherever I Live", and "Girl Next Door" as highlights. In the review for AllMusic, Andy Kellman compared the album to Cara's previous release, stating that "The Pains of Growing is consequently more fragmented and less consistent than Know-It-All, but Cara makes the best of it, generally writing in a slightly wiser and sharper manner from the same introverted homebody perspective."

Commercial performance

In Canada, The Pains of Growing debuted at number 21 In the United States the album debuted at number 71 on the Billboard 200. Elsewhere, it charted at number 165 on the Belgium Ultratop Flanders chart, number 76 in Australia and number 78 on the Dutch Albums Chart.

Live performances

Cara first performed "Growing Pains" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on June 18, 2018. The singer played most of The Pains of Growing for a media gathering at a Los Angeles studio in June 2018. On July 11, Cara performed "Growing Pains" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. "Growing Pains" was also performed at the 2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs. "Trust My Lonely" has been performed live at the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards and "Out of Love" was performed at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Cara shared the cover art and track listing on Twitter on October 26.

Tour

Main article: The Pains of Growing Tour

The Pains of Growing Tour was Cara's second concert tour, supporting her sophomore studio album, The Pains of Growing, and her extended play, This Summer (2019). It ran from May 11, 2019, in Ottawa, Ontario, to November 20, 2019, in Houston, Texas.

Singles

• The album's lead single, "Growing Pains", was released on June 15, 2018, and serviced to hot adult contemporary radio on June 25, 2018. The song peaked at number 36 in Canada, number 65 in the United States, and number 87 in Australia.

• The album's second single, "Trust My Lonely", was released on October 5, 2018.

• The album's third and final single, "Out of Love" was released to US contemporary hit radio on January 29, 2019.

"Growing Pains"
June 15, 2018

"Trust My Lonely"
October 5, 2018

"Out of Love"
January 29, 2019

Promotional singles

• The album's first promotional single, "A Little More" was released on July 11, 2018, coinciding with Cara's birthday.
• The album's second promotional single, "Not Today" was released on November 13, 2018.

"A Little More"
July 11, 2018

"Not Today"
November 13, 2018

Track list

There are fifteen tracks on the standard track list. The Target edition adds five bonus remixes, while the Japanese edition adds six bonus tracks, including five remixes and one collaboration with Zedd. There are currently seventeen known songs that were intended for The Pains of Growing, but only fifteen were included on the final cut, with two tracks remaining unreleased.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Growing Pains"	Alessia Cara, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, Warren "Oak" Felder	Pop & Oak	3:13
2.	"Not Today"	Cara	Jon Levine	2:36
3.	"I Don't Want To"	Cara	Cara	2:42
4.	"7 Days"	Cara, Wansel,Felder	Pop & Oak	3:28
5.	"Trust My Lonely"	Cara, Wansel, Felder	Pop & Oak	3:19
6.	"Wherever I Live"	Cara	Ricky Reed	3:05
7.	"All We Know"	Cara, Wansel, Felder, Trevor Brown, William Simmons	Pop & Oak, Trevorious, Zaire Koalo	3:23
8.	"A Little More"	Cara	Cara	2:26
9.	"Comfortable"	Cara, Ernest Wilson, Steve Wyreman, Nathaniel Mercureau	No I.D., Steve Wyreman	4:17
10.	"Nintendo Game"	Cara, Kaleb Rollins, Marc Soto	ClickNPress	2:41
11.	"Out of Love"	Cara, Richard Nowels Jr.	Nowels, Dean Reid	3:47
12.	"Girl Next Door"	Cara, Rollins, Soto	ClickNPress	3:22
13.	"My Kind"	Cara, Nathaniel Mercureau	Ricky Reed, Mercureau	3:01
14.	"Easier Said"	Cara, Wansel, Felder, Trevor Brown, Simmons	Pop & Oak, Trevorious, Koalo	3:25
15.	"Growing Pains (Reprise)"	Cara	Cara	0:59
Total length:				45:44

Target exclusive bonus tracks & Japanese bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
16.	"Growing Pains" (Acoustic)	3:14
17.	"Growing Pains" (BRAVVO Remix)	3:43
18.	"Growing Pains" (Locals Only Sound Remix) (featuring Curtis Smith)	3:14
19.	"Trust My Lonely" (Frank Walker Remix)	3:06
20.	"Trust My Lonely" (Rain or Shine Remix)	4:35

Japanese bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
21.	"Stay" (with Zedd)	Cara, Zedd, Jonnali Parmenius, Anders Frøen, Sarah Aarons, Linus Wiklund	Zedd, Wiklund	3:30
Total length:				67:20

Cut tracks

Main article: List of Unreleased Songs

• "Gold"
• "Undeniable"

Gallery

"I don't put the focus on things that don't matter" Explore the full The Pains of Growing gallery and discover images all in one place by clicking here

Release history

Region	Date	Formats	Label	Ref.
Australia	November 30, 2018	CD • digital download • vinyl	Def Jam
United States
Netherlands
Japan		CD	Universal Music Japan

References

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