Tourist (Athlete album)

Tourist is the second studio album by English rock band Athlete. It was released on 31 January 2005 through Parlophone. During the promotional cycle for their debut studio album Vehicles & Animals (2003), the band wrote material for its follow-up. Recording sessions were done at Helioscentric Studios in East Sussex, The Dairy in London, and Athlete's studio in London. Victor Van Vugt produced the majority of the tracks, while John Cornfield did the rest; Athlete is credited with producing all of them. The album is a soft rock release with elements of electronic music, taking influence from the works of Coldplay, Doves and the Flaming Lips.

Athlete embarked on a headlining tour of the United Kingdom, prior to the release of the album's lead single "Wires" in January 2005. Another UK tour occurred in March 2005, with additional dates being added to extended it into the next month. "Half Light" was the second single from the album in April 2005, prior to a stint in the United States. The band appeared at V Festival; the performance coincided with the release of the album's third single "Tourist" in August 2005. The band closed the year with a third UK tour, which saw the release of album's "Twenty Four Hours" was released as the fourth single at its conclusion in November 2005.

Tourist received mixed reviews from music critics, with some suggesting that Athlete had failed to sustain the unique style of their previous album, while others saw the new album as a logical progression from their old sound. It peaked at number one in the UK and Scotland, as well as charting in Ireland, Belgium and Australia. The album was certified platinum in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry a month after its release, while "Wires" was certified silver. "Wires" became the band's highest-charting single at number four in the UK, and reaching number three in Scotland. "Half Light" peaked at number 16 in the UK, while the remaining singles sat outside the top 40.

Background and recording

Athlete released their debut studio album Vehicles & Animals in April 2003; it peaked at number 19 in the United Kingdom. Out of the album's four singles, "El Salvador" charted the highest at number 31. During this, the band were writing material for their next album, which they were expecting to take into a different musical direction. For Vehicles & Animals the band members wrote material as a whole unit; whereas for the follow-up, they wrote separately. They then showed one another the songs at their rehearsal space and worked on the ones they considered the best. Victor Van Vugt spent two weeks with the band at their space, where they showed him all of the songs they had prepared and he gave them his feedback.

Recording sessions for Tourist were held at Helioscentric Studios in East Sussex, The Dairy in London, and Athlete's studio in London. Vugt produced most of the songs, barring "Half Light", "Yesterday Threw Everything at Me" and "Twenty Four Hours", all of which were produced by John Cornfield; the band are credited as producer on all of them. Ian Davenport and Mark Duggan were assistant recording engineers on a majority of the tracks, while engineer Rick Simpson handled additional recording. In between sessions, Athlete played a one-off show in London and appeared at V Festival. Michael H Brauer mixed the recordings in October 2004 with assistance from Pro Tools engineer Keith Gary at Quad Studios in New York City, before being mastered by Chris Athens at Sterling Sound, also in New York City. Jean Baker of News24 considered it a "kind of concept album" that tackles "long distance love". Keyboardist Tim Wanstall said the tracks intentionally had "less of the hook after hook", compared to those on Vehicles & Animals, allowing for vocalist Joel Pott's vocals to have more of a presence. The band would typically build a song from a chorus of verse section, written on either a guitar or a piano, adding electronic flourishes after demos had been made. Sometimes drummer Steven Roberts would suggest a part, prompting the rest of the members to re-work the track. Adam Peters arranged and conducted the string accompaniments on "Chances", "Wires" and "Street Map", which were performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra, led by David Juritz. Noel Robinson and the Nu Image Choir appeared as a gospel choir on "If I Found Out". The lyrics were adapted by Pott from bassist Carey Willetts opting to tell an ex-partner, who had a fiancé, that he was still attracted to her. After six weeks of no contact, Willetts and the woman eventually eloped. He said she suffered from a seizure, prompting her being taken to the ICU. "If I Found Out" is a soft rock ballad revolving around the topic of one's inner spirit, channeling the work of Sugar Ray. "Modern Mafia" recalled the band's earlier poppier material; "Twenty Four Hours" is done in the style of Elbow. The closing track "I Love" is an amalgamation of the band's new sound and their older one.

Release

On 21 October 2004, Tourist was announced for release in three months' time. In January 2005, Athlete went on a headlining UK tour, leading up to the release of the album's lead single "Wires" on 17 January 2005. The CD version included "Never Running Out", "Get It Back", and the radio edit and music video for "Wires", while the 7" vinyl edition featured "Transformer Man" and the radio edit of "Wires". It was promoted with a signing session at the Virgin Megastore in London. Tourist was released on 31 January 2005, which was promoted with a UK tour in March 2005. A special edition was also released, which included the music video for "Wires", a making-of documentary on the album, and audio tracks recorded at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. The cover artwork, designed by Richard Andrews and Gerard Saint, consists of an airplane seat, a radio, studio equipment, gas pumps and railings. Baker said it was a metaphor for the songs' "tendency to tie things together, some of which may be their own, while others (like an aeroplane seat), are shared by many". "Half Light" was released as the second single from the album on 25 April 2005; the 7" vinyl picture disc had a remix of "Half Light" as the B-side. Two versions were released on CD: the first with "I've Got a Question", and the second with "Forest Fire", a radio session version of "Wires", and the music video for "Half Light". In May 2005, they embarked on a tour of the United States. The CD version included a remix of "Tourist", while the 7" vinyl picture disc featured a radio session version of "Half Light". The music video for "Tourist" was posted online the same day. Following this, the band embarked on a UK tour in October and November 2005. At the end of this trek, "Twenty Four Hours" was released as the fourth single from the album on 14 November 2005. The CD version included "Stand in the Sun" and "Lay Your Head", while the 7" vinyl picture disc featured "Stand in the Sun" and "Before Tomorrow".

"Half Light", "Tourist", "Wires" and "Twenty Four Hours" were included on Athlete's first compilation album Singles 01–10 in 2010.

Critical reception

Tourist was met with mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 46, based on 19 reviews. Time Out writer Chris Parkin and the staff at E! Online also noticed this shift, with the latter mentioning that the band "aims for an entirely more conventional" direction. AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus said a lot of the album "seems like an amalgam of other things, whether it's the Coldplay-ness of their ballads or the distinct Super Furry Animals influence that's been with Athlete all along [...] Tourist settles for complacent".

Rolling Stone reviewer Christian Hoard, on the other hand, said the band "manage swooning song-poetry and Coldplay karaoke over electronics-tinged arrangements that sound very pro form[ula]", which The Independent Andy Gil and Maurice O'Brien of Hot Press echoed, with the latter adding that there was "little real invention on show here". Cross Rhythms writer Mike Rimmer was "not convinced that the shift into Coldplay territory is the most attractive move" as "most of the quirkiness that gave their first album its charm" had dissipated. The staff at Uncut held a similar sentiment, as the band plays "through 11 torpid ballads, drained of all their earlier quirks, seemingly laboratory-designed for those who find Keane too edgy". It ranked at number 32 on the UK year-end chart for 2005. It won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 2006, and was certified silver by the BPI in 2014. "Half Light" peaked at number 16 in the UK. "Twenty Four Hours" reached number 42 in the UK. The band members are intentionally not mentioned in the liner notes.

Additional musicians

Adam Peters – string arrangement (tracks 1, 5 and 8), conductor (tracks 1, 5 and 8)
London Metropolitan Orchestra – strings (tracks 1, 5 and 8)
David Juritz – string leader (tracks 1, 5 and 8)
Noel Robinson – gospel choir (track 6)
Nu Image Choir – gospel choir (track 6)

Artwork

Richard Andrews – art direction, design
Gerard Saint – art direction, design
Dan Tobin Smith – photography
Lindsay Milne – set design, styling

Production

Victor Van Vugt – producer (all except tracks 2, 7 and 10)
John Cornfield – producer (tracks 2, 7 and 10)
Athlete – producer
Michael H Brauer – mixing
Ian Davenport – assistant recording engineer (tracks 1, 3–6, 8 and 9)
Mark Duggan – assistant recording engineer (tracks 1, 3–6, 8 and 9)
Rick Simpson – additional recording, engineer
Keith Gary – mix assistant, Pro Tools engineer
Chris Athens – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+ Weekly chart performance for Tourist

! scope="col"| Chart (2005)

! scope="col"| Peak position

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| style="text-align:center;"| 60

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+ 2005 year-end chart performance for Tourist

! scope="col"| Chart (2005)

! scope="col"| Position

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| style="text-align:center;"| 32

Certifications

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Tourist at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)