Man Alive (Everything Everything album)

The majority of Man Alive was recorded at Bryn Derwen Studios, a small residential studio in Bethesda, Gwynedd, Wales. The band recorded songs originally developed over a two-year period in two-week stints.[2] The band brought David Kosten on board to produce after previously working together on the "MY KZ, UR BF" single in 2009, which was received positively. These sessions were the first to feature guitarist Alex Robertshaw, who stepped in to replace Alex Niven after he left the band to resume his studies.

Everything Everything (vocalist Higgs and bassist Pritchard pictured) performing in support of the album in 2010

The album's cover art, depicting an urban red fox, is based on a photograph by Swiss photographer Laurent Geslin. Additional photography on the album art was contributed by Paul Cecil.[3]

The album was released on 27 August 2010 through Geffen Records in the United Kingdom. Higgs told the NME that the band chose the title from the lyrics on the record, and that they briefly toyed with "Taj Mahal" as a potential title.[4] To commemorate the release, they played a small show at The Barfly in Camden Town dressed in white boilersuits, which the NME likened to the uniform of the anarchist group the WOMBLES.[4]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
BBC	(very positive)[6]
Drowned in Sound	[7]
The Fly	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
musicOMH	[10]
NME	[11]
Pitchfork	3.8/10[12]

Aggregating website Metacritic reported a normalised rating of 72 out of 100, based on eight reviews, indicating "generally positive" reception.[5] Reviewers generally praised the album's eccentricity; BBC Music's Alix Buscovic commented that "[Everything Everything] know more than most how to craft a song, how to make an album. They know how to give it depth, light and dark, and they – crucially – know when to stop."[13]

Other reviewers criticised the album for its pretentiousness. Giving the album 3.8 out of ten, Ian Cohen of Pitchfork argued the album filled a niche that "was unoccupied for good reason", comparing its sound to "what would happen if Dismemberment Plan got a crash course in Pro Tools and a record deal with Fueled By Ramen".[14]

Man Alive was nominated for the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Album", while the single "My Kz, Ur Bf" received a nomination for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically".[15] The album was also nominated for the 2011 Mercury Prize,[1] though this was ultimately won by PJ Harvey's Let England Shake.[16]

All tracks written by Higgs, Pritchard and Spearman. Additional writers are present in the writer(s) column below.

Adapted from the Man Alive liner notes.[17]

Everything Everything

Production