Owl John (album)

Owl John is the only album by Owl John, the solo musical project by Frightened Rabbit vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison.[1] It was released on Atlantic Records on 4 August 2014 (perhaps coincidentally, the date also being International Owl Awareness Day since 2011).

Owl John
Studio album by
Owl John
Released4 August 2014 (2014-08-04)
StudioAtlantic Studios, Hollywood; Creature Club Studios, Echo Park; Fluorescent Egg, Laurel Canyon
GenreIndie rock
Length35:18
LabelAtlantic Records
ProducerAndy Monaghan

The music for the album was written and recorded on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, in early 2014, with Hutchison working with Frightened Rabbit's Andy Monaghan and Simon Liddell. He then moved to Los Angeles, where the lyrics were written and recorded. Scottish musician Peter Kelly plays drums on the album, which was mastered by Mazen Murad.[2][3][4]

A further two tracks were recorded for the project but not included on the album: the Christmas song "It Gets Cold", released on Soundcloud under the artist name Christmas John, and "All I Want for Me Is You", which features Ed Harcourt on piano. A short instrumental track credited to Owl John, "Hailstones", was used as the soundtrack for the video piece London - Christmas Morning in December 2014; it was released as part of an album accompanying the Neu!Reekie! poetry compilation #UntitledOne in 2015.[5]

Three music videos were released for songs from the album: "Los Angeles, Be Kind", "Hate Music" and "Red Hand". All were directed by Storme Whitby-Grubb and Charles Gibson.

In 2019, Coldplay sampled "Los Angeles, Be Kind" in their song "Champion of the World".

Background and production

The Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit, fronted by Scott Hutchison, released their fourth studio album Pedestrian Verse on 4 February 2013, via Atlantic Records.[6] To promote the album, the band embarked on an extensive 18-month tour, during which members of Frightened Rabbit suffered from burnout.[7] Frightened Rabbit drummer Grant Hutchison told Jason Keil of the Phoenix New Times that the band "just got run absolutely ragged" by the Pedestrian Verse touring cycle, and that they "all lost each other and ourselves a little bit" in the process.[8]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.2/10[9]
Metacritic76/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Clash7/10[12]
DIY[13]
Drowned in Sound7/10[14]
The Guardian[15]
The List[16]
musicOMH[17]
Paste7.8/10[18]
The Skinny[19]
Sputnikmusic4.5/5[20]

Owl John was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Owl John has an average score of 76 based on 13 reviews.[10] The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 7.2 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[9]

In other media
  • The Royals featured "Los Angeles, Be Kind" and "Songs About Roses" in its first season (2015).
  • "Cold Creeps" appeared on the Shameless season 6 episode "Going Once, Going Twice" (January 2016).

Track listing

All lyrics by Scott Hutchison and all music by Andy Monaghan, Scott Hutchison and Simon Liddell.

No.TitleLength
1."Cold Creeps"4:25
2."Two"3:46
3."Hate Music"2:48
4."Songs About Roses"3:50
5."Los Angeles, Be Kind"3:40
6."Ten Tons of Silence"3:14
7."A Good Reason to Grow Old"4:12
8."Red Hand"3:30
9."Don't Take Off the Gloves"3:24
10."Stupid Boy"2:29

Charts
Chart performance for Owl John
Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 99
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 17
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[23] 38

References
  1. "Interview: Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison". Village Voice. 14 October 2008.
  2. Bermingham, Finbarr (1 August 2014). "Saving Grace: Owl John on the record that rescued Frightened Rabbit". The Skinny.
  3. Hutchison, Scott (1 August 2014). "Listen to the new Owl John album from Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison – Exclusive Guide". Q Magazine.
  4. Hannah, Andrew (5 August 2014). "Scott Hutchison on Owl John: "I would love it if this album appealed to people who hate Frightened Rabbit"". The Line of Best Fit.
  5. Sutherland, Angus (6 April 2015). "Neu! Reekie! Waiting for the ink to dry". The Skinny.
  6. Carle, Darren (31 January 2013). "Death Becomes Them: Frightened Rabbit talk Pedestrian Verse". The Skinny. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  7. Hamad, Michael (3 May 2016). "Distance, Time Off Inform Frightened Rabbit's New Album". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  8. Keil, Jason (18 May 2016). "Happiness Is a Warm Bike Seat For Frightened Rabbit Drummer". Phoenix New Times. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  9. "Owl John by Owl John Reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  10. "Owl John by Owl John Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  11. Kerr, Scott. "Owl John – Owl John". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  12. Murray, Robin (28 July 2014). "Owl John – Owl John". Clash. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  13. Morris, Hugh (29 July 2014). "Owl John – Owl John". DIY. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  14. Reynolds, Aidan (28 July 2014). "Album Review: Owl John – Owl John". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  15. Gibsone, Harriet (31 July 2014). "Owl John: Owl John review – self-hate and bitterness make for great songs". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  16. Ennor, Laura (15 July 2014). "Owl John – Owl John". The List. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  17. Dowden, Neil (4 August 2014). "Owl John – Owl John". musicOMH. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  18. Golden, Grant (5 August 2014). "Owl John: Owl John Review". Paste. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  19. Bermingham, Finbarr (29 July 2014). "Owl John – Owl John". The Skinny. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  20. SowingSeason (4 August 2014). "Review: Owl John – Owl John". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  23. "Owl John Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
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