Wikipedia

Homesick (Sea Girls album)

Homesick is the second studio album by English indie rock band Sea Girls. It was released on 18 March 2022 under Polydor. It is the band's second album to chart at number three on the UK Albums Chart consecutively after their debut album, Open Up Your Head.

Homesick
Studio album by
Sea Girls
Released18 March 2022
RecordedNovember 2020–April 2021
Studio
  • Stustustudio (Brixton)
  • Octagon (London)
  • The Garage Topanga Canyon (Los Angeles)
GenreIndie rock
Length40:20
LabelPolydor
Producer
Sea Girls chronology
Open Up Your Head
(2020) 		Homesick
(2022) 		The Hometown Tour Live
(2023)
Singles from Homesick
  1. "Sick"
    Released: 9 August 2021
  2. "Again Again"
    Released: 15 October 2021
  3. "Hometown"
    Released: 18 November 2021
  4. "Sleeping with You"
    Released: 21 January 2022
  5. "Lonely"
    Released: 15 February 2022
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[1]
Metacritic72/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
CLASH8/10[3]
DORK[4]
Gigwise[5]
God Is in the TV8/10[6]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[7]
musicOMH[8]
NME[9]
PopMatters7/10[10]

Background and recording edit

During the early periods of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, the London-based Sea Girls members returned to their hometowns.[11] Frontman and the band's chief songwriter Henry Camamile resided at his parents' house in Lincolnshire, where he "[...] thought a lot about mortality and dying – what it means to be alive and how lucky we are" which became the main inspiration for the album.[12] It is also influenced by Camamile's personal breakdown of his breakup with an American ex-girlfriend.[13] The album's title is derived from the word 'homesick' itself, which Camamile paraphrased as "it just means you belong somewhere. Even if you’re out on tour or whatever, you feel like you have somewhere you belong. I belong to my past and these stories, and we had a lot of time to think about it and push and be brave in what was written about."

The band mainly recorded the album remotely with their long-time collaborator Larry Hibbitt and Los Angeles-based producer Jacknife Lee, alongside other co-producers. They admitted that the distance and time zones that separated them from Lee in America were challenging. The band would often get a call at two in the morning to talk about the tracks.[12] "[...] there was a lot of us recording through the day and sending it to Jacknife for him to work on overnight, seeing as the time zones are quite literally inverted," said drummer Oli Khan in an interview, "so then, in the morning, we’d get what he’d been working on, and then interpret and work on that before sending it back to him at the end of the day."[11]

Release and promotion edit

On 9 August 2021, the band they announced that their second album, Homesick, was set for release on 14 January 2022.[12] However, in December 2021, they stated that the album was delayed until 25 March 2022, but then in early March 2022, they moved the album release one week early to 18 March 2022.[14][15] The first single "Sick" was released the same date as the new album announcement. On 15 October 2021, they released the second single "Again Again".[16] On 18 November 2021, the third single, "Hometown", was released along with the launching of a short Homesick documentary, "Brixton at Night", that featured fan interviews and live performance clips from the band's sold-out headline show at Brixton Academy in London.[17] On 21 January 2022, they released another single, "Sleeping With You".[18] The fifth single off the album, "Lonely", was released on 15 February 2022, accompanied with a music video starring JoJo Macari (Sex Education, The Irregulars).[19] On 5 May 2022, they released a bonus track, "DNA", for the album's DSP standard and deluxe edition.[20][21] It was initially launched as an exclusive limited 7" vinyl for the 15th anniversary of Record Store Day in April 2022.[22]

In support of the album release, intimate record store shows were held across the UK in May 2022 as well as a European and UK headline tour in November and December 2022.[23][24]

Track listing edit

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Hometown"
3:51
2."Sick"
  • Camamile
  • Hahn
  • Hibbitt
  • Lee
3:16
3."Lonely"
  • Hibbitt
  • Coffer
3:11
4."Someone's Daughter Someone's Son"
  • Hibbitt
  • Lee
3:50
5."Sleeping with You"
  • Camamile
  • Jon Green
Hibbitt4:09
6."Paracetamol Blues"
  • Hibbitt
  • Lowe
3:55
7."Again Again"
  • Hibbitt
  • Lee
3:03
8."Lucky"
Hibbitt3:48
9."Higher"
  • Hibbitt
  • Lee
3:21
10."Cute Guys"
  • Camamile
  • Wolfgang
Hibbitt4:05
11."Friends"
Hibbitt3:51
Total length:40:20
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
12."Watch Your Step"
  • Camamile
  • O'Connell
  • Wolfgang
Hibbitt3:12
13."I Got You"
  • Camamile
  • Gianluca Buccellati
Hibbitt3:50
Total length:47:22
DSP standard and deluxe edition bonus track[a]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14."DNA"
  • Camamile
  • Parker
  • Cooper
  • Hibbitt
  • Lee
3:49
Total length:51:11

Personnel edit

Sea Girls

  • Henry Camamile – vocals (all tracks), electric guitar (1, 2, 4–6, 8, 9, 11–13), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 10, 12), background vocals (1)
  • Rory Young – electric guitar (1–6, 8–12), background vocals (2, 11), acoustic guitar (5)
  • Andrew Dawson – bass (1–12), background vocals (2–4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12)
  • Oliver Khan – drums (1–12), acoustic guitar (5, 11), piano (5, 10, 12, 13), keyboards (10), background vocals (11)

Additional musicians

  • Jacknife Lee – keyboards, percussion, programming (1, 2, 4, 7); electric guitar (1, 2, 4), background vocals (1), vocals (2)
  • Larry Hibbitt – keyboards, programming (1–12); electric guitar (1–6, 8, 9, 11, 12), percussion (1–9, 11, 12), bass (2, 6–9, 12), drums (2), piano (3), string arrangement (7), background vocals (8, 13), acoustic guitar (10, 13), strings (13)
  • Dan Grech-Marguerat – programming (1–11)
  • Jonathan Green – piano (5)
  • Cass Lowe – keyboards, percussion, programming (6)
  • Luke Burgoyne – programming (6, 8)
  • Davide Rossi – string arrangement, strings (7)
  • Charles Hayden Hicks – programming (11)

Technical

  • Joe LaPorta – mastering
  • Dan Grech-Marguerat – mixing (1–11)
  • Luke Burgoyne – mixing (6, 8), mixing assistance (1–11)
  • Charles Haydon Hicks – mixing (11), mixing assistance (1–11)
  • Larry Hibbitt – mixing (12, 13), engineering (1, 3–5, 8–13), tape realization (10)
  • Alex O'Donovan – engineering
  • James Mottershead – engineering (4, 9)
  • Jacknife Lee – engineering (7)
  • Luke Ferrero – engineering assistance

Charts edit

Chart performance for Homesick
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 3

Notes edit

  1. ^ "DNA" is listed as the third track of the album's DSP standard and deluxe edition.[27]

References edit

  1. ^ "Homesick by Sea Girls reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Homesick by Sea Girls Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. ^ Swingle, Emily (24 March 2022). "Sea Girls - Homesick". CLASH. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  4. ^ Holden, Finlay (16 March 2022). "Sea Girls – Homesick". DORK. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  5. ^ Martin, Faith (15 March 2022). "Album Review: Sea Girls - Homesick". Gigwise. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  6. ^ Dean, Laura (23 March 2022). "Sea Girls – Homesick (Polydor)". God Is in the TV. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  7. ^ Taylor, Ims (22 March 2022). "Homesick is an effortless second cut from Sea Girls". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  8. ^ Marsh, Graeme (22 March 2022). "Sea Girls – Homesick". musicOMH. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  9. ^ Buchanan, Rhys (18 March 2022). "Sea Girls – 'Homesick' review: glossy indie with flashes of potential amid the forgettable". NME. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  10. ^ Conaton, Chris (28 March 2022). "Sea Girls: Homesick (Album Review)". PopMatters. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  11. ^ a b "sea girls: 'we wanted to let these lyrics shine and let the songs serve that…'". One on One. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  12. ^ a b c "Sea Girls launch new album with 'Sick': "It's basically me listing everything I'm pissed off with"". NME. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Far Out Meets: Sea Girls on how mortality influenced new album 'Homesick'". Far Out Magazine. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  14. ^ "SEA GIRLS ≅ on Twitter". Twitter. 1 December 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Sea Girls' new album 'Homesick' is coming a week early". DORK. 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Listen to Sea Girls' soaring new song 'Again Again'". NME. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Sea Girls Shares New Single 'Hometown' And Launches New Documentary 'Homesick At Night For Brixton'". Udiscovermusic. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Listen to Sea Girls' emotive new single 'Sleeping With You'". NME. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Sea Girls Shares 'Lonely' Video Starring "Sex Education"'s JoJo Macari". Udiscovermusic. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  20. ^ "SEA GIRLS DROP VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE 'DNA'". The Low Down. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  21. ^ "Sea Girls share video for "unapologetic" new track 'DNA'". Rolling Stone. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Sea Girls - DNA". Rough Trade. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  23. ^ "SEA GIRLS ANNOUNCE INTIMATE TOUR". TotalNtertainment. 13 December 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  24. ^ "Sea Girls return with 'Lonely' and UK tour including huge Alexandra Palace show". NME. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  27. ^ "Homesick (Deluxe) by Sea Girls". Apple Music. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
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