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Staying at Tamara's

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Staying at Tamara's
Studio album by
Released23 March 2018 (2018-03-23)
Recorded2017
StudioVoltaire Road, Clapham, London
Genre
Length37:13
LabelColumbia
Producer
George Ezra chronology
Wanted on Voyage
(2014)
Staying at Tamara's
(2018)
Gold Rush Kid
(2022)
Singles from Staying at Tamara's
  1. "Don't Matter Now"
    Released: 16 June 2017
  2. "Paradise"
    Released: 19 January 2018
  3. "Shotgun"
    Released: 18 May 2018
  4. "Hold My Girl"
    Released: 28 September 2018
  5. "Pretty Shining People"
    Released: 8 March 2019

Staying at Tamara's is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter George Ezra. It was released on 23 March 2018. The album reached number one in the UK as well as the top ten of several other countries including Australia and New Zealand. The album includes the singles "Paradise" and "Shotgun", which peaked at number two and number one on the UK Singles Chart, respectively.

It was the UK's best-selling artist album of the year in 2018 and was nominated for British Album of the Year at the 2019 Brit Awards.[3]

In support of the album, Ezra embarked on a 2018 world tour entitled, Staying at Tamara's Tour, mostly visiting cities across North America and Europe.

Background

[edit]

Ezra finished touring his debut album Wanted on Voyage (2014) in December 2016. Following this, he realised he "needed to write another record".[4] He went to Barcelona for a month, but instead of booking a hotel or apartment, he found a stranger on the Internet whose name was Tamara. "[She] was renting her spare room," he told The Sydney Morning Herald. "I thought, if she's a bit crazy, if she's a bit unhinged, I can just leave. Her friends were all musicians, artists and designers and her apartment really felt like their HQ. It helped slow me down. There was a point about halfway through the trip where I was like, this trip has proved to be really important ... and the album's name came to me like that. I love it."[5]

Singles

[edit]

Five singles have been released from the album. "Don't Matter Now" was released as the lead single on 16 June 2017. It was a moderate success in Belgium, Iceland and the Netherlands and gave Ezra his seventh top 75 entry on the UK Singles Chart. The second single released from the album was "Paradise", which peaked at number two, being kept off the top spot by Rudimental's "These Days". It also reached the top ten in Ireland, Belgium, Austria and Scotland.

"Shotgun" was released as the third single from the album on 18 May 2018; it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 29 June 2018 and gave Ezra his first UK number-one single.[6] "Hold My Girl" was released as the fourth single from the album in late-September. "Pretty Shining People" was released as the fifth single in early-March.

Promotional singles

[edit]

"Pretty Shining People" was released as the first promotional single from the album on 2 March 2018; it reached number 54 on the UK Singles Chart.The track was later selected as the album's fifth single in March 2019. "Hold My Girl" was released as the second and final promotional single on 9 March 2018, and reached number 81 on the UK Singles Chart. The track was later selected as the album's fourth single, and impacted radio in September 2018.

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic61/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
DIY[8]
Dork[9]
God is in the TV[10]
The Guardian[11]
musicOMH[12]
NME[13]
The Observer[14]
The Times[15]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 61 based on seven reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by George Ezra Barnett and Joel Pott, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Pretty Shining People" (Barnett)3:32
2."Don't Matter Now"2:56
3."Get Away"2:34
4."Shotgun" (Barnett, Pott, Fred Gibson)3:21
5."Paradise" (Barnett)3:42
6."All My Love"2:40
7."Sugarcoat"3:22
8."Hold My Girl"3:31
9."Saviour" (featuring First Aid Kit)3:32
10."Only a Human"3:34
11."The Beautiful Dream"4:29
Total length:37:20

Personnel

[edit]

Musicians

  • George Ezra – vocals, guitar (all tracks); keyboards (tracks 1, 3–11), bass guitar (1, 3–7, 11); percussion, synthesizer (2); harmonium (3), drums (7)
  • Cam Blackwoodprogramming, synthesizer (all tracks); guitar (1–4, 6–11), percussion (1, 3, 5–11), piano (1, 5), bass guitar (1, 8, 9), keyboards (1), vocals (2, 3, 8), organ (2), background vocals (4, 6, 11), performance arrangement (8, 10), strings (8)
  • Matthew Racher – drums, percussion, programming (all tracks); background vocals (6)
  • Dan Grech-Marguerat – programming (tracks 1–7, 9–11)
  • Liam Thorne – percussion (tracks 1, 3–6), programming (2, 4–6, 9–11), synthesizer (2), vocals (2)
  • Florrie Arnold – vocals (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 11), drums (5), vocals (11)
  • The Atlantic Horns – brass (tracks 2, 4)
  • Billie Marten – vocals (track 2)
  • Joel Pott – background vocals (tracks 3, 4, 6, 7)
  • Rob Blackham – background vocals (track 3)
  • Jamie Sefton – flute (tracls 3, 10); flugelhorn, trombone, trumpet (3)
  • James Wyatt – organ (track 4), piano (8)
  • Ollie Hodge – background vocals (track 4)
  • Fred – bass guitar, drums, keyboards (track 4)
  • Emma Corby – brass (track 4)
  • Jaleesa Gemerts – drums (track 4)
  • Daniel Thomas – background vocals (track 6)
  • Derek Green – background vocals (track 6)
  • Juliet Roberts – background vocals (track 6)
  • Mary Pearce – background vocals (track 6)
  • Rebecca Goulding – background vocals (track 6)
  • Sylvia Mason – background vocals (track 6)
  • Dan Caplencello (track 8)
  • Davide Rossi – performance arrangement (track 8)
  • First Aid Kit – background vocals (track 9)
  • Duncan Eaglesalto saxophone, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone (track 10)
  • Jimmy Sims – bass guitar (track 10)
  • Rae Morris – piano (track 10)

Technical

  • Cam Blackwood – production (all tracks), engineering (tracks 2, 6)
  • Fred – production (track 8)
  • Dave Kutchmastering
  • Dan Grech-Marguerat – mixing (tracks 1–7, 9–11)
  • Michael H. Brauer – mixing (track 8)
  • Liam Thorne – engineering
  • Dan Trachtenberg – engineering (track 4)
  • Jon Bailey – engineering (track 6)
  • Fernando Reyes – engineering (track 8)
  • Steve Vealey – engineering (track 8)
  • Charles Hicks – mixing assistance (1–7, 9–11)
  • Joel Davies – mixing assistance (1–7, 9–11)
  • Fiona Cruickshank – engineering assistance (track 6)

Visuals

  • Steve Stacey – design
  • Alex Eden-Smith – photography

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[59] Platinum 70,000
Canada (Music Canada)[60] Gold 40,000
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[61] Platinum 20,000
France (SNEP)[62] Gold 50,000
Germany (BVMI)[63] Gold 100,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[64] Platinum 15,000
Poland (ZPAV)[65] Platinum 20,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[66] 4× Platinum 1,200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
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  2. ^ "George Ezra - Staying At Tamara's (album review )". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  3. ^ "BRITs 2019 Nominations Announced". BRIT Awards. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  4. ^ George Ezra - Paradise. The Graham Norton Show. 2 Feb 2018, YouTube, 2 February 2018, retrieved 20 December 2018
  5. ^ McInnes, William (23 March 2018). "George Ezra opens up about finding fame and his long-awaited album". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  6. ^ White, Jack (29 June 2018). ""I never thought that this would happen": George Ezra rides Shotgun to his first UK Number 1 single". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Reviews for Staying at Tamara's by George Ezra". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  8. ^ Hunt, El (24 June 2014). "George Ezra – Wanted On Voyage". DIY. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  9. ^ Muir, Jamie (20 March 2018). "George Ezra – Staying At Tamara's". Dork. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
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  12. ^ Murphy, John (21 March 2018). "George Ezra – Staying At Tamara's | Album Reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  13. ^ Reilly, Nick (23 March 2018). "George Ezra – 'Staying At Tamara's' Album Review". NME. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
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  61. ^ "Danish album certifications – George Ezra – Staying at Tamara's". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  62. ^ "French album certifications – George Ezra – Staying at Tamara's" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
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