Split the Difference is the 2004 album by UK band Gomez

Gomez (band)

Gomez are an English indie rock band from Southport, comprising Ian Ball , Paul "Blackie" Blackburn , Tom Gray , Ben Ottewell and Olly Peacock . The band is distinguished for having three singers and four songwriters, employing traditional and electronic instruments...

. It is their fourth studio album.

Making of the album

While Gomez's first three albums had been self-produced, the band entered its new recording studio in Portslade

Portslade

Portslade is the name of an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Portslade Village, the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century...

 in East Sussex

East Sussex

East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...

 with Tchad Blake

Tchad Blake

Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...

 as producer. Blake had previously produced albums by Tom Waits

Tom Waits

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

 and Crowded House

Crowded House

Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...

. The pick of the dozens of tracks produced during the 18 months in the studio became their fourth album Split the Difference released in May 2004.

Chart and critical success

The album reached the top 40 at number 35 in the UK in May 2004. In the same month, the first single "Catch Me Up" entered the UK top 40 at number 36 while "Silence" and "Sweet Virginia" failed to hit top 40.Despite not seeing great success in the UK (it was their last album to chart in the top 40) it was the band's first success in the US, charting at the lower end of the billboard 200.

The album was met with mixed critical response, with Allmusic rating it as four stars out of five and BBC Internet Music Reviews describing it as "one of the finest releases of the year so far. If you were one of those people who wrote them off two years ago, it's time to get listening again." http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/rockandalt/reviews/gomez_split.shtml However, the album received less than favourable reviews from a number of other sources, including Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 and NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

.

In an effort to build their popularity in the US, Gomez toured extensively throughout the year. With Ian Ball relocating to Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 with his wife, the band played at venues across the US in 2004, with the band being part of the 2004 Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...

 tour.

The song, "Where Ya Going?", was featured in the trailer for the FX original series Sons of Anarchy.

Track listing

1. "Do One" – 2:40
2. "These 3 Sins" – 2:37
3. "Silence" – 2:55
4. "Me, You and Everybody" – 4:24
5. "We Don't Know Where We're Going" – 4:42
6. "Sweet Virginia" – 6:06
7. "Catch Me Up" – 3:47
8. "Where Ya Going?" – 3:41
9. "Meet Me in the City" – 3:12
10. "Chicken Out" – 3:32
11. "Extra Special Guy" – 3:31
12. "Nothing Is Wrong" – 5:35
13. "There It Was" – 3:43
14. "Blind" – 4:18 (bonus track on some versions)
15. "Butterfly" – 3:44 (bonus track on some versions)

Singles

• "Catch Me Up" (1 March 2004) #36 UK
• "Silence" (3 May 2004) #41 UK
• "Sweet Virginia" (6 September 2004)