The Constant (I Blame Coco album)
Encyclopedia
The Constant is the debut album by the English band I Blame Coco. It was initially released in most of mainland Europe in October 2010, and subsequently in the United Kingdom on 8 November 2010. It was preceded by three singles: "Caesar
" (which features Swedish singer Robyn
), "Selfmachine", "Quicker" and "In Spirit Golden". Fourth single "In Spirit Golden" was released digitally on 31 October 2010, one week before the album's UK release date.
, which assigns a normalised
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 61, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Heather Phares wrote for Allmusic that "much of The Constant finds I Blame Coco trying on different sounds, wanting to make artsy music as much as they want to deliver bona fide hits", but later concluded that the album "has enough strong moments to make it a promising debut from a group with plenty of confidence, personality and potential." Lucy Jones of The Daily Telegraph
referred to the album as "a well-crafted and impressive debut", and added that "[a]lthough the album doesn't quite ignite, Sumner's innate talent shines through." Neil Ashman of Drowned in Sound
opined that "Coco's voice is of a strangely husky tone, generally keeping to the lower register, never sustaining notes for show and pretty reminiscent of her father in its rhythm and intonation." However, he further commented that "until Coco can hit upon this kind of refinement of her influences in a more general sense, she seems destined to be known firstly for who her father is and only secondly for her own artistic achievements." Ben Weisz from musicOMH
noted that "The Constant isn't exceptional, but it does demonstrate a sophistication which sets her apart from the twee pop
of some of her rivals." The Guardian
s Caroline Sullivan deemed the album to be "essentially a mildly promising debut by an artist who can write a tune but not yet with any great distinction", whilst calling the lyrics "wordy and pained".
BBC Music
reviewer Sarah Bee felt that "Sumner's voice seems more suited to the loping of reggae
than the skittering of electro-pop and its cousins [...] and maybe she'll relax into similar territory next time around. There's nothing radical here, but revolution isn't all it's cracked up to be." In a review for the NME
, Alex Denney described "Caesar" as a "good-ass pop tune", but stated that "for the most part The Constant boils down to a thin chart gruel, too lumpenly pitched between the Carling Academies
and the cattle-grid nightclubs to leave a mark." Ian Gittins of Virgin Media
believed that Sumner "has spectacularly inherited her father's idiosyncratic musicality, with her husky, masculine tones and mannered whoops and yowls illustrating that she has paid close attention to her dad's vocal repertoire." Louisa Emery of The Wharf
wrote that "Coco has created an album that shows she is more than a over privileged kid playing popstar, even if it will do little to shake off her Sumner stigma." Neil Condron from Clash
magazine characterised the album as "[p]redictably pristine, ultimately inessential". The Observer
s Killian Fox stated that "the album ends up feeling oddly flat. We are left with a sense of excitement unfulfilled."
Caesar (song)
"Caesar" is a song by the English band I Blame Coco from their debut album, The Constant. Produced by Klas Åhlund, the track features Swedish singer Robyn and was released as the album's lead single on 31 January 2010...
" (which features Swedish singer Robyn
Robyn
Robin Miriam Carlsson , better known by her stage name Robyn, is a Swedish recording artist, singer, and songwriter. Robyn became known in the late nineties for her worldwide dance-pop hit "Do You Know " from her debut album Robyn Is Here . She co-wrote the song "Du gör mig hel igen" for...
), "Selfmachine", "Quicker" and "In Spirit Golden". Fourth single "In Spirit Golden" was released digitally on 31 October 2010, one week before the album's UK release date.
Critical reception
The Constant was met with mixed reviews from music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalised
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 61, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Heather Phares wrote for Allmusic that "much of The Constant finds I Blame Coco trying on different sounds, wanting to make artsy music as much as they want to deliver bona fide hits", but later concluded that the album "has enough strong moments to make it a promising debut from a group with plenty of confidence, personality and potential." Lucy Jones of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
referred to the album as "a well-crafted and impressive debut", and added that "[a]lthough the album doesn't quite ignite, Sumner's innate talent shines through." Neil Ashman of Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
opined that "Coco's voice is of a strangely husky tone, generally keeping to the lower register, never sustaining notes for show and pretty reminiscent of her father in its rhythm and intonation." However, he further commented that "until Coco can hit upon this kind of refinement of her influences in a more general sense, she seems destined to be known firstly for who her father is and only secondly for her own artistic achievements." Ben Weisz from musicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
noted that "The Constant isn't exceptional, but it does demonstrate a sophistication which sets her apart from the twee pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
of some of her rivals." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s Caroline Sullivan deemed the album to be "essentially a mildly promising debut by an artist who can write a tune but not yet with any great distinction", whilst calling the lyrics "wordy and pained".
BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
reviewer Sarah Bee felt that "Sumner's voice seems more suited to the loping of reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
than the skittering of electro-pop and its cousins [...] and maybe she'll relax into similar territory next time around. There's nothing radical here, but revolution isn't all it's cracked up to be." In a review for the 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...
, Alex Denney described "Caesar" as a "good-ass pop tune", but stated that "for the most part The Constant boils down to a thin chart gruel, too lumpenly pitched between the Carling Academies
Academy Music Group
Academy Music Group is a leading owner-operator of music venues in the United Kingdom. They operate a number of medium sized venues, the majority of which took the name Carling Academy after their sponsor Carling. Some of these academies also contain smaller venues used for less well known acts...
and the cattle-grid nightclubs to leave a mark." Ian Gittins of Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
believed that Sumner "has spectacularly inherited her father's idiosyncratic musicality, with her husky, masculine tones and mannered whoops and yowls illustrating that she has paid close attention to her dad's vocal repertoire." Louisa Emery of The Wharf
The Wharf (newspaper)
The Wharf is a free local newspaper produced at Canary Wharf.The Wharf was set up in 1998, as such covering the transformation of the Isle of Dogs as it became one of the most important financial centres in the world...
wrote that "Coco has created an album that shows she is more than a over privileged kid playing popstar, even if it will do little to shake off her Sumner stigma." Neil Condron from Clash
Clash (magazine)
Clash is a popular music and fashion magazine based in the United Kingdom. Its magazine title is published 12 times a year. It has a circulation of around 40,000....
magazine characterised the album as "[p]redictably pristine, ultimately inessential". The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s Killian Fox stated that "the album ends up feeling oddly flat. We are left with a sense of excitement unfulfilled."
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2010/2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart | 58 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Flanders) |
82 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Wallonia) |
88 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
41 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
31 |
| Polish Albums Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... |
36 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
72 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
86 |
Release history
| Country | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 1 October 2010 | Universal Music Universal Music Group Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations... |
| Switzerland | 8 October 2010 | |
| France | 11 October 2010 | |
| Poland | 29 October 2010 | |
| Germany | 2 November 2010 | |
| United Kingdom | 8 November 2010 | Island Records Island Records Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group... |