Crush Songs Explained

Crush Songs
Type:	studio
Artist:	Karen O
Cover:	Karen O - Crush Songs.png
Border:	yes
Recorded:	2006–2010
Label:	Cult
Prev Year:	2009
Next Title:	Live from Crush Palace
Next Year:	2015

Crush Songs is the debut solo studio album by Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead vocalist Karen O. It was released on September 5, 2014, by Cult Records. "Rapt" was released as the album's lead single on July 29, 2014.^[1]

Background and recording

The songs were written at a time of emotional discomfort for Karen O. "When I was 27 I crushed a lot. I wasn't sure I'd ever fall in love again. These songs were written + recorded in private around this time. They are the soundtrack to what was an ever continuing love crusade", she explained in a statement posted on her website.^[2]

Reception

Crush Songs received modest praise upon release. Drowned in Sound called it a collection of "sketches for finished songs that never quite were," and noting if it had "come out in 2007, you'd probably call it an anti-folk record." Nevertheless, there was praise from the magazine who acknowledged while this was essentially "a collection of seven-year-old demos that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs leader had been sitting on," it also is "more of a record to crush on than fall in love with, but free it from expectations and it'll take a small part of your heart."^[3] The Line of Best Fit called the album "cute, quaint even," but stated "unless you're president of her fanclub, utterly throwaway."^[4] Pitchfork gave the album a score of 5.8 saying, "perhaps it’s too modest: these are all very short songs, with only three out of fourteen surpassing two minutes."^[5]

Commercial performance

Crush Songs debuted at number 61 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 1,336 copies.^[6]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Crush Songs.^[7]

• Karen O – vocals, all other drawings, recording
• Dean Fertita – backing vocals
• Julian Gross – design
• Bernie Grundman – mastering
• Yong Kok Kim – young Karen portrait
• Nick Launay – mixing
• Jack Lawrence – backing vocals
• Imaad Wasif – guitar

Charts

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)^[8]	6
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)^[9]	11

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Australia	September 5, 2014		Cult	^[10] ^[11]
Germany				^[12] ^[13] ^[14]
Ireland				^[15] ^[16]
United Kingdom	September 8, 2014			^[17] ^[18] ^[19]
United States	September 9, 2014			^[20] ^[21] ^[22]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rapt [Explicit]

   Karen O: MP3 Downloads ]

   . Amazon . October 7, 2017.
2. Web site: Gordon . Jeremy . Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O Announces First Solo Record, Crush Songs . Pitchfork . June 25, 2014 . September 14, 2014.
3. News: Karen O . Drowned in Sound . Drowned in Sound . 2014-09-10 . 2024-08-06 .
4. News: Karen O - Crush Songs . The Line of Best Fit . The Line of Best Fit . 2014-09-08 . 2024-08-06 .
5. News: Crush Songs . Pitchfork . Pitchfork . 2014-09-10 . 2024-08-06 .
6. Web site: Jones . Alan . Official Charts Analysis: Sam Smith retains No.1 album slot in busiest week of the year . . September 15, 2014 . September 15, 2014 . subscription .
7. Crush Songs . liner notes . . . 2014 . CLT0162.
8. ARIA Hitseekers – Week Commencing 15th September 2014 . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20140923013300/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20140923-1133/Issue1281.pdf . dead . 2014-09-23 . . 1281 . 21 . September 15, 2014 . September 27, 2014.
9. Web site: Top 20 Indie Individual Artist Albums . Irish Recorded Music Association . September 11, 2014 . September 14, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006093907/http://www.irma.ie/aucharts.asp . live . October 6, 2014.
10. Web site: Crush Songs . . October 7, 2017.
11. Web site: Crush Songs (Explicit) by Karen O . zdigital (AU) . September 14, 2014 . October 7, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171007175057/https://www.zdigital.com.au/artist/karen-o-1/release/crush-songs-explicit . dead .
12. Web site: Crush Songs . German . . September 14, 2014.
13. Web site: Crush Songs ('blue' vinyl+36pg booklet+Mp3) [Vinyl LP] ]. German . Amazon.de . September 14, 2014.
14. Web site: Crush Songs [Explicit]

    Karen O: MP3-Downloads ]

    . German . Amazon.de . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305135202/http://www.amazon.de/Crush-Songs-Explicit-Karen-O/dp/B00NCOBN84 . March 5, 2016 . September 14, 2014.
15. Web site: Karen O[yeah Yeah Yeahs] – Crush Songs ]. Tower Records Ireland . September 14, 2014.
16. Web site: Crush Songs (Explicit) by Karen O . 7digital (IE) . September 14, 2014 . September 28, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150928174217/https://ie.7digital.com/artist/karen-o-1/release/crush-songs-explicit/ . dead .
17. Web site: Crush Songs . . September 14, 2014.
18. Web site: Crush Songs [VINYL] ]. Amazon.co.uk . September 14, 2014.
19. Web site: Crush Songs [Explicit]

    Karen O: MP3 Downloads ]

    . Amazon.co.uk . September 14, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160324051228/http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crush-Songs-Explicit-Karen-O/dp/B00NCEA6D2 . March 24, 2016.
20. Web site: Crush Songs . Amazon . September 14, 2014.
21. Web site: Crush Songs (Vinyl) . Amazon . September 14, 2014.
22. Web site: Crush Songs [Explicit]

    Karen O: MP3 Downloads ]

    . Amazon . October 7, 2017.