| Shake the Spirit | |
| Cover: | Shake the Spirit.png |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Elle King |
| Label: | RCA |
| Prev Title: | Love Stuff |
| Prev Year: | 2015 |
| Next Title: | Come Get Your Wife |
| Next Year: | 2023 |
Shake the Spirit is the second studio album by American singer Elle King, released on October 19, 2018 by RCA Records.[1] It was recorded in Denton, Texas.[2]
Commercially, Shake the Spirit peaked at No. 9 on the US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) and No. 6 on the US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard).
Upon the album's release it received critical acclaim from music critics. Many stated since King's global success with "Ex's and Oh's" it proves that she has much more to offer, stating it is infused with "divorce, self-doubt, medicinal drinking, and PTSD," all of which King suffered in her personal life after being in the spotlight.
Variety described Shake the Spirit as "confessional rock and roll".[1] Billboard said it is "a cathartic, rough-edged diary entry of a project that couldn't be more personal".[2]
Chris Willman of Variety called the album "a first-rate second album that deals frankly with a rough year or two the singer has had since "Ex's and Oh's" took her big-time. It's infused with divorce, self-doubt, medicinal drinking, PTSD and, well, more divorce."[1] Eric R. Danton of Paste said the album "plays like a kind of musical revue, with nods at muscular rock, old-school spy movie songs, vintage soul, '60s girl groups and tunes that blend elements of all four", but that they do not "hang together as a group, which gives Shake the Spirit a scattershot feel. It's an Elle King album, to be sure—her voice is what stitches these songs together, though what is probably supposed to be evidence of her range often feels like she's trying on musical costumes. The result is a lack of cohesion that turns Shake the Spirit into a series of genre exercises."
Adapted credits from the liner notes of Shake the Spirit.[3]