| So Good | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Zara Larsson |
| Cover: | Zara Larsson - So Good.png |
| Recorded: | 2015–2017 |
| Length: | 50:31 |
| Prev Title: | Uncover |
| Prev Year: | 2015 |
| Next Title: | Poster Girl |
| Next Year: | 2021 |
So Good is the second studio album by Swedish singer Zara Larsson. It was released on 17 March 2017 by TEN Music Group and Epic Records. It was Larsson's first album in nearly three years following her debut album 1 (2014) and her first album to be released internationally. Recording sessions with a handful of producers for the album began in 2015 and concluded in early 2017. The album includes guest appearances by the rapper Ty Dolla $ign and the singers MNEK and Wizkid.
The album's release date was pushed back multiple times before ultimately being released in March 2017. So Good was supported by seven singles; "Lush Life", "Never Forget You" with MNEK, "Ain't My Fault", "I Would Like", "So Good" featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Don't Let Me Be Yours" and "Only You". "Lush Life", "Never Forget You" and "Ain't My Fault" all charted on the US Billboard Hot 100. To further promote the album, Larsson made several television appearances and live performances and embarked on the So Good World Tour in October 2017. The album was also promoted through the Don't Worry Bout Me Tour in 2019.
So Good received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release, who complimented the album's production and Larsson's vocal performance. It debuted and peaked at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 and charted at number one in Sweden, number two in Norway and number seven on the UK albums chart. The album also charted within the top-ten in six other countries, including Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand, as well as reaching the top 20 in fifteen other countries.
So Good primarily contains pop songs, as well as several rhythmic and dance songs. The album also contains several ballads, in addition to incorporating R&B[1] [2] and tropical house. In a late 2015 interview with Idolator, Larsson confirmed she worked with Dr. Luke on the album; his work did not appear on the final cut of the album.[3] During an interview with Billboard, Larsson confirmed she worked with Max Martin's team on the project, saying: "I worked with so many. Me and MNEK have done a lot of other songs. Me and the Max Martin team. Not Max Martin himself, but hopefully next time. The team is really good. The Monsters & Strangerz, I love them so much. And just a lot of super talented people—R. City, Justin Tranter, so many good people. Whoever you meet, they're like, 'I just wrote a No. 1 for this or that.' Everyone has something to brag about, which is what I would do if I wrote that good songs."[4]
Larsson also worked with Stargate and Charlie Puth on the album. During an interview with Digital Spy, Zara confirmed that each song on the album was written and produced by a different production team. After several delays, Larsson released the artwork of the album on her social media on 3 February 2017, and So Good was made available for pre-order that day. At the same time, the release date of 17 March 2017 was confirmed.[5]
"Lush Life" was released as the lead single of So Good on 4 June 2015 in Sweden and on 9 June 2015 internationally.[6] [7] [8] [9] Three music videos were released for "Lush Life"; the first was directed by Måns Nyman[10] while the second and third were both directed by Mary Clerté.[11] It was an international success, peaking within the top 10 in several countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Spain.[12] [13] [14] [15]
On 22 July 2015, "Never Forget You" featuring MNEK was released digitally in the United Kingdom.[16] A music video, directed by Richard Paris Wilson, was released on 17 September 2015.[17] The song peaked within the top 10 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.[12] [18] [19] [20] The single also became both Larsson and MNEK's first US entry, managing to peak at number 13 in May 2016 on the Hot 100. The single was certified 4× Platinum in Sweden[21] and 2× Platinum in the US.[22]
On 2 September 2016, "Ain't My Fault" was released as the third single from the album.[23] [24] Its official music video, directed by Emil Nava, was premiered via Larsson's Vevo account on 30 September 2016.[25] It reached the top 20 in Australia,[13] United Kingdom,[12] Finland[20] and Denmark[19] among others, peaking at number one in Sweden.[18]
On 11 November 2016, "I Would Like" was released as a promotional single, and was later released as an official single. Larsson performed the song on the thirteenth series of The X Factor UK on 4 December 2016. The song reached the top 10 in several countries, including the United Kingdom[12] and Ireland.[26]
On 27 January 2017, the title track "So Good" featuring Ty Dolla $ign was released as the fifth single from the album. The official music video for the song, directed by Sarah McColgan, premiered on 3 February 2017 on Larsson's Vevo channel.[27] They performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 7 February 2017[28] and on The Wendy Williams Show on 23 March 2017.[29] It reached the top 10 on the Sverigetopplistan in Sweden, where it was certified Gold[21] and reached number seven.[18]
On 17 March 2017, "Symphony" by Clean Bandit featuring Larsson, was released as a bonus track from the album,[30] as well as the second single from Clean Bandit's second album What Is Love?.[31] [32] The music video, directed by Clean Bandit's members Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson, premiered the same day.[31] They gave the first live performance of the song on The Voice UK on 18 March 2017.[33] The song reached the top 10 of countries like Australia, Finland,[20] Germany and Ireland,[26] and also reached the number one position in Norway, the United Kingdom,[12] Scotland[34] and Sweden. As well as becoming Larsson's fifth number one in her home country,[18] it also gave Larsson her first number one single in the UK.
On 12 May 2017, "Don't Let Me Be Yours", a song written by Ed Sheeran, was released as a single in the United Kingdom and was later promoted in Australia. The official music video was released on the same day. The song reached the top 40 in her home country of Sweden during the week of her album's debut on the chart.
On 11 August 2017, "Only You", was released as the seventh and final single from the album, with remixes from Canadian singer Olivier Dion and German singer Nena commissioned.[35] [36] The song reached the top five in Sweden and the top 40 in Norway.
So Good was met with generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on four reviews.
Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian gave the album a three-star rating out of five, describing the album as "sugar-soaked postmodern pop", saying Larsson is like a "Rihanna-doting teen gatecrashing a tropical house party, gun fingers blazing, and her sugar-soaked songs are imbued with honesty". Gibsone also mentioned how, at a time when pop looks to the future, 'So Good' is in danger of dying quickly".[37] Nick Levine from NME gave the album four stars out of five, saying how the "big hits you know are obviously brilliant", but describing some of the "ballads towards the end" as "dull".[38]
Notes
Sample credits
Credits adapted from AllMusic.[39]
| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[40] | 45 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[41] | 51 |
| South Korean Albums (Gaon)[42] | 51 |
| Chart (2017) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[43] | 83 | |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[44] | 103 | |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[45] | 30 | |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[46] | 31 | |
| Icelandic Albums (Plötutíðindi)[47] | 32 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[48] | 23 | |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[49] | 4 | |
| UK Albums (OCC)[50] | 54 |
| Chart (2018) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[51] | 184 | |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[52] | 60 | |
| Icelandic Albums (Plötutíðindi)[53] | 76 | |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[54] | 22 |
| Chart (2019) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[55] | 84 | |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[56] | 52 |
| Region | Date | Format | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 17 March 2017 | [57] | |||
| Japan | 3 May 2017 | CD | Sony Music | [58] |