Cheers to the Fall

Cheers to the Fall
Cheers to the Fall
Studio album by Andra Day
Released	August 28, 2015
Genre	R&B
Length	49:52
Label	Warner Bros.;
Producer	Jenn Decilveo; Adrian Gurvitz; Rob Kleiner; Raphael Saadiq; Chris Seefried;
Andra Day chronology
Singles from Cheers to the Fall
	"Forever Mine"; Released: 2015; "Rise Up"; Released: August 28, 2015; "Gold"; Released: 2016;

Cheers to the Fall is the debut studio album by American singer Andra Day. It was released on August 28, 2015, by Warner Bros. Records and Buskin Records. She worked with Jenn Decilveo, Adrian Gurvitz, Rob Kleiner, Raphael Saadiq, and Chris Seefried in the production of this album.^[2]

The album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, ^[3] while the second single "Rise Up" was nominated for Best R&B Performance; the song won The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter's Award at the Soul Train Music Awards, while her live performance on The View received a nomination at the 45th Daytime Emmy Awards.

Conception

The album's tracks were entirely co-written by Day with Adrian Gurvitz, Rob Kleiner, Raphael Saadiq, Jennifer Decilveo, Pixie Lott and Chris Seefried, which expresses ""a biography in the form of soul music, [about] truth, fearlessness, vulnerability, forgiveness and love."^[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[5]
Billboard	^[6]
The Guardian	^[7]
The Irish Times	^[8]
The Observer	^[9]

At Album of the Year, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 63 based on 4 reviews.^[10] Awarding the album four stars at AllMusic, Andy Kellman states, "almost every selection has a distinguishing detail or two, whether it's a sly nod to a classic hip-hop artist, an unexpected place Day takes her dynamic voice, or some clever expression of heartache."^[5] Steven J. Horowitz, giving the album three and a half stars for Billboard, writes, "she shouldn't be dismissed as a carbon copy [of Amy Winehouse] – the LP, inspired by an eight-year relationship's end, is too genuinely intentioned and rife with regret. It's hard not to sympathize when she bemoans".^[6] Reviewing the album from The Boston Globe, Ken Capobianco describes, "This confident, stylish pop R&B record ushers in a sophisticated vocalist who faithfully reflects past influences while remaining contemporary and relevant."^[11] Camille Augustin, who pens a review of the album for Vibe, says, "The beauty in Andra's art is that the message applies to all. All we need to do is listen."^[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Forever Mine"	Cassandra Batie Rob Kleiner	3:19
2.	"Only Love"	Batie Adrian Gurvitz	3:24
3.	"Gold"	Batie Chris Seefried	3:45
4.	"Not Today"	Batie A. Gurvitz	3:53
5.	"Mistakes"	Batie A. Gurvitz	3:34
6.	"Goodbye Goodnight"	Batie Kleiner Seefried	4:26
7.	"Rearview"	Batie A. Gurvitz	4:04
8.	"Red Flags"	Batie A. Gurvitz	3:47
9.	"Honey or Fire"	Batie A. Gurvitz	3:17
10.	"Gin & Juice (Let Go My Hand)"	Batie Raphael Saadiq	3:31
11.	"Rise Up"	Batie Jennifer Decilveo	4:13
12.	"City Burns"	Batie A. Gurvitz Elaine Gurvitz Victoria Lott Marthony "Mark" Tabb	4:53
13.	"Cheers to the Fall"	Batie A. Gurvitz	3:46
Total length:			49:52

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.^[2]

Musicians

Billy Adamson – guitar
Victor Axelrod – piano
Kala Balch – background vocals
Nick Barr – cello, viola
Lemar Carter – drums
Matt Chamberlain – drums
Errol Cooney – guitar
Rosie Danvers – cello, string arrangements
Andra Day – lead vocals, background vocals
Joe Crispiano – guitar
Chris "Daddy" Dave – drums
Kylie Davies – double bass
Jenn Decilveo – bass
DJ Jazzy Jeff – scratching
Alison Dods – violin
Lisa Dondlinger – violin
Sean Erick – horn
Jonathan Flaugher – bass
Elizabeth Frascoia – trombone
Cochemea Gastelum – baritone saxophone
Adrian Gurvitz – drums, harmonica, piano, strings, vocals
David Guy – trumpet
Missi Hale – background vocals
Sally Jackson – violin
Bryony James – cello
Chris Johnson – drums
Charles Jones – organ, piano
Patrick Kiernan – violin
Rob Kleiner – bass, guitar, percussion, piano
Keri Larson – background vocals
Mika Lett – background vocals
Timothy Loo – cello
Jordan McLean – trumpet
Leon Michels – saxophone
Miles Mosley – bass
David Paich – piano
Pino Palladino – bass
Dean Parks – guitar
Jimmy Paxson – drums
Kerenza Peacock – violin
Hayley Pomfrett – violin
Questlove – drums
Zac Rae – piano
Peter Randall – bass
Raphael Saadiq – bass, drums, guitar, percussion
Jenny Sacha – violin
Bridget Sarai – background vocals
Chris Seefried – guitar, Moog synthesizer, piano
Sarah Sexton – violin
Gus Seyffert – bass
Onitsha Shaw – background vocals
Leon Silva – horn
Josh Smith – guitar
Homer Steinweiss – drums
Neal Sugarman – saxophone
Calvin Turner – bass
Fernando Velez – percussion
Carl Wheeler – organ
Bruce White – cello, viola
Deborah Widdup – violin
Kevin Williams – horn
The Wired Strings – strings
Dave Wood – guitar

Technical personnel

Keith Armstrong – assistant
Ryan Benton – A&R
Tom Bilier – engineering
Gerry "The Gov" Brown – mixing
Bobby Campbell – mixing
Adam Chagnon – mixing engineer
Jon Chen – A&R
Steve Churchyard – engineering
Irie Cooper – mixing assistant
Andra Day – executive production
Jenn Decilveo – production, additional production
Jeffrey Evans – executive production
Jeff Fenster – A&R
Michael Frondelli – engineering
Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
Adrian Gurvitz – executive production, production, additional production, engineering, programming
Seth Atkins Horan – engineering
Hotae Alexander Jang – mixing assistant
Ben Kane – engineering
Nik Karpen – assistant
Rob Kleiner – production, vocal production, engineering, programming
Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
Tony Maserati – mixing
Dan McCarroll – A&R
James Poyser – additional production
Alex Reid – programming
Gabriel Roth – engineering
Steve Rusch – mixing, engineering
Raphael Saadiq – production
Myriam Santos – creative direction, photography
Andrew Schubert – mixing engineer
Tyler Scott – mixing engineer
Chris Seefried – production, vocal production, programming
Ken Sluiter – engineering, second engineer
Nick Taylor – engineering, string engineering
Jonna Terrasi – A&R
Stephen Walker – art direction
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggers – mixing engineer

In other media

Day's song "Rise Up" has been used in numerous media:

Serena Williams Beats ad campaign. (2015)^[13]
The tenth and final episode in the Netflix series The Five (2016)
The twenty-second episode "Mama Tried" in season 12 of the medical drama, Grey's Anatomy (2016)^[14]^[15]
A trailer for the 2016 film The Birth of a Nation
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016 as a theme song at campaigns and rallies.
A trailer for the 2017 film Stronger.
The ABC docudrama miniseries When We Rise, which chronicled the LGBT rights movement in America.
During NBA player Paul Pierce's jersey number retirement ceremony with the Boston Celtics (2018)
The episode "Rosa", in the science fiction television series Doctor Who (2018)^[16]
The series finale of Big Brother (UK) (2018)
The episode "Athena Begins" of 9-1-1 (2019)
The end credits of "Me as Well" of Orange Is the New Black (2019)
Sung at the end of the Disney+ movie Godmothered (2020)
In Vodafone's Christmas advert campaign (2020)^[17]
Performed by Alex Newell (as Mo) in the first episode "Zoey's Extraordinary Return" in season 2 of the musical comedy-drama Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2021)

"Rise Up" has frequently been covered on television talent shows around the world including:

America's Got Talent: Angelica Hale
American Idol: Just Sam (Season 18)
Britain's Got Talent: Sarah Ikumu (Season 11) and The B-Positive Choir (Season 12)
The X Factor UK: Caitlyn Vanbeck & group performance. Kelsea Johnson (Season 14)
The Voice: Esera Tuaolo (Season 13), Aaliyah Rose (Season 12), Lauren Diaz (Season 11) and Tamar Davis (Season 10)
Queen of the Universe: Grag Queen (Season 1)
Shulem Lemmer, the Hasidic Jewish icon, and the first Haredi Jew to sign with a major record label, released his own cover version as a single in 2020.

Live performances

In 2016 Day performed "Rearview" at the 2016 ESPY Awards during the In Memoriam tribute. In 2021, Day performed "Rise Up (Andra Day)" during the virtual inaugural parade, commemorating the Inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States and again performed the song at the opening ceremony of Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE on September 30, 2021.