Recess (album)

Recess
Studio album by Skrillex
Released	March 18, 2014 (2014-03-18)
Recorded	2013–2014
Genre	EDM[1] dubstep[2] pop[3]
Length	46:34
Label	Big Beat Owsla Atlantic
Producer	Chance the Rapper Diplo Kill the Noise KillaGraham Alvin Risk Skrillex The Social Experiment[4]
Skrillex chronology
Leaving (2013) Recess (2014) Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü (2015)
Singles from Recess
"Try It Out" Released: October 14, 2013 "Recess" Released: July 7, 2014 "Ragga Bomb" Released: November 24, 2014 "Dirty Vibe" Released: December 15, 2014

Recess is the debut studio album by American record producer Skrillex, released on March 18, 2014, by Owsla, Big Beat Records, and Atlantic Records.[5][6] It was recorded between 2013 and 2014 whilst Skrillex was touring around the world.[7]

Recess received mixed reviews from music critics. It charted in multiple countries worldwide and became his highest-charting release in the United States and the United Kingdom.[8] Rolling Stone later ranked it at number 22 on their 50 Best Albums of 2014 list.[9]

Marketing

Promotion

On March 7, 2014, Skrillex took part in an "ask me anything" online Reddit post.[10] To coincide with this question-and-answer session, his website was changed to redirect to a page featuring a talking alien face, based on the Apple emoji. "The face played short samples from album tracks when you clicked it." He released a mobile app, Alien Ride, on the same day which features an arcade-style objective where the spaceship has to destroy asteroids. The app displayed a countdown.[11][12]

When the countdown reached zero, the first song from the album was available to stream through the app. This continued in regular 30 minute intervals until the entire album was streamable for a limited time via the app.[12][13]

Singles

"Try It Out (Neon Mix)" with Alvin Risk was released as the album's lead single on October 14, 2013, alongside two more mixes of the song. It charted in France at number 185. The title track, "Recess", was added to BBC Radio 1's C-List on March 19, 2014, and entered several countries' iTunes charts including the United States and United Kingdom.[14] The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 57 upon album release, and was released as a single alongside remixes on July 7, 2014. "Ease My Mind", "All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" and "Dirty Vibe" also entered the iTunes charts in various countries.

The music video for "Ragga Bomb" was released on April 1, 2014[15] and the song entered the Flanders Ultratip 100 at number 75. A remix EP entitled Ease My Mind v Ragga Bomb Remixes was released on November 24, 2014, with both songs doubling up as the single. "Dirty Vibe" was released as the album's fourth single in the form of another remix EP on December 15, 2014.

Other songs

"Doompy Poomp" was released on June 8, 2013, in collaboration with graphic designer Mishka for free download through his website.[16] "Stranger" features on the Divergent soundtrack, released shortly before the album.[17][18] The first song, "All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" debuted as a demo on his BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix.[19] The song "Terror Squad" by electronic music producer Zomboy was inspired by the demo version known officially as "untitled DJ tool" or unofficially as "This Much Power". As a result, Skrillex used a sample from "Terror Squad" that says "It's fucking Zomboy", covering up the "Zomboy" with a distorted and pitched down laugh.[20]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	59/100[21]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[22]
Consequence of Sound	C+[23]
Fact	[24]
Los Angeles Times	[25]
Now	[26]
Pitchfork	5.7/10[27]
PopMatters	[1]
Resident Advisor	[3]
Rolling Stone	[28]
Spin	7/10[29]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 59 based on 15 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first week sales of 48,000 copies in the United States.[30] As of January 2015, it has sold 150,000 copies.[31]

Track listing

Recess track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" (featuring Ragga Twins)	Sonny Moore Trevor and David Destouche Joshua Melody	Skrillex	4:08
2.	"Recess" (with Kill the Noise featuring Fatman Scoop and Michael Angelakos)	Moore Jacob R. Stanczak Isaac Freeman Michael Angelakos	Skrillex Kill the Noise	3:57
3.	"Stranger" (with KillaGraham featuring Sam Dew)	Moore Justin Parker Sam Dew Graham Muron	Skrillex KillaGraham	4:49
4.	"Try It Out" (Neon Mix; with Alvin Risk)	Moore Marcio Alvarado	Skrillex Alvin Risk	3:49
5.	"Coast Is Clear" (featuring Chance the Rapper and The Social Experiment)	Moore Chancelor Bennett Peter Wilkins Nico Segal Christopher Wallace Ronald Isley Ernie Isley Chris Jasper	Skrillex Chance the Rapper The Social Experiment	4:03
6.	"Dirty Vibe" (with Diplo featuring G-Dragon and CL)	Moore Thomas Pentz Ji-Yong Kwon Ted Hong Jun Park Robin Cho	Skrillex Diplo	3:26
7.	"Ragga Bomb" (featuring Ragga Twins)	Moore T. Destouche D. Destouche	Skrillex	4:18
8.	"Doompy Poomp"	Moore	Skrillex	3:25
9.	"Fuck That"	Moore	Skrillex	3:50
10.	"Ease My Mind" (featuring Niki & The Dove)	Moore Malin Dahlström	Skrillex	5:02
11.	"Fire Away" (featuring Kid Harpoon)	Moore Tom Hull	Skrillex	5:42
Total length:				46:34

Notes

• "Coast Is Clear" features additional vocals by Peter Cottontale and Donnie Trumpet.[4]

Sample credits

• "All Is Fair in Love and Brostep" contains samples from "Terror Squad", written and performed by Zomboy.
• "Coast Is Clear" contains interpolations of "Big Poppa", written and performed by The Notorious B.I.G.[4]
• "Ease My Mind" contains samples of "DJ, Ease My Mind", written and performed by Niki & The Dove.

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Recess Chart (2014) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] 4 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33] 14 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] 28 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35] 38 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36] 3 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[37] 28 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[38] 42 French Albums (SNEP)[39] 57 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[40] 20 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] 28 Irish Albums (IRMA)[42] 78 Italian Albums (FIMI)[43] 30 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[44] 24 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[45] 6 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[46] 22 Scottish Albums (OCC)[47] 15 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[48] 45 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[49] 21 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[50] 11 UK Albums (OCC)[51] 13 UK Dance Albums (OCC)[52] 1 US Billboard 200[53] 4 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[54] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Recess Chart (2014) Position US Billboard 200[55] 178 US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[56] 5 Chart (2015) Position US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[57] 21

Release history

Release history and formats for Recess

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Australia	March 14, 2014	CD digital download	Big Beat Owsla Atlantic	[58]
Europe	March 17, 2014
Various (Record Store Day exclusive)	April 20, 2014	Cassette		[59]

References

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3. "RA Reviews: Skrillex - Recess on Big Beat (Album)". Resident Advisor. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
4. Skrillex, (2014). Recess. [Album Liner & Credits]. Big Beat Records/Owsla under license to Atlantic Records.
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6. "Skrillex streams new album on Dazed". Dazed. March 11, 2014.
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14. "Photo by shiftk3y". Instagram. March 19, 2014.
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