Abandon Ship
Studio album by
Knife Party
Released24 November 2014
RecordedSeptember 2013 – July 2014
Genre
Length55:36
LabelEarstorm, Big Beat, Warner Bros.
ProducerRob Swire, Gareth McGrillen
Knife Party chronology
Haunted House
(2013)		 Abandon Ship
(2014)		 Trigger Warning
(2015)
Singles from Abandon Ship
  1. "Resistance"
    Released: 31 August 2014
  2. "Begin Again"
    Released: 23 September 2014
  3. "Boss Mode"
    Released: 27 September 2014

Abandon Ship is the debut studio album by the Australian electronic dance music duo Knife Party, released on 24 November 2014 by Earstorm Records, Big Beat Records and Warner Bros. Records. Its release in stores was postponed from the initial 27 October 2014 release date to 24 November.[1][2] However, on 7 November 2014, iTunes Store released the album early, and the early release has been acknowledged by Knife Party themselves.[3]

Recording

Work on Knife Party's debut album started in September 2013, after the conclusion of their previous tour.[4] By 4 June 2014, progress on Abandon Ship had reached a completion of nine tracks out of a desired twelve for release, with "five [tracks] in the "maybe" pile and five in the "ideas" stage".[5] The album entered its mastering stage in July 2014.[6]

Promotion

The title of the album, Abandon Ship, was unveiled on 8 June 2014 by Knife Party through a post on social networking service Twitter, which was illustrated with the image of President Calvin Coolidge tipping his hat.[7] Knife Party appeared at the 2014 Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Nevada on 20 June 2014 for the first show of the duo's Festival Tour during mid 2014. Their 70-minute set at EDC, which included new tracks from Abandon Ship in both demo and studio form, was streamed live over the internet.[8] On 6 August 2014, Rob Swire released a teaser for the track "Boss Mode", from the forthcoming album.[9] "Resistance" was released for free on 25 August 2014, also available for sale and supported by BBC Radio 1Xtra DJs including MistaJam. On 22 August 2014, the album was formally announced on Twitter, and is scheduled for release on 10 November 2014. "Begin Again" was released as the album's second instant grat on 22 September 2014, entering the UK Singles Chart at number 183. The song received widespread airplay from BBC Radio 1 DJs, including Zane Lowe[10] and Greg James.[11]

In a series of tweets on 11 October 2014, shortly after it was announced that the album release date had been pushed back by 2 weeks for reasons out of Knife Party's control, Swire spoke up about the decision to make the album; "So close to finishing this thing. Can't believe it.[12] Before we embarked on this thing, some people in our sphere of influence told us "don't bother, just release your previous EPs as an album.[13] EDM is dead, you should just release all your old material on one CD, fulfill the contract and then do something with Pendulum."[14] I realised that if an artist I liked released an album of old tunes, I'd be pissed off. So we wrote 12 from scratch, and it took forever.[15] But I'm so glad we did it. Even if it turns out they were right and no one buys it and we have to sell organs for food."[16]

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen. "Superstar" co-written by and featuring vocals by Bryn Christopher of I See MONSTAS. "EDM Trend Machine" co-written by Richard Boardman and Simon Aldred.

No.TitleLength
1."Reconnect"1:38
2."Resistance"5:13
3."Boss Mode" (featuring Raja Kumari)3:47
4."EDM Trend Machine" (featuring Simon Aldred)5:05
5."404"4:58
6."Begin Again"5:55
7."Give It Up" (featuring Mr Vegas)4:11
8."D.I.M.H." (featuring BETSY)5:46
9."Micropenis"5:32
10."Superstar" (featuring Skaar)4:15
11."Red Dawn"6:07
12."Kaleidoscope"4:00

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[17]

Abandon Ship received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Andy Belt of We Got This Covered gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying "Knife Party’s debut album will rouse you and get you in the mood to celebrate, at least for its thunderous first half. Its best tracks are Begin Again, Boss Mode, Reconnect, D.I.M.H., and Kaleidoscope- these tracks utilize not only EDM but also house, space and/or dubstep."[18]

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] 20
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[20] 30
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 39
US Billboard 200[22] 54
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[23] 2

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom[24] 8 November 2014 CD, vinyl, digital download
  • Earstorm
  • Big Beat
  • Warner Bros.
Australia[25]
New Zealand[26]
United States[27][28]
Canada[29]

References

  1. ↑ Knife Party (13 October 2014). "Hi all - please read this, concerning the album release date". Twitter.
  2. ↑ Knife Party (3 November 2014). "Sorry folks after lengthy discussions with the powers that be we can't get the album in shops any quicker than Nov24". Twitter.
  3. ↑ "Twitter / knifepartyinc: Abandon Ship is now live on iTunes. Happy Friday!". Twitter.com. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Twitter / knifepartyinc: 3 shows to go. And then the". Twitter.com. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Spada, Andrew (8 June 2014). "Knife Party reveal new album name 'Abandon Ship,' 9 out of 12 tracks completed". Dancing Astronaut. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Khal (8 June 2014). "Knife Party's Almost Done With Their Album "Abandon Ship"". Do Androids Dance?. Complex Media. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Knife Party drop the debut album news fans have been waiting for". In The Mix. inthemix Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 12 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Wood, Chris. "Listen To Knife Party's Set At EDCLV Showcasing New Music". Your EDM. Your EDM, LLC. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Knife Party - Boss Mode teaser". SoundCloud. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Lowe, Zane (6 October 2014). "Now @knifepartyinc @BBCR1 #goodmusic". Twitter.
  11. ↑ "BBC Radio 1 - Greg James, 10/10/2014". BBC Radio 1. 10 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "Rob Swire on Twitter: "So close to finishing this fucking thing. Can't believe it."". Twitter.com. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Rob Swire on Twitter: "Before we embarked on this thing, some people in our sphere of influence told us "don't bother, just release your previous EPs as an album""". Twitter.com. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "Rob Swire on Twitter: ""...EDM is dead, you should just release all your old material on one CD, fulfill the contract then do something with Pendulum""". Twitter.com. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Rob Swire on Twitter: "I realised that if an artist I liked released an album of old tunes, I'd be pissed off. So we wrote 12 from scratch, and it took FOREVER"". Twitter.com. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "Rob Swire on Twitter: "...but I'm so glad we did it. Even if it turns out they were right and EDM is fucked and no one buys it and we have to sell organs for food."". Twitter.com. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  17. ↑ allmusic
  18. ↑ "Knife Party - Abandon Ship Review". We Got This Covered. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Knife Party – Abandon Ship". Hung Medien.
  20. ↑ "Charts.nz – Knife Party – Abandon Ship". Hung Medien.
  21. ↑ "{{{artist}}} | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  22. ↑ "Knife Party Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  23. ↑ "Knife Party Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard.
  24. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Abandon Ship by Knife Party". iTunes. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  25. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Abandon Ship by Knife Party". iTunes. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  26. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Abandon Ship by Knife Party". iTunes. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  27. ↑ "Amazon.com: Abandon Ship: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  28. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Abandon Ship by Knife Party". iTunes. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  29. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Abandon Ship by Knife Party". iTunes. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
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