The Evolution of Man
A photo of Example holding a picture of when he was young with many people watching it. In the top-left corner we see the words "example - the evolution of man".
Studio album by
Example
Released19 November 2012 (2012-11-19)
Recorded2012
Genre
Length54:21
LabelMinistry of Sound
Producer
Example chronology
Playing in the Shadows
(2011)		 The Evolution of Man
(2012)		 #Hits
(2013)
Singles from The Evolution of Man
  1. "Say Nothing"
    Released: 16 September 2012
  2. "Close Enemies"
    Released: 11 November 2012
  3. "Perfect Replacement"
    Released: 24 February 2013

The Evolution of Man is the fourth studio album by English musician Example, released on 19 November 2012 through Ministry of Sound.

Background and development

Example tweeted that on the plane to Sydney, he planned on writing some songs for a new album and he would be listening to Kasabian's album Velociraptor! for lyrical inspiration. Whilst in Australia for 2 months, the singer planned to write the entire album in the time he spent there.

On 25 July 2012 Example announced via Twitter that the name of the lead single from his fourth album was "Say Nothing" – produced by Dirty South, also revealing it would premiere Monday 30 July 2012 on Capital FM. The track, alongside "Perfect Replacement" (produced by Feed Me), received its live debut on 18–19 August 2012 at the V Festival.

After fans' complaints about the lack of dubstep influence in "Say Nothing", Example responded to a comment on Facebook, saying "wait for the album, I'm not gonna fill the album with the same sounding song, and I'm not gonna keep releasing the same 'dubstep' or 'electro' record".[4]

The promotional video for "Come Taste the Rainbow" premiered on 19 October 2012 on Hunger TV. This was also uploaded later to Example's official YouTube channel.[5]

"Close Enemies", produced by Alex Smith, was released as the second single from the album on 11 November 2012, entering the UK Singles Chart at No. 37.

On 15 November, Greg James at BBC Radio 1 had the exclusive first play of "Perfect Replacement", with Example claiming that he "wanted it to be a single" but that there were "five or six" tracks that could be chosen as the third single. On 24 November, Example confirmed "Perfect Replacement" as the third single. Previous tweets had hinted towards "Queen of Your Dreams" becoming a future single. During a live hangout on Google+, he revealed that he struggles to reach the high notes and so he doesn't perform "Queen of Your Dreams" live.

From 11 February to 1 March 2013, Example and his live band completed their second UK arena tour. He performed six tracks from The Evolution of Man along with songs from his previous two albums Playing in the Shadows and Won't Go Quietly. The band consists of Gleave, Sheldrake, Johnny "Drummachine" and Kaikai (who replaced David Stewart as guitarist). He was supported by Benga on all dates and Micky Slim, Sway, Baller B and P Money on selected dates.

Singles

  • "Say Nothing" is the album's lead single. It is produced by Dirty South, and was released on 16 September 2012. The single debuted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.[6]
  • "Close Enemies" is the second single from the album. It is produced by Alex Smith, and was released on 11 November 2012. The single debuted at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart but debuted at number 7 on the UK Indie and dance.[6]
  • "Perfect Replacement" is the third and final single from the album. It is produced by Feed Me and was released on 24 February 2013. The single peaked at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart but it peaked at number 7 on the UK Indie chart and number 9 on the UK Dance chart[6]

Reception

The album received mostly mixed to positive reviews from music critics.

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic65/100
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
BBC Music(favourable)[7]
Digital Spy[8]
The Guardian[9]
The Independent[10]
NME[2]
SB.TV(favourable)[3]
Time Out London[11]
Virgin Media[12]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Come Taste the Rainbow"
Benga4:11
2."Close Enemies"
  • Gleave
  • Alex Smith
Alex Smith4:22
3."Perfect Replacement"
Feed Me3:28
4."Crying Out for Help"
Tommy Trash4:13
5."Queen of Your Dreams"
Alesso3:12
6."Say Nothing"
3:41
7."All My Lows"
  • Gleave
  • Roganović
Dirty South5:50
8."The Evolution of Man"
  • Gleave
  • Smith
Alex Smith3:56
9."One Way Mirror"
  • Gleave
  • Roganović
Dirty South4:39
10."Snakeskin"
4:22
11."Blood from a Stone"
Zane Lowe4:49
12."Are You Sitting Comfortably?"
Skream3:38
13."We'll Be Coming Back" (Calvin Harris and Example)
Calvin Harris3:57
Total length:54:21
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Let's Be Fucking Stupid"
Dada Life4:03
2."Someone to Die For" (with Dillon Francis)
  • Gleave
  • Dillon Francis
Dillon Francis4:35
3."Whisper" (Example vs. AN21 & Max Vangeli)
  • Gleave
  • Antoine Josefsson
  • Max Vangeli
AN21 & Max Vangeli4:01
4."Eutopia (Fade Away)" (with Laidback Luke)
Laidback Luke4:30
5."Daydreamer" (Flux Pavilion featuring Example)
Flux Pavilion3:51
6."Say Nothing" (Hardwell and Dannic remix)
  • Gleave
  • McDaid
  • Roganović
  • Dirty South
  • Hardwell[c]
  • Dannic[c]
6:12
7."Close Enemies" (Joker remix)
  • Gleave
  • Smith
  • Alex Smith
  • Joker[c]
4:07
8."Close Enemies" (Dyro remix)
  • Gleave
  • Smith
  • Alex Smith
  • Dyro[c]
4:19
Total length:89:59

Notes

  • Track listing and credits from album booklet.
  • ^a signifies a co-producer
  • ^b signifies an additional producer
  • ^c signifies a remixer

Personnel

Production[13]

Additional personnel

  • Alex Jenkins – artwork

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format Label
UK 19 November 2012 Digital download, CD Ministry of Sound
Various 27 November 2012

References

  1. 1 2 Jeffries, David. "The Evolution of Man". Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. 1 2 "NME Album Reviews - Example - 'The Evolution of Man' - NME.COM". NME. 16 November 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Example – The Evolution of Man [Album Review] – SB.TV – The UK's leading online youth broadcaster". SB.TV. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "My next single..." Facebook. 30 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "HUNGER TV: EXAMPLE 'COME TASTE THE RAINBOW' – YouTube". YouTube. 19 October 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "EXAMPLE – Artist – Official Charts". Official Charts. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "BBC – Music – Review of Example – The Evolution of Man". BBC. 12 November 2012.
  8. ↑ "Example: 'The Evolution of Man' – Album review – Music Album Review – Digital Spy". Digital Spy. 23 November 2012.
  9. ↑ "Example: The Evolution of Man – review". The Guardian. 15 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "Album: Example, The Evolution of Man (Ministry of Sound) – Reviews – Music – The Independent". The Independent. 24 November 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
  11. ↑ "Example 'The Evolution of Man' album review – Buy 'The Evolution of Man' album – Time Out Music". Time Out London.
  12. ↑ "Example: The Evolution of Man Album Review – Reviews – Music – Virgin Media". Virgin Media.
  13. ↑ "The Evolution of Man – Example". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  14. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Example – The Evolution of Man". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Example". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  17. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  18. ↑ "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  19. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  20. ↑ "End of Year 2012" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
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