''High Expectations'' is the debut studio album by English singer
Mabel. It was released on 2 August 2019 by
Polydor UK. Originally scheduled for release on 15 July, the album was pushed back to 2 August to alter several songs. Mabel worked with writers and producers such as
Tre Jean-Marie
Tre Jean-Marie (born 13 April 1993) is a British songwriter and record producer. His writing and production credits include AJ Tracey, Anne-Marie, Burna Boy, Craig David, FLO, Jacob Banks, Joy Crookes, Kaytranada, Labrinth, Little Mix, ...
,
Steve Mac
Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern Briti ...
and
MNEK to create the album, with its tracks incorporating elements of
pop and
R&B.
The album was supported by two singles. Its lead single "
Don't Call Me Up
"Don't Call Me Up" is a song by English singer Mabel, included on the 2019 reissue of her debut mixtape, '' Ivy to Roses'', and debut album, '' High Expectations''. It was released by Polydor Records on 18 January 2019. As of April 2024, the musi ...
" peaked at number three on the
UK Singles Chart for three consecutive weeks, making it Mabel's highest charting single in the UK. It also became her international mainstream breakthrough, managing to peak within the top 10 in over twenty countries. The track also became Mabel's first US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry, peaking at 66 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album's second and final single "
Mad Love __NOTOC__
Mad Love may refer to: Books
*''Mad Love'' (French ''L'amour fou''), collection of poems by André Breton
*'' The Batman Adventures: Mad Love'', an Eisner and Harvey award-winning comic by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
* Mad Love (publisher), ...
" became Mabel's third UK top-10 single, peaking at number eight.
Upon its release, ''High Expectations'' received positive reviews from music critics, many of whom complimented its production and the singer's vocals. The album was also a commercial success, debuting at number three on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
and at number five on the
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by t ...
.
Background
In October 2017, Mabel released her debut
mixtape
In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...
, ''
Ivy to Roses''. Its lead single, "
Finders Keepers", peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and became her first top ten single. The mixtape was then reissued in January 2019, featuring six additional singles including "Don't Call Me Up". ''High Expectations'' was then officially announced on 18 April of the same year, with a scheduled release date of July 12. The release date was later pushed back to August 2.
Singles
The album's lead single "
Don't Call Me Up
"Don't Call Me Up" is a song by English singer Mabel, included on the 2019 reissue of her debut mixtape, '' Ivy to Roses'', and debut album, '' High Expectations''. It was released by Polydor Records on 18 January 2019. As of April 2024, the musi ...
" was released on 18 January 2019.
It was initially included on the 2019 reissue of ''Ivy to Roses''.
The song peaked at number three on the
UK Singles Chart for three consecutive weeks, making it Mabel's highest charting single in the UK. It became her international mainstream breakthrough, managing to peak within the top 10 in over twenty other countries including Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway where it reached the top three.
The track also became the singer's first US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry where it rose to number 66.
"
Mad Love __NOTOC__
Mad Love may refer to: Books
*''Mad Love'' (French ''L'amour fou''), collection of poems by André Breton
*'' The Batman Adventures: Mad Love'', an Eisner and Harvey award-winning comic by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
* Mad Love (publisher), ...
" was released as the second and final single from the album on 7 June 2019. It became Mabel's third UK top-10 single, peaking at number eight, and her second top-10 single in Ireland where it reached number six.
The album's only promotional single, "Bad Behaviour", was released on 23 July 2019, alongside a music video directed by Oliver Kane. The track debuted at number 94 on the UK Singles Chart. A music video for the track "OK (Anxiety Anthem)" premiered on ''
Dazed
''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...
'' on 16 August 2019, directed by Jade Jackman.
Critical reception
''High Expectations'' received positive reviews from music critics upon its release. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average
In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 61, based on 10 reviews.
Reviewing the album for ''
musicOMH
''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...
'', Ben Devlin hailed it as "a convincing display of versatility and quality songwriting that firmly establishes Mabel as a force to be reckoned with in UK pop",
while Chris Taylor of ''
DIY'' regarded it as "effortlessly cool" with "no faux-earnestness".
''
Q'' magazine's
Laura Barton called the album "highly polished" and said the singer "perfected the art of writing songs that even on first listen sound totally ubiquitous".
In ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', Hannah Mylrea wrote that Mabel's "gorgeous silky vocals soar, the glossy production is stellar, but the exuberance and effervescent attitude that make tunes like 'Don't Call Me Up' so brilliant aren't found throughout."
Andrew Wright of ''
The Skinny'' stated that the singer found her individual identity with ''High Expectations'' which he described as well-rounded despite "some over-zealous Top 40 attempts".
Conversely, Joe Hale of ''
Clash'' found it "almost too airbrushed, with Mabel playing it a little too safe to qualify being described as wholly original or progressive", but concluded that it had "some real highlights" and "moments of talent and flair".
Despite finding the album strong and well-crafted, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''s
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...
also believed it lacked personality and only "occasionally hints its maker might be more interesting and individual".
Kitty Empire was more critical in ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', writing, "''High Expectations'' is just disappointingly all right, lacking any playfulness, or top spin, or a sense of who Mabel is,"
while ''
Uncut'' critic Johnny Sharp commented, "Despite some pleasant enough tunes, she lacks the vocal charisma to stand out from other wannabe
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
s,
Mileys and
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards.
Lipa worked as a model before v ...
s."
Mick Jacobs of ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
'' concluded, "Though sung in a beautiful, agile voice, the album's contents lack any innovation that truly set them apart, even amongst themselves."
Commercial performance
''High Expectations'' debuted at number three on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, behind
Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
's ''
No.6 Collaborations Project'' and
Lewis Capaldi
Lewis Marc Capaldi (born 7 October 1996) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. In March 2019, his single "Someone You Loved" (2018) topped the UK Singles Chart where it remained for seven weeks, and in November 2019, it reached number ...
's ''
Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent
''Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent'' is the debut studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi. It was released on 17 May 2019 through Vertigo Records in Europe and Capitol Records in the United States, and distributed globally ...
'', with first-week sales of 9,761
album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...
s. It dropped to number 10 in its second week with sales of 4,184 units. On the
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by t ...
, it debuted at number five, the highest new entry for the chart dated 9 August 2019. The album also debuted in the top 40 in Norway and Switzerland.
In the US, ''High Expectations'' entered at number 198 on the
''Billboard'' 200.
Hugh McIntyre of ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' cited its debut as "a prime example of how the UK and the US music industries can be drastically different".
Tour
Mabel announced the US and Canada dates of her headlining tour in support of the album on 7 June 2019. General sale of tickets also began on the same date. Dates in the UK and Europe were announced on July 19, 2019 via her social media. The general sale of tickets for European dates began on July 21. The supporting act was R&B singer Kali Claire. The European leg of the tour commenced on January 28, 2020 in Dublin, Ireland.
Track listing
Credits adapted from the album liner notes.
;Notes
*
signifies an additional producer
*
signifies a vocal producer
*
signifies a co-producer
* Before the final digital reissue, there was a first reissue with "God Is a Dancer" added as track one (track 21 on certain listings), and later a second reissue with "Boyfriend" as track one (or track 15), with "God Is a Dancer" as track 22.
*"Tick Tock" and "West Ten" are placed as tracks one and two on the digital reissue exclusively for
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
, with all other tracks being two positions lower in the track list.
Personnel
Credits for ''High Expectations'' adapted from
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
.
Performers and vocals
*
Mabel – primary artist, vocals
*
Kamille – background vocals , additional vocals , featured vocals
*
Kojo Funds
Errol Kojo Bellot, known professionally as Kojo Funds ( ; born 30 March 1995), is an English singer, rapper and songwriter. His music blends West African and Caribbean sounds with road rap, dancehall and pop.
Kojo Funds featured on Yxng Bane ...
– vocals
*
Not3s – vocals
*
Rich the Kid
Dimitri Leslie Roger (born July 13, 1992), known professionally as Rich the Kid, is an American rapper. After a number of independent mixtapes, he signed with Interscope Records in 2017 to release his debut studio album, '' The World Is Yours'' ...
– vocals
*
Raye – vocals
*
Stefflon Don
Stephanie Victoria Allen (born 14 December 1991), known professionally as Stefflon Don, is an English rapper. She rose to fame with her 2017 single "Hurtin' Me" (featuring French Montana), which peaked at number seven on the UK singles chart, ...
– vocals
* Anthony Hannides – background vocals
* Michael Hannides – background vocals, piano, drums
* 169 – background vocals, drum programming, keyboards
*
MNEK – background vocals, keyboards, drum programming , additional vocals
* Kali Claire McLoughlin – background vocals
* Nick Trygstad – cello
* Simon Turner – cello
* Paulette Bayley – violin
* Peter Whitfield – violin
* Sarah Brandwood-Spencer – violin
*
Tre Jean-Marie
Tre Jean-Marie (born 13 April 1993) is a British songwriter and record producer. His writing and production credits include AJ Tracey, Anne-Marie, Burna Boy, Craig David, FLO, Jacob Banks, Joy Crookes, Kaytranada, Labrinth, Little Mix, ...
– bass, piano, strings, synthesizer
*
Josh Werner – bass guitar
* Chris Laws – drums
*
Steve Mac
Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern Briti ...
– keyboards
* Tim Laws – guitar
*
Al Shux – bass, drums,
keys
*
Fraser T. Smith – drum programming , keyboards
* Jordan Riley – drums, keyboards , synthesizer programming , bass, piano
* Lewis Allen – guitar
* Leo Kalyan – (drums and keys) programming
*
Stephen Kozmeniuk – drums, strings
*
Jimmy Napes
James Napier (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Jimmy Napes, is an English songwriter and record producer. He has won a number of awards including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, 3 Grammy Awards, and 2 Ivor Novello Awards ...
– piano
*
Marlon Roudette
Marlon Roudette (born 5 January 1982) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the former front man for the duo Mattafix who had their first number 1, "Big City Life", in 2006. After the group split, Roudette embarked on a s ...
– electric guitar
* Alastair "AoD" O'Donnell – guitar
*
Timucin Lam – all instruments
* Twice as Nice – drum, synthesizer programming
* Charlie Handsome – synthesizer programming, drums
* Josh Crocker – drums, keyboards
Production
* Tre Jean-Marie – production
*
Dre Skull – production
*
WILDLIFE! – additional production
* Cameron Gower Poole – (additional) vocal production
* Steve Mac – production
* Oak – production
* Al Shux – production
* Fraser T. Smith – production
* Jordan Riley – production
* MakeYouKnowLove – production
* Tyrell Paul – production
*
Snakehips – production
*
MXXWLL – production
* MNEK – production
* KOZ – production
* Leo Kalyan – additional production
* JD. Reid – production
* Alastair "AoD" O'Donnell – additional production
* Jay Weathers – production
* Jax Jones - production
*
Mark Ralph - co-production
* Twice as Nice – production
* Charlie Handsome – production
* Josh Crocker – production
* GA – production
*
Joel Pott
Joel Laslett Pott (born 20 January 1979 in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie band Athlete between 2000 and their split in 2013. In recent years he has served as a son ...
– production
Technical
* Tre Jean-Marie – programming
* Nosa Apollo – programming
* Geoff Swan – mixing
* Lewis Chapman – assistant mixing
* Bill Zimmerman – additional engineering
*
Phil Tan – mixing
*
Dan Pursey – engineering
* Chris Laws – engineering
*
Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
* Al Shux – recording
*
Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...
– mixing
* Chris Galland - engineering
* Jordan Riley – recording
* Niko Battistini – mix assistant
* Michael Freeman – mix assistant
* Wez Clarke – additional programming , mixing
* Cameron Gower Poole – mixing , recording
* MNEK – background vocals recording
*
Matt Snell
Matthews Snell (born August 18, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the New York Jets of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He was Jets' owner Sonny Werblin's f ...
– assistant engineering
* JD. Reid – engineering , programming
* Jay Weathers – engineering
*
Mike Spencer – additional engineering, mixing
* Mark Ralph – mixing
* Jamie Snell – editing
*
Dan Parry – mixing
* Josh Crocker – programming
Artwork
*
Mariano Vivanco – photography
* Ted Lovett (Studio) – art direction and design
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
''High Expectations... Stripped''
''High Expectations... Stripped'' is an acoustic version of the album recorded by
Mabel at her home studio during the
COVID-19 lockdowns
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...
. The album was released on 31 July 2020.
Mabel announced the album on 28 July 2020, saying "This year turned everyone's plans sideways and I’ve been using the time in my home studio to record an acoustic version of every track. Something a bit more intimate from me".
Track listing
References
{{Authority control
2019 debut albums
Polydor Records albums
Capitol Records albums
Albums produced by Steve Mac
Albums produced by MNEK
Albums produced by Oak Felder
Albums produced by Fraser T. Smith
Albums produced by Al Shux
Albums produced by Tre Jean-Marie
Albums produced by Jordan Riley
Mabel (singer) albums