''Real Life'' is the second studio album by

Evermore ''Evermore'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was surprise-released on December 11, 2020, by Republic Records. Swift conceived ''Evermore'' as a "sister record" to its p ...

, released on 8 July 2006. It debuted on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

at number five and on the

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

charts at number two. It reached double-platinum certification in Australia. Four singles were released: "

Running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

", " Light Surrounding You", "

Unbreakable Unbreakable may refer to: Books * ''Unbreakable'' (book), the 2017 autobiography of Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic * '' Unbreakable: My Story, My Way'', the 2013 autobiography of singer Jenni Rivera Film and television * ''Unbreakable' ...

" and " Never Let You Go".

Production

The band wrote and recorded demos for the album at their Central Coast home studio in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. This time around, all three brothers had an input on the songwriting with everyone working on their songs individually before bringing them together for the final polish. Jon and Dann collectively wrote around 50 songs. All of the music was written on guitars and piano. After two months, the band flew to

Easton, Maryland Easton is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Talbot County, Maryland, United States. The population was 17,101 at the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 17,342 in 2022. The primary ZIP Code is 21601, and the secondary ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where they met up with engineer

John Alagía John Justin Alagía is an American record producer, composer, mixer and co-founder of Drive Music. Alagia has worked with artists including Lukas Nelson, Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Serena Ryder, Brett Denn ...

who the band worked with on ''

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...

''. The band chose to work John Alagía because they knew he would let them get on with the job. "To be honest, we did nearly all of it without him," says Jon. "We basically worked with him because we had to - the record company wouldn't allow us to do it all ourselves." After some preproduction work, the band headed to

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

where they recorded at Longview Farm, the oldest recording studio still operating in the US and where artists such as

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

have recorded. The album was also recorded at The Village Recording Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and was mixed by

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winning engineer

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Reception

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' reviewer Michael Dwyer described ''Real Life'' as "a roller-coaster of intense gestures and hollow sentiments", criticising the album's "overwrought drama" and lack of restraint.

Bernard Zuel Bernard Zuel (born 1965) is an Australian music journalist. Zuel wrote for Fairfax Media newspapers ''The Age'' and ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' from 1992 to 2017. He became their senior music writer and reviewer. Zuel is a judge of the Austral ...

of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' said the album showed a lack of ambition, and said the most disappointing thing about it was not that it failed, but that "you suspect this is exactly what it was meant to sound like". He complained about the lack of excitement on the album, compared to ''Dreams''.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

* Jon Hume – vocals, guitars, percussion * Peter Hume – vocals, bass, keyboards, piano, artwork *

Dann Hume Dann Hume (born Daniel Benjamin Cobbe, 1 September 1987) is a New Zealand musician, music producer, mix engineer and songwriter. Hume began his career with his two brothers (with Jon Hume and Peter Hume) who formed the alternative rock band, E ...

– vocals, drums, guitars, piano, percussion *

Julian Hamilton Julian Thomas Hamilton (born September 1976) is an Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist, who, with bandmate Kim Moyes, formed the electronica duo, The Presets in 2003. They have issued four studio albums, '' Beams'' (September 2005), ' ...

- keyboards on "My Guiding Light"

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control Evermore (band) albums 2006 albums Albums produced by John Alagía Albums recorded at the Village (studio)