''Troubled Paradise'' is the debut studio album by American singer
Slayyyter
Catherine Grace Garner (born September 17, 1996), known professionally as Slayyyter, is an American pop singer and songwriter from Kirkwood, Missouri, currently based in Los Angeles. She started her career independently through SoundCloud. Her ...
. It was released on June 11, 2021 by
Fader Label
Fader Label is an independent record label based in New York City that has released albums by Slayyyter, Clairo, Matt and Kim, Yuna, Neon Indian, and more. It was founded in 2002 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen.
History
Fader Label was found ...
. It received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the updated production, lyricism and maturity in songwriting. Some critics deemed this album was an improvement from
her debut mixtape.
Background and development
In September 2019, after releasing a string of singles and having achieved a moderate success with tracks on
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
, as well as ascending in social media as an emerging star in niches such as
hyperpop
Hyperpop is a loosely-defined music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated in the United Kingdom during the early-to-mid 2010s. It is characterized by a maximalist or exaggerated take on popular music, and artists within the genre ...
and the
Stan Twitter community, Slayyyter released her
eponymous debut mixtape. A month before its release, the artist answered some online questions regarding the mixtape. In response to a fan asking if
rock would be present on the mixtape, she replied that she would be "saving this style for S2", presumably referring to her then-upcoming debut studio album. Later, Slayyyter did indeed work with the genre in some of the ''Troubled Paradise'' tracks.
In September 2019, a few days before the release of ''Slayyyter'', the singer was questioned on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
about a popular unreleased track among fans she had mentioned and played before, "Doghouse" (later, "Dog House"). The answer was "yes :} will be finished for s1 deluxe edition". Months after that, she continued to tease fans with a taste of what was coming, having teased "Doghouse" almost in full while livestreaming on
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
. Some other rumors also started spreading about what songs would be included in Slayyyter's next record. Known tracks at the time (late 2019 and early 2020) were "Talk to Me", "ID", "Dangerous", "Villain" and "Heaven". None of those tracks, with the exception of "Villain" and "Dog House", were added to the final tracklist of ''Troubled Paradise''. It is also worth noting that since the release of her first
demos
Demos may refer to:
Computing
* DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system
* DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR
* Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems
* plural for Demo (computer programming ...
on
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
, around 2018, the release of her debut mixtape and ''Mini Tour'' in 2019, until the release of ''Troubled Paradise'' in 2021, Slayyyter gained enough popularity to obtain a loyal
fanbase.
The production of ''Troubled Paradise'' has its roots back in Slayyyter's ''Mini Tour'' (2019), when she teased fans saying the album would be "much better" than her debut mixtape and that they would love it. In early 2020, the singer traveled to
L.A.
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
to work on the record. She ended up staying there, while many recording studios shuttered and halted music production. “A lot of people were, like ‘I can’t make songs right now ’cause I can’t get to the studio
..And I was like, ‘
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...
sucks. I’m fine. I know how to do it.’”, she says. Regarding the production of ''Troubled Paradise'', she stated in interviews that its sound would be cleaner than her previous record, as she realized many fans were criticizing the
mixing of ''Slayyyter''. "It isn't
bedroom pop", says the artist.
Singles and promotion
On October 21, 2020, "Self Destruct" was released as the album's lead single, accompanied by the release of its music video hours later. The music video was directed by Brent McKeever. The album's title, ''Troubled Paradise'', and tracklist (although out of order) were leaked on
Last.fm.
"Throatzillaaa" was released as the second single on November 13, 2020. A lyric video was made available on November 9 before the official announcement on November 11. In December, the title track "Troubled Paradise" was registered on Slayyyter's
ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
. before being officially announced on January 19, 2021. "Troubled Paradise" and its music video, directed by Munachi Osegbu and produced by Collin Druz, were released on January 22. The song was leaked in full the day before, as well as the album's final tracklist, cover art and the "Troubled Paradise" music video.
On January 21, 2021, one day before planned, Slayyyter announced the official album title as ''Troubled Paradise'' on social media, along with its official art cover and release date of June 11, 2021. The day after, the tracklist and pre-sale were made available.
"Clouds" was released as the next single on February 26, 2021, followed by "Cowboys" on April 9 and "Over This!" on May 7.
Track listing
Personnel
* John Greenham –
mastering
* Wuki –
mixing, recording (1)
*
Rob Kinelski – mixing (2, 5–12)
* Ike Schultz – mixing (3, 4)
* Robokid – recording (2, 4–6)
*
Gupi – recording (3)
*
John Hill – recording (6)
* Jordan Palmer – recording (6)
* Schmarx – recording (7)
* Nicopop – recording (7)
* Dave Burris – recording (8)
* Micah Jasper – recording (8)
* Lauren D'Elia – recording (9)
*
Pilotpriest – recording (9)
* Chris Greatti – recording (10, 11)
*
Zakk Cervini
Zakk Cervini is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. He was born in Monroe, Connecticut on June 2, 1993. Cervini's work includes collaborations with Simple Plan, Limp Bizkit, Blink-182, All Time Low, Mac ...
– recording (10, 11)
* Kyle Shearer – recording (12)
* Nate Campany – recording (12)
References
{{reflist
External links
slayyyterat slayyyter.com
Slayyyter - Troubled Paradiseat discogs.com
2021 debut albums
Slayyyter albums