Audio Out

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Audio Out
Josh Abrahams, Scott Sandilands, Ryan Freeland, Stuart Crichton, Daniel "Conrad" Glitch, Andy Baldwin, Justin Tresidder, Krish Sharma
Amiel chronology
Audio Out
(2003)
These Ties
(2005)
Alternative cover
The cover of the album released in Germany and Japan.
Singles from Audio Out
  1. "Lovesong"
    Released: March 2003
  2. "Obsession (I Love You)"
    Released: June 2003
  3. "Tonight"
    Released: September 2003

Audio Out is the first album by the Australian singer

ARIA Awards
including; "Single of the Year", "Highest Selling Single", "Best Female Artist", "Breakthrough Artist – Album" and "Best Pop Release".

Recording and writing

After Amiel's success with her debut single "

The Matrix (who were developing Avril Lavigne at the time) and together they wrote "Obsession (I Love You)" and "All of Me".[1] Recording began back in Melbourne where Abrahams had set up an old 1970's house full of studio gear.[1] Many producers and musician helped with the album including Ryan Freeland (who had produced for Aimee Mann and assisted Bob Clearmountain), Justin Tressidor (who has worked with george) and Brad Haehnel (who had mixed albums for Nelly Furtado).[1]

Amiel states "The album says what I wanted it to say. Every step along the way, everything, it all has a specific signature of me on it." Amiel states this, because she feels her music "defies the usual stereotypes". She also states "People say 'where do we put you? You're obviously pop but are you country, are you dance, are you R‘n’B?’ I'm all those things. It's a fusion, a hybrid, and a mish-mash of all these different influences coming together. So I had to learn to say my piece and stick up for myself. I realized that if the audience was going to believe it, it had to be real and if it was going to be real it had to come from me."[1]

Critical reception and commercial performance

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Inthemixfavourable[2]
Rolling Stone[3]
Undercoverfavourable[4]

Audio Out received acclaim from the Australian music press. Tim Cashmere of the Australian magazine, Undercover, states that the album is full of "catchy guitar-pop tunes more aimed at a generic market than Abrahams' club hit ["Addicted to Bass"]."[5] Tim Duggen of Rolling Stone magazine, states that Amiel could be Australia's answer to Jewel, "as the music melts into the background."[6] Duggen's states "It is perfect pop in a way that only years of writing and production can produce, but it's also soulless and easily disposable."[6] Ending the review, he states "It's light, it's sweet, but don't expect any revelations, just 11 fucking love songs."[6] Australian dance music magazine, In the Mix, gave the album a "thumbs up for a sophisticated electronic pop gem", stating "If your [sic] a fan of pop then this record will exceed your expectations, for the more dance orientated crowd who are thirsty for more of the same old Amiel stuff, you may find yourself a little surprised at the change but still quite satisfied with quite a few tracks especially the Josh/Amiel collaborations."[7]

Audio Out was commercially successful in Australia and Japan. In late August 2003, it debuted at number seventeen on the Australian

Innocent Eyes by Delta Goodrem.[10] In Japan, the album debuted on the Japan Oricon Albums Chart in February 2004 and went to peak at number twenty.[11] It spent nineteen weeks in the chart and sold an excess of 18,824 copies.[12]

Singles

"

ARIA Awards
.

The second single "

The Matrix and featured an electropop vibe. It became a top-twenty hit for Amiel in Australia.[13] "The song went through many changes and has had many lives" states Amiel. She explains "In the end it [the song] took on a kind of Nine Inch Nails vibe. That’s what Josh is like. He becomes obsessed and driven toward a particular thing and in this song that is what he wanted. It totally works for this song to be dark and strange because it helps illustrate the obsessive, deluded character that I am playing".[14] The song was the twentieth highest selling single in Australia, for an Australian artist, for 2003.[17]

"Tonight", the third single, was the album's least successful single, peaking at number sixty-four in Australia.[18] Amiel wrote the song it in a day with Stuart Crichton and Barry Palmer.[14] Amiel states "Stuart had this William Orbit kind of groove and Barry had a nice riff and it evoked an image for me. It's a meditative song. Then when we had finished Josh remixed it into a 60’s psychedelic thing, he sped it up and gave it its 'Tomorrow Never Knows' type feel. It’s easy to tell from this song that he is obsessed with The Beatles!."[14] The CD single was released in Australia on 29 September 2003 and featured remixes of "Tonight" by Ken Cloud and Kid Kenobi.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."
Josh Abrahams, Daemion
3:27
4."Side by Side"Daemion, Palmer3:21
5."Missing the Music"Abrahams, Daemion4:12
6."All of Me"Lauren Christy, Daemion, Graham Edwards, Scott Spock3:56
7."Obsession (I Love You)"Christy, Daemion, Edwards, Spock3:55
8."Games We Play"Daemion3:54
9."Theme for a One Night Stand"Abrahams, Daemion4:45
10."Final Piece"Daemion4:34
11."Nothing Can Break Me"Daemion, Krish Sharma4:12
Japan edition
No.TitleLength
12."Lovesong" (uncensored version)3:31
13."Lovesong" (music video)3:43
14."Obsession (I Love You)" (music video) 
Australian second disc DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Lovesong" (censored music video)3:28
2."Obsession (I Love You)" (music video)3:43
3."Lovesong" (Monument mix)4:37
4."Obsession (I Love You)" (Rogue Traders Denim Tribute mix)7:16
5."Obsession (I Love You)" (Infusion Underground mix)8:37

Charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[13] 17
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Japan Albums Chart[11] 20

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[19] Gold 35,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia 18 August 2003
Festival Records
CD 336352
Japan[20] 11 February 2004 Sony Japan CD SICP-521
Germany 14 June 2004 Ministry of Sound CD ?

Personnel

  • Josh Abrahams
    – drum programming, electric guitar, keyboard.
  • Andy Baldwin – drum programming, keyboard.
  • Stuart Crichton – drum programming (track 4).
  • Amiel Daemion – drum programming (tracks 8 and 9).
  • Andy Page – drum programming, electric guitar, keyboard.
  • Krish Sharma – drum programming (track 11).

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Biography by Australian Music Online" Archived 1 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Australian Music Online. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  2. ^ Inthemix review Archived 10 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Rolling Stone review Archived 20 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Undercover review
  5. ^ "Tim Cashmere's review of Audio Out". Undercover. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Tim Duggen "Silly Lovesongs: Is Amiel Australia's answer to Jewel?" Archived 20 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  7. ^ "In the Mix review of Audio Out" Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. In the Mix. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  8. ^ "ARIA Report Issue 715 – 3 November 2003". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  9. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums" Archived 7 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine. ARIA. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  10. ARIA Awards
    . Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  11. ^ a b "Audio Out – Japan chart information". Oricon. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  12. ^ "Japan sales" Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. jbbs.livedoor.jp. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  13. ^ a b c "Audio Out – Australian chart run"[permanent dead link]. Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  14. ^
    Warner Music
    . Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  15. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Singles" Archived 12 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. ARIA. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  16. ^ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2003" Archived 27 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine. ARIA. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  17. ^ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 20 Australian Singles 2003". ARIA. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  18. ^ "ARIA ReporAt Issue 711 – 6 October 2003". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  19. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2004 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Japan release information"[permanent dead link]. Rakuten.co.jp. Retrieved 15 June 2008.