Trouble (Natalia Kills album)

Trouble is the second and final solo

In comparison with the sound and lyrical content of Sinclair's debut album Perfectionist (2011), Trouble has a heavier atmosphere driven by electric guitars and strong percussion. The lyrics were largely co-written by Sinclair and Bhasker and explore Sinclair's difficult childhood and adolescence. Sinclair designed the album's cover art, which symbolizes its main themes. Upon release, music critics commended the album's cohesion and perceived an evolution in Sinclair's songwriting.

The album was announced with the release of a music video for "Controversy" in September 2012. Three singles were commissioned from Trouble; they were accompanied by respective music videos. The release of "Problem" and "Saturday Night" preceded the album's release; later, a remix of the album's title track served as its third single. With the exception of the US Billboard 200, where it peaked at number 70, the album failed to chart internationally. It is confirmed by Sinclair herself this is her final album under Natalia Kills.^[1]

Background and recording

Kills began recording new material in the year after the release of her debut studio album Perfectionist,^[2] which was mostly produced by Martin Kierszenbaum and Jeff Bhasker, and was released in March 2011 to mixed critical reception.^[3][4] It yielded three singles which, like their parent album,^[5] performed moderately on European charts.^[6][7]

During 2012 and 2013, Kills participated in other musical endeavours, including group collaborations. She provided guest vocals for Far East Movement's song "2 Is Better" and on The Knux's "1974".^[8][9] Kills featured on "Champagne Showers" by LMFAO, which became a mild international success, and collaborated with DJ Tatana on his single "You Can't Get In My Head (If You Don't Get In My Bed)".^[10][11]

The bulk of Trouble was conceptualised at Enormous Studios in Los Angeles, and some tracks were finished at Record Plant and the New York City-based Jungle City Studios. Compared with Perfectionist's roster of eight producers,^[3] Trouble used four, including Guillaume Doubet, Glass John and HaynieKills—all of who Kills worked with for the first time.

Bhasker was assigned for executive production and other tasks, including production, instrumentation and programming, and post-production. He said his production on Trouble is "some of his best work" that has "dark angles".

"Problem"

"Problem" is a pop song that is styled in pop rock and garage rock.^[15][16]

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"Saturday Night"

Written by Kills and Bhasker, "Saturday Night" was noted by critics for its autobiographical lyricism, which depicts the former's childhood.^[14][17]

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According to Kills, Trouble represents a substantial departure from her debut album. Kills described its sound as a cross between

The themes of Trouble deviate from those of Perfectionist; while the latter explores Kills' ambitions and perfectionism, the former is about her upbringing and adolescence, when she left her home and engaged in dangerous behaviour.[18]^[21] Kills stated that the album reflects her experiences as a teenager and her feelings of powerlessness motivated by her lack of identification with recent, upbeat popular music.^[22] She regarded this attempt as difficult because it involved confronting past problems, although Kills recognised that they defined her personality.^[18] She stated, "once [she] started writing, [she] couldn't stop" and compared the process to a "confession".^[23]

"Television" and "Rabbit Hole" contrast their dark, "sinister" lyricism with their uptempo production.^[24] "Television", which Romy Olutski of Harper's Bazaar described as a "more alternative" song, opens with police sirens and progressively introduces guitars and percussion using a vocoder effect. "Rabbit Hole" contains explicit references to recreational drugs and sexual intercourse, and uses the phrase "falling down a rabbit hole" as a metaphor for infatuation.^[25][26] The pop-styled "Problem" is influenced by garage and pop rock; the latter is incorporated in the album's title track, in which Kills adopts a raw and "exhausted" vocal style and is backed by "arena rock choirs".^[27]

"Daddy's Girl" places a

Trouble was announced through a music video for its first promotional single "Controversy", which was released in mid-September 2012.[34] During an interview with Glamour, Kills said it serves as an introductory track to the album "because it's a verbal collage of things we see on a daily basis that we turn a blind eye to, especially in the Internet age, where you can literally see anything and everything instantly ... We all laugh and joke when it's someone else's suffering".^[35] The album's first single, "Problem", was digitally released by Interscope in mid-March 2013,^[36] followed in June by its music video.^[37] The same month, "Saturday Night" was chosen as Trouble's second single.^[38]

Kills attended an after-party for the

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Idolator	[24]
The New Zealand Herald	[19]

Matt Collar of

Writing for The New Zealand Herald, Paula Yeoman stated that pop listeners "should pay attention to" the album, to which she gave a rating of three and a half points out of five.[19] Mike Wass of Idolator chose Trouble as his favourite album of 2013,^[53] while David Byrne and Tony Peregrin for Windy City Times said the album was one of 2013's "excellent efforts".^[54]

Commercial performance

Trouble entered the US Billboard 200 at number 70, becoming Kills' highest-peaking album on that chart. It opened with sales of 6,000 copies, almost half of Perfectionist's total sales, and left the chart the following week.^[55]

Track listing

Song credits obtained from the liner notes of Trouble.^[14]

Notes

• ^{^a} denotes a co-producer
• ^{^b} denotes an additional producer

Sample Credits

• "Daddy's Girl" contains elements and excerpts from "Rich Girl", as performed by Hall & Oates and written by Daryl Hall from the album Bigger than Both of Us.^[14][28]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Trouble.^[14]

Charts

Release history

References