You Were Here
You Were Here | ||||
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Universal Music Canada | ||||
Producer | Peter Prilesnik, Sarah Harmer | |||
Sarah Harmer chronology | ||||
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You Were Here is an album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer, released in 2000.
Background
You Were Here was Harmer's commercial breakthrough in Canada after years of almost reaching the pop charts with Weeping Tile. The album's lead single, "Basement Apt.", had previously been a Weeping Tile song, appearing on that band's 1995 release eepee. The album's second single, "Don't Get Your Back Up", had previously been recorded by Harmer with The Saddletramps. Three other songs, "Weakened State", "Lodestar" and "Coffee Stain", had also been previously recorded by Weeping Tile, on 1998's This Great Black Night.
Harmer stated "I always had kind of high expectations for You Were Here, but I was holding onto it for as long as I could, to find a proper, appropriate home."
Harmer appeared in support of the album on the
The album's title track is a tribute to her former Weeping Tile bandmate Joe Chithalen, who died in 1999.
The
Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [4] |
Rolling Stone | [5] |
Q | [6] |
The album was warmly received. TIME ranked You Were Here in its year-end Top Ten list, calling it the year's best debut album.
You Were Here was named the 24th greatest Canadian album of all time in Bob Mersereau's 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums.
Music critic Lisa M. Smith, writing for
Q gave You Were Here 3 of 5 stars and called it "Lounge jazz, drum loops and lead guitar chops support a vocalist whose lyrical panache...marks her out from the crowd."[6]
In an interview with No Depression, Paul Cantin called it "a welcome break from the Lilith school of flinchy girl singers. Her music is at once heartfelt and hardy, sensitive and sanguine."[1]
Track listing
All songs written by Sarah Harmer, except where noted.
- "Around This Corner" – 3:15
- "Basement Apt." – 4:08
- "The Hideout" – 4:01
- "Capsized" – 3:57
- "Lodestar" – 5:28
- "Weakened State" – 2:53
- "Don't Get Your Back Up" – 3:54
- "Open Window (The Wedding Song)" – 4:09
- "Uniform Grey" – 3:43
- "Coffee Stain" – 2:56
- "You Were Here" – 4:53
- "Everytime" (Dave Hodge) – 3:12
Personnel
- Sarah Harmer – vocals, guitar, organ, harmonica, tambourine, Wurlitzer
- Gord Tough – guitar
- Benji Perosin – trumpet
- Gavin Brown – drums
- Peter Prilesnik – bass, beats, electric guitar, dobro, guitar
- Cam Giroux – drums
- Al Cross – drums
- Jason Euringer – background vocals
- Spencer Evans – clarinet
- Maury LaFoy – bass, upright bass
- Kevin Fox – cello
- Damon Richardson – drums
- Jenny Whiteley – background vocals
- Luther Wright– guitar
Production
- Produced by Peter Prilesnik and Sarah Harmer
- Mixed by Eric Ratz
- Engineered by Pete Prilesnik
- Mastered by Brett Zilahi
- Editing by Blair Robb, Steve Webster and Brett Zilahi
- Cover photo by Yael Staav
- Photography by Luther Wright
- Design by Greg Hall
Year-end charts
Chart (2001) | Peak position |
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Canadian Albums ( Nielsen SoundScan)[7]
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134 |
Chart (2002) | Position |
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Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[8] | 110 |
References
- ^ a b Cantin, Paul (January–February 2001). "Getting Personal". No Depression.
- ^ LaBlanc, Larry (February 2006). "Harmer Shows Her Range". Billboard.
- ^ "Harmer invited to play two late-night talk shows"[usurped], Jam!, October 18, 2001.
- ^ Allmusic. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
- ^ a b "Review: You Were Here > Review". Rolling Stone: 74. February 2001.
- ^ a b "Review: You Were Here > Review". Q: 122. March 2002.
- ^ "Top 200 Albums of 2001 (based on sales)". Jam!. Archived from the original on November 6, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 2, 2004. Retrieved March 28, 2022.