The Facts of Life (album)

the Bobby Womack album

The Facts of Life is the second studio album by English rock band Black Box Recorder, released on 1 May 2000 through Nude Records. Following the release of their debut album England Made Me (1998), the band did not tour to promote it. By early 1999, they were playing two new songs at shows; by June 1999, they were working on a new album. Recording sessions were produced between the band members and Pete Hoffman, continuing through to the end of the year while Luke Haines was occupied with his other act the Auteurs. The Facts of Life is a new wave, synth pop and psychedelic lounge rock album that took elements from the works of elements from the works of Momus, Pet Shop Boys and Saint Etienne. Alongside this, the Saint Etienne comparison extended to the lyrical style and frontwoman Sarah Nixey being seen as a counterpoint to that band's Sarah Cracknell. The Facts of Life was met with favourable reviews from critics, many of whom praised Nixey's voice and the overall quality of the writing, while others commented on the lyrics. It reached number 37 in the United Kingdom and number 52 in Scotland, while "The Facts of Life" and "The Art of Driving" peaked at number 20 and 53, respectively, in the UK. "The Facts of Life" was released as the album's lead single in April 2000, which was promoted with an appearance on Top of the Pops. When the album was released, the band went on a short UK tour, followed by a show in Spain and a performance at Glastonbury Festival. "The Art of Driving" was released as the album's second single in July 2000, being promoted at the Reading and Leeds Festivals the following month.

Black Box Recorder released their debut studio album England Made Me in July 1998 through Chrysalis Records. Its two singles, "Child Psychology" and "England Made Me" reached number 80 and 82, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart. Musician John Moore said the band were dismayed that the album was not viewed as a pop album in the same manner that they thought it was. Frontwoman Sarah Nixey said the label did not understand the band, as they were seen as "their art project". They opted not to tour in order to promote the album, instead only performing at the Reading Festival. Sometime later, they started plotting their second album; during one occasion at a pub, the members shared stories of their first kisses. Nixey mentioned that several of the songs that had been written at this stage were upbeat with sex serving as the prominent theme. Session musician Tim Weller had been drafted in to play drums for these appearances. Saul Galpern, the label's founder, had heard the new material the band made and offered them a recording contract for four albums. In addition to this, Black Box Recorder played at the Benicassim Festival in Spain, Reading and Leeds Festivals The Facts of Life was produced by the band and Pete Hoffman, who also handled engineer and mixing duties. Additional drums were provided by Weller on "The Facts of Life", "Straight Life" and "The Deverell Twins", and by Chris Wyles on "The English Motorway System" and "May Queen". AllMusic reviewer Dean Carlson said the band move away from the "voyeuristic, cynical stare" of England Made Me towards "suicide and car crashes and focused it on small town dating and disenchanted sex lives". The staff at Orlando Weekly wrote that it was "even more sinister beauty [than their debut], focusing their collective furrowed brow on British indifference and pedestrian society"; Neate remarked that the members' "sensibility and attitude remain unmistakably English, its songs steeped in a tradition of comfortably ironic, darkly humorous, self mocking misery". He noted a comparison to Saint Etienne on some of the album's tracks, with "Weekend" featuring "precisely the kind of cultural coordinates" that they would do and "The English Motorway" using the travel system its named after as an allegory for a collapsing relationship as Saint Etienne had with "Like a Motorway" (1994). Exclaim! Cam Lindsay felt that the "seductive whispers" of the lyrics evoked the style of Jarvis Cocker from Pulp. Musically, the sound of The Facts of Life has been described as new wave with elements from the works of Momus, Pet Shop Boys, Pink Floyd, NME Jim Alexander wrote that the music was "rigged with soulful flourishes, the tinkle of glockenspiel, gently looped R&B; beats," mixing the direction of Air and Pulp to create "satin smooth subliminal pop". "May Queen", which was compared to the work of Belle and Sebastian, which Alexander said "dissolv[es] in imagined blood". Mark Edwards of The Times wrote that the hunt for evidence is juxtaposed with Nixey exclaiming "I just want to be loved" during the chorus section. Rock critic Robert Christgau said the two bonus tracks, "Start as You Mean to Go On" and "Brutality", "would fit better" on England Made Me. With "Brutality", Freaky Trigger contributor Robin Carmody said Nixey sounds clearly "disgusted by what she's chronicling, she can't be part of it, she looks back at its historical association with her own social class and background with deep contempt".

Preceded by a one off show in London, On 19 April 2000, Haines criticized Nude Records' "artless and crass" promotional campaign for the album, A representative from the label was confused by Haines' words, explaining that Nude have a "good relationship with the band and the manager". Two days after this incident, the band appeared on Top of the Pops. The Facts of Life was released on 1 May 2000 through Nude Records, In June 2000, the band played a one off show in Seville, Spain in the lead up to a performance at Glastonbury Festival. The song's music video, directed by Perou, Two versions were issued on CD: the first with a radio edit of "The Art of Driving", a remix of "The Facts of Life" and a cover of "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" (1974) by David Bowie, and the second with a remix of the England Made Me track "Uptown Top Ranking" and the radio edit and music video of "The Facts of Life". Nixey said the "The Facts of Life" remix was done by Cocker and his bandmate Steve Mackey; it takes samples from 1970s pornographic films. It came about from a meeting between Haines and Cocker a party when Cocker asked him for a cigarette to which Haines replied "yeah, if you remix our single". The following month, the band performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The Facts of Life was released in the United States on 20 March 2001 through Jetset Records with the addition of "Start as You Mean to Go on" and "Brutality". The Facts of Life was included in the career spanning Life Is Unfair (2018) CD box set alongside the band's other albums. A vinyl edition of this box set was issued the following year.