Ungodly Hour
Ungodly Hour is the second studio album by American duo Chloe x Halle. It was released on June 12, 2020 by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia. Originally scheduled for release on June 5, the album's release was delayed as a gesture of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the global protests following the murder of George Floyd. The album was supported by the singles "Do It", "Catch Up", and "Forgive Me", the former of which became their most successful song to date. A reissue of the album "Chrome Edition" was released on February 26, 2021.
Ungodly Hour
June 12, 2020
December 2018 – October 2019
Chloe x Halle's home studio (Los Angeles)
37:17
- Avedon
- Asoteric
- Chlöe
- Halle Bailey
- Boi-1da
- Disclosure
- Felicia Ferraro
- Gitty
- Wallis Lane
- Mike Will Made-It
- Bregma
- Nasri
- Jake One
- Pluss
- Royal Z
- Sounwave
- Scott Storch
- Jahaan Sweet
- Vinylz
Upon its release, Ungodly Hour received widespread acclaim from music critics, with many praising the album's cohesiveness and complimenting the duo's vocal delivery, artistic growth and maturity. It also featured on various year-end lists and received a nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, along with nominations for Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Wonder What She Thinks of Me", and Best R&B Song for "Do It". The album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart with 24,000 album-equivalent units, marking the duo's highest-charting album.
Background and recording[edit]
In March 2018, Chloe x Halle released their debut studio album, The Kids Are Alright, which earned them nominations for two Grammy Awards, Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best New Artist. Much like The Kids Are Alright, which was recorded entirely in their family living room in Los Angeles,[1] most of Ungodly Hour was recorded in the duo's household parking garage, which they had converted into a home studio.[2] Chloe was the primary producer of the record and was inspired by "90s music and early 2000s production" during the creative process.[3] The sisters executively produced the entire record with help from Beyoncé who had previously discovered, mentored, and signed them to her label Parkwood Entertainment.[4] It also features production from Sounwave, Jake One, Scott Storch, Avedon, Disclosure, Jeff Gitelman, Nasri, Mike Will Made It, Pluss, Royal Z, Asoteric, Boi-1da and Vinylz, as well as songwriting from prominent songwriters Nija Charles and Victoria Monét.
Recording sessions for Ungodly Hour concluded in October 2019, and filming of its music videos concluded in November.[5] The duo made use of mood boards during the brainstorming phase of their creative process.[6] The duo co-wrote all thirteen of the tracks on Ungodly Hour, with Chloe helping produce ten of those tracks.[7][1] Chloe told Women's Wear Daily, "It was really collaborative. But we still executive produced it. We had our hands in everything on this album."[1] They also revealed to NPR that creative control was paramount in their work ethic for the album.[7]
Composition[edit]
Ungodly Hour is an R&B,[8] pop,[9] and hip hop soul[10] record which contains elements of trap,[11] soul,[12] hip hop,[8] blues,[4] acoustic pop,[12] UK garage,[4] doo-wop,[13] gospel,[14] jazz,[13] techno,[13] indie rock,[13] and sophisti-pop.[15] Shahzaib Hussain of Clash describes the album as "the spiritual companion piece to their debut", and that it is a "cohesive, complete listen".[8] Nick Levine of BBC Culture stated the album "offers modern R&B at its most sleek and serene".[4]
Concept and themes[edit]
Most tracks on Ungodly Hour are about "navigating messy situations — sometimes ones that you have caused."[3] The concept of the album has a constant message of being completely unapologetic about one's true self.[16] The thirty-second album opener "Intro" contains the lyric "Don't ever ask for permission, ask for forgiveness", before immediately leading into the track "Forgive Me". This song in particular pushes the aforementioned message, and also drives a "sorry, not sorry" attitude while giving "a proverbial middle finger up to the lovers they've spurned".[8] The track "Baby Girl" was noted by critics for its female empowerment elements and for "reconciling the vulnerability of womanhood with the angst of their younger, more impressionable selves."[17][8][18]
In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music on BBC Radio 1, Chloe said that the duo "really just wanted to show how we could pair [their] musicianship with a few bops and letting people enjoy themselves." The duo developed the title Ungodly Hour while writing the lead single "Do It".[19] Halle revealed that they gave the record this name because "it's okay to not be perfect all the time. We wanted to challenge the idea of us being these perfect angels that everybody has this image of us in their head."[20] In another interview with NPR, Halle also said she felt that "during [the 'ungodly hour'], there can be a lot of things going on through your head" and that a person may think of all the insecurities or ups and downs they may have in life, hence why in the title track they sing the lyric: "When you decide you like yourself, and you need someone in your life, love me at the ungodly hour. Love me at my best and my worst."[7]
Commercial performance[edit]
Ungodly Hour debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart with 24,000 units sold.[27] It peaked at number 80 on the UK Albums chart,[79] number 11 on the UK R&B Albums chart,[80] number 160 on the Belgian Albums chart,[81] and number 200 on the French Albums chart.[82]