Love Stuff is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriterElle King. It was released physically and digitally in the United States on February 13, 2015, and on vinyl on March 3, 2015, through RCA Records. The album was mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen Mastering, which is located in Hollywood, California. The album was recorded at various studios throughout the United States, and was mixed at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. The album was preceded by its lead single "Ex's & Oh's, which was released on September 23, 2014, and has since peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album made history by being the first ever number 1 album on the UK Americana chart, which launched on 28th January 2016. It also was placed No. 2 on UK Biggest Americana Albums of 2016. Track one on the album, "Where The Devil Don't Go", was originally leaked under the false title "Mean World" and produced by Swedish DJ Avicii in 2013, who was also at the time working with Sterling Fox on his debut album, True.
Singles
"Ex's & Oh's" was released on September 23, 2014 as the album's lead single. It first found success in the rock genre, where it became the second song by a solo female artist in the past twenty years to reach the top position of the BillboardAlternative Songs airplay chart and led the magazine's Hot Rock Songs chart for 10 consecutive weeks in mid-2015. The song later crossed over to a mainstream audience and became a number-one hit on the Adult Pop Songs chart in addition to spending one week in the top 10 of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. "Ex's & Oh's" received two nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards: for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. The second rock single from the album is "Under the Influence", released to AAA radio on December 14, 2015 modern rock radio on December 15. "America's Sweetheart" was released on February 8, 2016 as the second mainstream single and third overall released from Love Stuff; it impacted American hot adult contemporary radio on that date.
Critical reception
Marcus Floyd from Renowned for Sound was impressed by King's "sonically versatile qualities" in her vocal performance over the track listing and the lyrical content she co-wrote with her collaborators, saying that "it’s great to hear less clichéd written tracks, replaced by personal pieces that tell a story and relive an experience." He concluded that King's career was just beginning, saying that "with her debut album now under her belt, she seems capable of anything; we can’t wait to hear more from this girl." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine was critical of King's vocals feeling exhaustive throughout the album as she keeps up her chosen image but gave praise to her performances on "Ex's & Oh's", "Under the Influence", "Last Damn Night" and "Jackson" for finding a balance between "rock crunch and soul testifying," concluding that "Such highlights suggests that when King doesn't have to try so hard to prove her bona fides, she might wind up with a record that's hard to deny. For now, she merely has a promising debut on her hands."
Assistant – Marcus Johnson, Kyle Moorman, Alex Salibian, Joe Visciano
Digital editing – Chris Bernard, Matt Bishop
Engineering – Dave Bassett, Sam Bell, Mark Bengtson, Matt Bishop, Doug Boehm, Tyler Sam Johnson, Jacknife Lee, Matt Ross, Alex Salibian, Pawel Sek, Laura Sisk, Eg White
Mastering – Stephen Marcussen
Mixing – Jeff Bhasker, Michael H. Brauer, Tom Elmhirst, Martin Johnson, Vance Powell, Alex Salibian, Eg White
Mixing assistant – Mark Bengtson
Producer – Dave Bassett, Jeff Bhasker, John Hill, Martin Johnson, Jacknife Lee, Eg White
Production assistant – Ben Baptie, Tyler Sam Johnson, Brandon Paddock
Programming – John Hill, Martin Johnson, Kyle Moorman, Brandon Paddock
