Horizons is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Kris Allen. It was released on August 12, 2014, by Allen's independent label, DogBear Records. Allen also organized a Stageit show as a release party for the record where he performed the full album set and also a song called Unique. A portion of the proceeds from the album go to benefit Music Empowers Foundation.[2][3]
Background
Allen was dropped by RCA Records in 2012, after releasing two albums - Kris Allen (2009) and Thank You Camellia (2012) - through the label.[4] He released Horizons independently through his own label, DogBear Records.[5]
As a result of an accident which broke his wrist, Allen had to change his approach to music making for this album, in particular he began to use a finger-picking style of guitar playing. According to Allen, "it’s a different way to play and some of those songs were written when my hand was in a cast so all I had was my fingers. I think it made me a bit more melodic than just strumming a bunch of chords."[5] He sought out the producer Charlie Peacock to produce his album. Peacock introduced Allen to a number of people, including Lenachka with whom he recorded "Prove It to You".[6] "Prove It to You" was released as the lead single from the album on July 7, 2014.[7]
Commercial performance
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 80 with 4,000 copies sold for the week in the US.[8]