Compliments Please is the first album by the British musician Self Esteem, released on 1 March 2019.
Writing and recording
Self Esteem, born Rebecca Lucy Taylor, said that she wrote most of the record whilst happily in a relationship, but that "Rollout", "In Time" and "I'm Shy" were written in the aftermath of the breakup of that relationship.[1] Tracks for the album were recorded by Taylor in Margate from January to September 2018 with producer and co-writer Johan Hugo Karlberg.[2] Taylor signed a record deal with Fiction Records in April 2018.[3] During the period of recording she played live at Latitude, Tramlines and a sold out show at Omeara Theatre London,[4] followed by an eight-show UK tour in autumn 2018.[5]
Music and lyrics
"(Feelings)", the spoken word beginning to the record, features an American woman speaking about the frustrations and compromises of being in a band, something which Taylor experienced while in Slow Club.[6] The audio is Taylor's recording of Los AngelesUber driver Kelly Jones, who was speaking about her own experience of being a singer in a band.[1]
"Girl Crush" is critical of performative bisexuality and about Taylor's own experience of being approached by heterosexual women to experience homosexual relationships as a curiosity or a dare.[7][8] It has been contrasted to Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" which has been criticised for trivialising same-sex relationships.[1]
Taylor has said that "Wresting" is about the early stages of many relationships in which both parties try not to seem too enthusiastic.[9] "Rollout", with its refrain "What I might have achieved / If I wasn't trying to please you" has been described by Taylor as being the story of her 20s, trying to people-please in her music, her romantic relationships, her family and in wider society.[7]
Release and reception
The first single "Wrestling" was released in July 2018 followed by "Rollout" in September 2018, "The Best" in January 2019 and "Girl Crush" in February 2019.[10]Compliments Please was released on 1 March 2019 on Fiction Records.[11] Described as "brewing a concoction of high octane, R&B infused pop"[12] it was well received critically, with an average rating of 80/100 according to Metacritic.[13] A deluxe version was released in October 2019 with an additional track "Rooms".[14]
Compliments Please was reissued on vinyl on 22 April 2023 for Record Store Day,[15] causing it to enter the vinyl charts top 10.[16]
