Late Nights & Early Mornings is the debut studio album by English singer Marsha Ambrosius. Recorded after the disbandment of her former band Floetry, it was released by J Records on 1 March 2011 in the United States.[1] Her only album for the label before its dissolution seven months later,[2] it debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 96,400 copies sold in the first week.[3]
Background
Songs from Late Nights & Early Mornings were produced and written by Ambrosius herself with other contributors, including Just Blaze, Dre & Vidal, Focus... and co-writing credits by Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill[4][5] The album also contains a cover version of Portishead's "Sour Times".[6] Ambrosius said that the overall vibe of the album is "sensual, it’s sincere, it’s seductive"[7] and also explained, “Not too many women get the opportunity to say what they want, and having controlled and written pretty much everything I get to do all of that on one album. J Records, they understood me as an artist and said, ‘What do you want? How do you want to sound? What do you feel like your album should be’ and they allowed me to go in the studio.”[7] Ambrosius describes the song, "Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player)" as "the reality of a bad break up."[4]
Promotion
"Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)" was released as the album's first single on 13 August 2010.[8] The song peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number twenty-two. "Far Away" was released as the album's second single on 7 December 2010. It is produced by Just Blaze and written by Marsha Ambrosius with co-writing by Sterling Simms.[9][10] The track was inspired by one of Ambrosius's own friends who committed suicide, and discusses how it feels once someone she's loved is gone. This song has reached number three on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The title track, "Late Nights & Early Mornings", was released as the third single.
Late Nights & Early Mornings received generally positive reviews from music critics. Allmusic editor Andy Kellman found that "in a way, Late Nights & Early Mornings picks up where 2005's Flo'Ology, left off [...] Those who could not get into the Floetry albums due to Ambrosius' occasionally tremulous delivery should have no problem this time. The characteristic is no distraction – put to use with less frequency and typically in service to the song, not purely for show."[11] Melody Charles from SoulTracks remarked that the album "captures what is so intriguing about the triple-threat performer: her straight-forward sensuality, her emotional authenticity and the way she grafts those qualities together into melodic masterpieces [...] Self-possessed, skillfully-rendered and undeniably soulful, Ms. Ambrosius' debut is already one of 2011's Must-Haves: if you value depth and dimension in your listening experience, count on having many Late Nights & Early Mornings with this CD/download enveloping your ears."[14]
DJBooth.net's Nathan Slavik referred to the album as a "near-classic," stating "Marsha Ambrosius’ debut is the R&B album of the year."[12]Slant critic Jesse Cataldo wrote that "despite the appearance of established hip-hop producers and the vocal talents of an intelligent, assured female performer, Late Nights & Early Mornings is drab all over. None of its elements, from expressions of female sexuality to revenge wishes against unfaithful ex-lovers, are sufficiently piercing to cut through the blandness." She felt that the album "blurs together through typical narratives of love and loss, joy and sorrow, merely approximating these emotions through the standard language established for such things. Nothing especially stands out, and though Ambrosius makes no overt mistakes on her first album, nothing she offers ever approaches making it memorable."[13]
Commercial performance
In the United States the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, behind fellow Brit Adele's "21", with fellow Brits Mumford and Sons "Sigh No More" at number 3 (the first instance British artists had held the top 3 positions on the chart in over 25 years).[15] It also peaked at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, with 96,400 copies sold in the first week.[3] By June 2011, Late Nights & Early Mornings had sold 306,700 units in the United States.[16]
