Cycles | ||||
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Studio album by Cartel | ||||
Released | October 20, 2009 | |||
Recorded | 2009 | |||
Genre | Emo-pop,pop,pop rock,power pop | |||
Length | 38:01 | |||
Label | Wind-Up | |||
Producer | Cartel, Troy Johnson, Brent Paschke, Ross Petersen | |||
Cartel chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AbsolutePunk | (78%) |
AllMusic | |
Alternative Press | |
Melodic |
Cycles is the third full-length studio album by American rock band Cartel, released through Wind-up Records on October 20, 2009.
After solid sales with their debut, Cartel's decision to record their second album on the MTV program Band in a Bubble in 2007 proved costly. Their self-titled follow up effort sold less than half the records of their debut, Chroma. Cartel was consequently released from its contract with Epic Records and left to find a new label. They were picked up courtesy of Wind-up Records president Ed Vetri, who offered the band a deal that gave Wind-up the rights to collect revenue from album sales, merchandise and touring. In July 2008, the band's signing to the label was announced.
Wind-up opted to sanction the band an extended period of time to record the album, since their previous works had been completed in less than a month. Thus, the band was in the studio for about a year. Lead singer Will Pugh praised the further time they were given, "They put us in their studio, gave us the time and allowed us to produce our own record. Listening to the record now, it's the most focused, well-organized and best representation of our band that we've had so far." Pugh claimed the band wrote 30 songs for Cycles. In January 2009, it was announced that the band were finishing the writing process and were aiming to release their next album in spring or summer. The group said they would be finished writing "in the next weeks to month... I think we've written or entertained the idea of about 30 songs at this point... it's all been in the task of getting our absolute best for you." Throughout the studio process, Cartel connected with fans by posting on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. Through these social networking sites they have also offered giveaways and webisodes.
As they approached the completion of recording they did a short tour with contemporaries All Time Low and We the Kings. "Let's Go" was announced as the first single from the album, released digitally on July 28, 2009. The song impacted radio on August 18. The song's music video was premiered on Buzznet on October 13, 2009. Close to 200 fans were invited to be extras at the shoot, 80 were given hand-held video cameras to record their view of the band's performance in an abandoned warehouse. The fan-footage was then edited together along with the official footage to create the video.