Sweet Disarray
Studio album by
Dan Croll
Released10 March 2014
Recorded2012–14
Genre
Length38:18
LabelDeram
Dan Croll chronology
Sweet Disarray
(2014)		 Emerging Adulthood
(2017)
Singles from Sweet Disarray
  1. "From Nowhere"
    Released: 24 September 2012
  2. "Compliment Your Soul"
    Released: 1 April 2013
  3. "In/Out"
    Released: 12 July 2013
  4. "Home"
    Released: 1 December 2013

Sweet Disarray is the debut studio album by British recording artist Dan Croll. It was released on 10 March 2014 by Deram Records in the United Kingdom.

Composition

The closing track, "Home", is a sweet, jangly folk-pop tune that was inspired by Croll's days as a broke student, coming home after an ill-advised and ill-prepared-for winter weekend getaway to Berlin.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic59/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Clash6/10[4]
Consequence of SoundD+[5]
DIY[6]
Filter82%[7]
The Guardian[8]
The Irish Times[9]
The Independent[10]
The Independent on Sunday[11]
Under the Radar[12]

At Metacritic, which assigns a rated mean out of 100 from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 59, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[2] Writing for AllMusic, Timothy Monger gave the album four out of five stars, calling Sweet Disarray a "colorful and immaculately produced debut album" which "proves [that] Croll has both a forward-looking experimentalism and pretty solid songwriting chops to boot. In spite of the extremely high expectations, he has managed a pretty neat debut that will please fans who have been waiting since his early singles".[3] In her review for The Guardian, Caroline Sullivan compared Croll to American singer-songwriter Jack Johnson and declared Sweet Disarray "a pretty good album" that "conflates lilting Scousepop and electronica into a warm nether-genre, with added sleek choruses that sound equally right on 6Music and Radio 1.[8] Filter magazine journalist Laura Studarus called Sweet Disarray "a rare debut, as well crafted as it is likeable". She praised its "sound that suggests Paul McCartney with a taste for Afro-pop, rock, electronics and the occasional grand-sweeping, Paul Simon–style folk gesture."[7]

DIY author Emma Swann felt that "despite [its] variety, not once does the record feel disjointed, or out of place. It’s a skill, but Croll’s soothing vocals, as well as he and his team’s spot-on engineering of the whole lot means it can slide from that soaring single to Croll’s inner Justin Timberlake via steel guitars and ukulele without missing a beat. It’s pleasantly pristine stuff from the still relative newcomer".[6] Joe Rivers, writing for Clash magazine, found that Sweet Disarray was "patchy" and that it "would be an unremarkable singer-songwriter album were it not for Croll's welcome smatterings of electronica, soul and, most intriguingly, Afrobeat throughout.[4] In his The Independent review, Andy Gill wrote that Croll's "ambitious arrangements need more disarray, and less sweetness".[10] Similarly, Kate Wills from sister newspaper The Independent on Sunday concluded that Sweet Disarray "won’t frighten the horses, but it might encourage you to buy an overpriced T-shirt. Job’s a good ’un."[11] Less impressed, Randall Colburn from Consequence of Sound felt that the album "reads more like a college thesis designed to satiate a panel of professors than it does an original document". He added that it "sounds like a who’s who of Spotify buzz bands, a time-stamped memo alerting music executives to the mainstream’s idea of indie rock [...] Croll remains a mystery, a patchwork of influences content to blend in, not to stand out."[5]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Sweet Disarray.[13]

Sweet Disarray – Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."From Nowhere"
  • Croll
  • Joe Wills
  • Wills
3:17
2."Thinkin Aboutchu"
  • Howe
  • Wills
2:59
3."Wanna Know"
  • Jonathan Gilmore
  • Wills
2:35
4."In/Out"
  • Croll
  • Wills
3:14
5."Compliment Your Soul"
  • Croll
  • Johan Karlberg
  • Croll
  • Wills
3:02
6."Only Ghost"
  • Croll
  • Wills
3:00
7."Can You Hear Me"
  • Croll
  • Wills
  • Wills
3:31
8."Sweet Disarray"
  • Croll
  • Wills
  • Wills
3:25
9."Maway"
  • Croll
  • Wills
3:14
10."Must Be Leaving"
  • Croll
  • Jethro Fox
  • Eric Molumby
  • Wills
3:00
11."Always Like This"
  • Croll
  • Wills
3:12
12."Home"
  • Croll
  • Wills
3:49
Sweet Disarray – Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Nobody Knows (Edit)" (featuring The Very Best)
  • Hugo
3:26
14."Nobody Knows" (featuring The Very Best)
  • Croll
  • Hugo
  • Mwamwaya
  • Hugo
3:41
15."If You Want Me (Edit)"  3:36
16."If You Want Me"  4:13
17."Hello My Baby" (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo)  4:29
18."Maway" (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo)  2:36
19."Home" (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo)  3:52
20."Cinnamon"  2:59
21."Ever At Your Side"  3:12
22."Eyes Together"  2:56
Total length:73:07

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[14] 26
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[15] 12

References

  1. ↑ "It's Good To Gather Moss: A Young Artist On Missing 'Home'". NPR.corg. 2014-03-27. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  2. 1 2 "Sweet Disarray Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  3. 1 2 Monger, Timothy. "Sweet Disarray - Dan Croll". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  4. 1 2 Rivers, Joe (14 March 2014). "Dan Croll – Sweet Disarray". Clash. Music Republic Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  5. 1 2 Colburn, Randall (2014-04-04). "Album Review: Dan Croll – Sweet Disarray". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Swann, Emma. "Dan Croll - Sweet Disarray". Thisisfakediy.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  7. 1 2 Studarus, Laura (2014-03-12). "Album Review". Filtermagazine.com. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
  8. 1 2 Sullivan, Caroline (6 March 2014). "Dan Croll: Sweet Disarray review – Sleek, vibrant Scousepop". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Dan Croll: Sweet Disarray". The Irish Times. March 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015
  10. 1 2 Gill, Andy (9 March 2014). "Album reviews: Metronomy, Dan Croll, Joan As Police Woman, Micah P. Hinson, Christine Tobin, Dean Wareham". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26.
  11. 1 2 "Album reviews: Elbow, Mo, Dan Croll, Ann Peebles, Arve Henriksen". The Independent on Sunday. 2014-03-09. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  12. ↑ Hamilton, Billy (31 March 2014). "Dan Croll: Sweet Disarray (Capitol) Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  13. ↑ Sweet Disarray (Media notes). Dan Croll. Deram Records. 2014.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Dan Croll Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
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