The Constant (I Blame Coco album)

The Constant
Studio album by I Blame Coco
Released	1 October 2010
Recorded	2008–10
Genre	Synthpop new wave indie rock
Length	45:30
Label	Island
Producer	Klas Åhlund Nathan Boddy Paddy Byrne Dan Carey Mike Crossey Samuel Dixon Dan Foat Andrew Frampton Steve Kipner Dave McCracken
I Blame Coco chronology
The Constant (2010) Information (2016)
Singles from The Constant
"Caesar" Released: 31 January 2010 "Selfmachine" Released: 11 July 2010 "Quicker" Released: 13 September 2010 "In Spirit Golden" Released: 31 October 2010

The Constant is the debut studio album by English band I Blame Coco, released on 1 October 2010 by Island Records. The album spawned four singles: "Caesar" (which features Swedish singer Robyn), "Selfmachine", "Quicker" and "In Spirit Golden"; the latter was released digitally on 31 October 2010, one week before the album's UK release date.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Clash	4/10[4]
The Daily Telegraph	[5]
Drowned in Sound	5/10[6]
The Guardian	[7]
musicOMH	[8]
NME	5/10[9]
PopMatters	7/10[10]
Virgin Media	[11]
The Wharf	4/5[12]

The Constant received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 63, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[2] Heather Phares wrote for AllMusic that "much of The Constant finds I Blame Coco trying on different sounds, wanting to make artsy music as much as they want to deliver bona fide hits", but later concluded that the album "has enough strong moments to make it a promising debut from a group with plenty of confidence, personality and potential."^[3] Joe Vogel of PopMatters praised the album as "a worthy and promising debut", dubbing it "a young album that avoids certain risks [...], but there is a vitality and ambition to it that is rare and refreshing for pop music."^[10]

The Daily Telegraph's Lucy Jones referred to the album as "a well-crafted and impressive debut", adding that "[a]lthough the album doesn't quite ignite, Sumner's innate talent shines through."^[5] Drowned in Sound's Neil Ashman opined that "Coco's voice is of a strangely husky tone, generally keeping to the lower register, never sustaining notes for show and pretty reminiscent of her father in its rhythm and intonation." However, Ashman commented that "until Coco can hit upon this kind of refinement of her influences in a more general sense, she seems destined to be known firstly for who her father is and only secondly for her own artistic achievements."^[6] Ben Weisz of musicOMH noted that "The Constant isn't exceptional, but it does demonstrate a sophistication which sets her apart from the twee pop of some of her rivals."^[8] The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan viewed the album as "essentially a mildly promising debut by an artist who can write a tune but not yet with any great distinction", while calling the lyrics "wordy and pained".^[7]

BBC Music reviewer Sarah Bee felt that "Sumner's voice seems more suited to the loping of reggae than the skittering of electro-pop and its cousins [...] and maybe she'll relax into similar territory next time around. There's nothing radical here, but revolution isn't all it's cracked up to be."^[13] In a review for the NME, Alex Denney described "Caesar" as a "good-ass pop tune", but stated that "for the most part The Constant boils down to a thin chart gruel, too lumpenly pitched between the Carling Academies and the cattle-grid nightclubs to leave a mark."^[9] Ian Gittins of Virgin Media found that Sumner "has spectacularly inherited her father's idiosyncratic musicality, with her husky, masculine tones and mannered whoops and yowls illustrating that she has paid close attention to her dad's vocal repertoire."^[11] Louisa Emery of The Wharf expressed that "Coco has created an album that shows she is more than a over privileged kid playing popstar, even if it will do little to shake off her Sumner stigma."^[12] Neil Condron of Clash magazine characterised the album as "[p]redictably pristine, ultimately inessential".^[4] The Observer's Killian Fox argued that "the album ends up feeling oddly flat. We are left with a sense of excitement unfulfilled."^[14]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Selfmachine"	Coco Sumner Klas Åhlund	Åhlund	3:49
2.	"In Spirit Golden"	Sumner Steve Kipner Andrew Frampton Al Shuckburgh	Kipner Frampton	3:28
3.	"Quicker"	Sumner	Dan Foat Nathan Boddy	3:02
4.	"Turn Your Back on Love"	Sumner Paddy Byrne Sam Dixon	Dixon	3:23
5.	"Please Rewind"	Sumner Åhlund	Åhlund	3:22
6.	"Summer Rain"	Sumner Amanda Ghost Ian Dench Dave McCracken	McCracken	3:52
7.	"Playwrite Fate"	Sumner Byrne	Byrne Dixon	3:10
8.	"The Constant"	Sumner Shuckburgh	Foat Boddy	3:32
9.	"Party Bag"	Sumner Kipner Frampton Shuckburgh	Kipner Frampton	3:35
10.	"No Smile"	Sumner	Dan Carey Mike Crossey	3:16
11.	"Caesar" (featuring Robyn)	Sumner Åhlund	Åhlund	3:38
12.	"Only Love Can Break Your Heart"	Neil Young	Foat Boddy	3:05
13.	"It's About to Get Worse"	Sumner Åhlund	Åhlund	4:18

Austrian, French, German, Italian and Swiss iTunes Store bonus tracks[15][16][17][18][19]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Atlantis Found"	Sumner Kipner Frampton Shuckburgh	Kipner Frampton	3:51
15.	"Caesar" (video)			3:45
16.	"Selfmachine" (video)			3:39
17.	"Quicker" (video)			3:19

International edition bonus track[20][21][22] UK, Dutch, Belgian and Swedish iTunes Store bonus track[23][24][25][26]
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Quicker" (Rack n Ruin Rework)	3:01

UK iTunes Store deluxe edition bonus tracks[27]
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Quicker" (Rack n Ruin Rework)	3:01
15.	"Summer Rain" (acoustic)	4:21
16.	"Selfmachine" (acoustic)	3:16
17.	"The Chain" (acoustic)	3:43
18.	"Caesar" (video)	3:45
19.	"Selfmachine" (video)	3:39
20.	"Quicker" (Rack n Ruin Remix) (video)	4:00
21.	"In Spirit Golden" (video)	3:28

HMV bonus tracks[28]
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Quicker" (Rack n Ruin Rework)	3:01
15.	"Kiddo" (HMV Exclusive Track)	3:58

Charts

Chart (2010–11)	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart[29]	58
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[30]	82
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[31]	88
French Albums Chart[32]	41
German Albums Chart[33]	31
Polish Albums Chart[34]	36
Swiss Albums Chart[35]	72
UK Albums Chart[36]	86

Release history

Region	Date	Label
Netherlands[37]	1 October 2010	Universal Music
Sweden[20]
Switzerland[38]	8 October 2010
France[21]	11 October 2010
Poland[39]	29 October 2010
Germany[22]	2 November 2010
United Kingdom[40]	8 November 2010	Island
Italy[41]	22 February 2011	Universal Music

References

1. "In Spirit Golden – EP by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
2. "The Constant – I Blame Coco". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
3. Phares, Heather. "The Constant – I Blame Coco". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
4. Condron, Neil (8 November 2010). "I Blame Coco – The Constant". Clash. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
5. Jones, Lucy (5 November 2010). "I Blame Coco, CD review". The Daily Telegraph Limited. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
6. Ashman, Neil (3 November 2010). "I Blame Coco – The Constant". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
7. Sullivan, Caroline (4 November 2010). "I Blame Coco: The Constant – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
8. Weisz, Ben. "I Blame Coco – The Constant". musicOMH. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
9. Denney, Alex (5 November 2010). "Album Review: I Blame Coco – The Constant (Island)". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
10. Vogel, Joe (8 June 2011). "I Blame Coco: The Constant". PopMatters. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
11. Gittins, Ian. "I Blame Coco: The Constant". Virgin Media. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
12. Emery, Louisa (9 November 2010). "CD Review: The Constant, I Blame Coco". The Wharf. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
13. Bee, Sarah (11 November 2010). "Review of I Blame Coco – The Constant". BBC Music. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
14. Fox, Killian (7 November 2010). "I Blame Coco: The Constant – review". The Observer. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
15. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store Austria. Apple. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
16. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store France. Apple. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
17. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store Germany. Apple. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
18. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store Italy. Apple. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
19. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store Switzerland. Apple. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
20. "I Blame Coco – The Constant" (in Swedish). Universal Music Sweden. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
21. "The constant – I Blame Coco" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
22. "I Blame Coco | The Constant" (in German). Universal Music Germany. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
23. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
24. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store Belgium. Apple. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
25. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store Netherlands. Apple. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
26. "The Constant by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store Sweden. Apple. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
27. "The Constant (Deluxe Version) by I Blame Coco". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
28. "The Constant (HMV Exclusive Version) by I Blame Coco".
29. "I Blame Coco – The Constant" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
30. "I Blame Coco – The Constant" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
31. "I Blame Coco – The Constant" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
32. "I Blame Coco – The Constant" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
33. "I Blame Coco | Longplay-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Musicline.de. PHONONET. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
34. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży". OLiS. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
35. "I Blame Coco – The Constant". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
36. "Chart Log UK: I Am Arrows – Laura Izibor". Zobbel. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
37. "Constant | I Blame Coco" (in Dutch). Free Record Shop. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
38. "I Blame Coco – The Constant" (in German). soundmedia.ch. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
39. "The Constant (polska cena!) – I Blame Coco" (in Polish). Universal Music Poland. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
40. "I Blame Coco: Constant". HMV. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
41. "I Blame Coco – The Constant" (in Italian). Internet Bookshop Italia. Retrieved 27 September 2012.