In the Lonely Hour

In the Lonely Hour is the debut studio album by English singer Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2014, via Capitol UK and Method Records. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014 through Capitol Records America. The album includes the hit singles "Money on My Mind" and "Stay with Me", both of which were number one in the UK; the latter becoming a hit worldwide, peaking in the top ten in over 20 countries, including reaching number two in the US. The album's third hit single, "I'm Not the Only One", reached number three in the UK and number five in the US. A deluxe edition of the album contains five bonus tracks, including a solo acoustic version of Disclosure's single "Latch" and Naughty Boy's number-one single "La La La", on both of which Smith provided guest vocals.

When In the Lonely Hour was released, it received mostly lukewarm reviews from critics, many of whom praised Smith's singing but were critical of the songwriting. The album was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It was the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK, and the third best-selling in the United States. It was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter and losing to Morning Phase by Beck in the former. In the Lonely Hour also received a nomination for Best British Album at the 2015 Brit Awards; the accolade ultimately went to Ed Sheeran for x.

I've Sound

I've Sound, or simply called I've (アイブ, Aibu), is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different female vocalists, known as utahime (歌姫) to their fans.

They have created the theme songs for many Japanese adult games, most famously the opening "Tori no Uta" to the visual novel Air by Key. More recently, they have been creating the theme songs to anime series. Among anime fans, I've Sound is well known for providing the theme songs to such series as Black Lagoon, the Please! franchise (Please Teacher! and Please Twins!), the Shakugan no Shana series, Starship Operators, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, the Hayate the Combat Butler series, Nanatsuiro Drops, and A Certain Magical Index.

History

I've was founded in 1998 by members of the six-member Takase Fight. During this time they produced music for tsushin karaoke and adult game brands based in Hokkaidō. They also made two tracks for the Dancemania series, "If You Were Here" by Jennifer and "Is This The Way You Kill A Love" by Gina, both featured in Dance Dance Revolution.