Pleasure Island

Pleasure Island is the second album by recording artist Anna Jones. It was released in two formats, standard and deluxe edition on 16 July 2012 through Fusion Records. The album was recorded from 2011 through to 2012. The album spawned three top ten singles, "Satisfaction of the Mind", "Red Alert" (featuring "Caymon"), "Rhythm of Dance", and "Candy Shop". Pleasure Island was mostly praised by contemporary music critics upon its release. The album debuted at #1 on the albums charts. It has sold over 1,000,000 copies leaving it to achieve Diamond status.

Background
After the release of her previous album, Through The Shadows she went on to start writing material for her follow up. Throughout the promotion of her third single, Turn Your Head she began seriously writing and decided it would be the final single as she wanted a change in direction for her sophomore album. She flew to New York several times to meet up with producers and writers in October 2011 for sessions. It was originally planned for the album to be released early 2012 as the majority of the writing was completed by December 2011, however Anna wanted the album to be perfect so she postponed the album to July. In this period she rewrote and rerecorded the majority of the album describing it as a "complete 360 on the entire concept". It was revealed that several tracks were written while she was on her first UK tour as the time alone had given her lots of time to think and reflect on her life. Throughout the period from Summer 2011 to March 2012 she wrote and recorded the album working with a selection of producers. "Satisfaction of the Mind", the lead single, was finally announced on May 25, 2012. The title of the album comes from the fifth track on the release, Pleasure Island.

Production
The album includes a variety of producers. Anna first worked with Calvin Harris for the initial 'dance' sound she wanted for the album. He came up with "Rhythm of Dance" and then the album's lead single, "Satisfaction of the Mind". She spent the first weeks of September 2011 working with Calvin developing the sound for a dance album. However upon flying back to the UK she changed her mind and wanted a different approach to the album. She then worked with Frédéric Riestere to develop a more exotic sound for the album. He came up with "Neon Lights". Over the next few months she worked with a variety of producers from Emile Haynie to Timbaland to create an album which catered for all. She revealed in an interview that the album title reflects the content, as they is a bit for everybody.

Writing, themes and lyrical content
The overall theme for the album is the desire for pleasure in life and the barriers that stop us from achieving happiness in life. The opening tracks speak of the trouble to overcome the power of the human mind as it can blur your vision. Red Alert speaks of the torture to escape from the mind and the fear of not being happy. "Candy Shop" introduces the idea of a special place where you can escape all fear and enter a land of pleasure. The album continues to display this meaning throughout the album weaving in and out of the power struggles in relationships. The track "Rhythm of Dance" shows how Anna Jones found her pleasure in music and dance and this comes across in the lyrics and overall feel to the track. The final track, "The Storm" summaries the album and the meanings of pleasure and fear.

Release and Promotion
On 20 June 2012 Anna Jones released promotional images for the album. The Sun commented and described the images saying: "The 28-year-old rocks a neon-pink frock, emblazoned with the word VERSUS, as she strikes a bendy pose to promote upcoming disc Pleasure Island, with her hair up in a high, side ponytail, pink lips and sunglasses on her head, she looks delectable in the eighties-chic outfit and pink lippy. In another shot, she can be seen sprawled on the ground, wearing a white skirt and top with high, fluoro-pink heels, dark blue eyeshadow and bright make-up. A more sexy picture of her shows her practising her best pout and showing off her long diamond earrings and heavy eye make-up."

The album was released in the United Kingdom on July 16th. Jones performed at T4 on the Beach to an audience of 50,000 which was also televised live on Channel 4. She also performed a gig on Koko Pop and the Album Chart Show where she performed a number of tracks from the new LP. However no promotion apart from an appearance on "Loose Women" was done on the week of release. In December, Rhythm of Dance was performed on Top of the Pops and New Years Eve Live. These performances gave the album a boost in the official charts.

Tour
In November 2012, Anna Jones embarked on "Pleasure Island Live", a UK national arena tour promoting the album. Shortly after the tour she announced another leg with just theatre dates performed in February 2012.

Singles

 * Satisfaction of the Mind was announced on May 25, 2012. It is written by Anna Jones and produced by Calvin Harris. It was released on July 9, 2012 and reached a peak of No. 2 on the UK Singles Charts.
 * Red Alert (featuring Caymon) was announced as a single on July 13, 2012. The track recieved positive reviews from both fans and critics. The track reached a peak of No.3 in the UK Singles Chart selling over 300,000+ copies.
 * Rhythm of Dance was announced as the album's third single on Christmas Eve with the track to be released the following week on 31 December 2012. The accompanying music video was released on December 29 2012, along with performances on Top of the Pops, New Years Eve Live, and Radio 1's Live Lounge. The single debuted in the charts at #TBA and eventually rose up to #TBA selling over TBA copies.
 * Candy Shop was announced shortly after the charting of Rhythm of Dance. The track was received extremely well by critics and fans. The track faced little promotion due to touring commitments but had a performance on Comic Relief which secured it's chart position at #1.

Other Releases

 * Neon Lights was released as a buzz single on July 2, 2012, two weeks before the album was released in order to promote the album.

Critical Response
Upon release, Pleasure Island managed to receive overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and the public. Saun Kitchener from "Entertainment Wise" described the album as being a progression from her previous album. Kitchner added that "it’s surprisingly sparse on the dance-pop-anthem front. She may not have the best voice in the business by quite some distance. Al Fox of BBC Music described it as a "scrapbook of 2012 trends" and wrote that "it's the most sincere moments that prove standouts on Anna's new album."Andy Gill from The Independent described it as Anna's "most confident set yet". MTV UK wrote that overall, the album is a "mixed-bag of genre's in which Jones finds her musical identity, as well as giving fans a glimpse at her own preference when it comes her taste in music." Ian Gittins of Virgin Media gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and wrote: is a slick and polished summary of the state of the art of current chart-pop but it lacks the indefinable alchemy, personality and touch of magic that makes for truly great pop."

Personnel

 * Writing - Anna Jones
 * Composition and production - Timbaland, Calvin Harris, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Billboard, David Guetta, Frédéric Riestere
 * Lead/main vocals - Anna Jones
 * Background vocals - Mollie Young, Scarlett Colby, Gabrielle Dante