Afterhours

afterhours is the tenth studio album by British recording artist Alesha. The album is the follow-up to her self-titled ninth studio album, which was released in 2014 after a three-year hiatus and became the best-selling album of Alesha's extensive career. Alesha began writing for afterhours as soon as the previous album was released. The album was released via Fusion Records in August 2015, fifteen months after Alesha.

Following the commerciality of her previous album, Alesha wanted to challenge herself creatively while maintaining a pop sensibility. afterhours is a synthpop album drawing sonic inspiration from varying 1980s and 1990s pop trends such as deep house and New Wave. Lyrically, Alesha explores themes of acceptance, equality, sexuality and social stigma and alludes to historical occurrences, placing herself in the queer counterculture of the time. Alesha has described afterhours as a concept album.

Development
In 2014, Alesha returned from a three-year hiatus with her self-titled ninth studio album. Alesha became her fastest- and best-selling album to date, spawning a string of platinum hit singles including the chart-toppers "Opulence"/"Unbeknownst" (with Paulo Araujo) and "Number One". As soon as the album was released in May 2014, Alesha began writing for her tenth studio album. After striving for commerciality with her self-titled release, Alesha hoped to challenge herself creatively by recording a pop concept album.

Alesha recorded over 30 tracks for the album over the course of a year. For inspiration, Alesha recalled music from her early childhood. She found herself particularly drawn to the music of the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as its historical context. The sound of the early '90s, specifically house music, had already played a role in influencing certain tracks from Alesha and, more noticeably, the "Gianni" EP (2015).

The first song written for the album was "In Love Today", influenced by '80s synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. Following this, Alesha worked on a series of house-inspired songs, such as the title track and a batch of other songs that failed to make the final cut. In these early stages, the album had been mostly inspired by '90s dance and pop music. In the midst of recording sessions, Alesha became influenced by New Wave bands such as Depeche Mode and New Order, which reshaped much of the album's sound. Alesha originally toyed with releasing the album in two installments, M4M and M4M: Black Leather. Ultimately, the album grew to showcase late '80s and early '90s synthpop with heavy influences coming from house and New Wave.

Title and design
The cover art features an image of Alesha embossed on silver aluminium. The artwork was conceived by a German designer whose work Alesha observed in Berlin. The metal cover was Alesha's idea. Fusion Records bought about 1,500,000 pounds (680,000 kg) of aluminium for initial shipments of the album, a quarter of a pound for each copy. The designers had to do the front and the back covers, while rolling, stamping and ionizing the metal.

Inside the booklet, on lightweight pages, Alesha is photographed in black-and-white wearing a black leather jacket and black hot pants as she straddles a motorcycle, as well as in a black dress with leather paneling. One photo depicts Alesha talking to a man in a black leather jacket and tight black jeans. In some photos, Alesha wears a police officer's hat. These photos appear on alternating pages with images lifted from vintage gay erotica.

Alesha also wanted to explore the notion of power in afterhours. Brannigan said that the artist wanted to talk about "gentle and hard, soft and violent. She was playing out all those elements. That was reflected in the materials: uncoated, soft paper on the inside and hard metal coating on the outside." The deluxe edition arrives wrapped and sealed in a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Mylar bag, reminiscent of a condom wrapper.

Music and lyrics
The album begins with "M4M", a dance-pop song with deep house and disco influences about no-strings-attached sex, inspired by gay hookup culture. The album's titled is mentioned in the lyric "The sun is rising in Madrid, but afterhours starts at seven". Track two, "Count on", is a song about love in the face of adversity, referencing historical events from the early '90s such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. "Black leather" is one of two songs that samples Depeche Mode, incorporating elements of the New Wave band's track "Strangelove" into its chorus. The song references BDSM, leather culture, and separating the self from societal norms.

Track four is lead single "In love today", whose dramatic, overblown production is a tribute to the English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. The song's narrator (Alesha) fondly acknowledges the progress of the gay rights movement in the Western world, but mourns those who were not alive to see the changes. Alesha described the song as the album's "mission statement." "Keeping me alive" is an atmospheric ballad, which Alesha has stated mourns a (fictitious) lover lost to AIDS. "I really tried to imagine myself being put in that situation," Alesha commented. The track has been compared to Alesha's 2010 single "Good Mourning". "Devil-may-care" is a brooding New Wave track about the recklessness of falling in love too young.

"Repressed" contains samples of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" and exhibits their brooding synthpop influence. The song is about giving into repressed desires or urges. "Rogue smoke" was written by Aurora Reed, who Alesha approached at the end of recording sessions. "New York cab" has been called both an "art rock" and a New Wave song.

"Die alone" "2 years" "Cruising" contains elements of "Being Boring" by the Pet Shop Boys and does indeed discuss the act of cruising. "Another American" was influenced by the French dance-pop song "Desenchantée" by Myléne Farmer. The song was originally titled "Illusion".

Singles
"In love today" was released as the first single from afterhours on June 22, 2015. Its premiere and subsequent release coincidentally coincided with the overturning of same-sex marriage bans in Ireland and the United States. The single shifted a massive 142,000 copies in its first week of release. It spent two weeks atop the official singles chart. Within four weeks, the single had shifted 400,000 copies. It was quickly certified platinum.

Tour
Alesha promoted the album with a string of festival appearances during summer 2015, beginning with a headlining slot at Governors Ball in New York City. Alesha appeared at Bonnaroo a week later, performing a set comprised of the more alternative moments in her back catalog – mostly songs from Bigger Than God (2009) and The Martyr (2011). Alesha also appeared at a slew of other festivals, including Glastonbury, Lollapalooza and V; the appearances were dubbed the Black Leather Festival Tour.

Track listing
All songs written and produced by Alesha except where noted.


 * 1) "M4M"
 * 2) "Count on"
 * 3) "Black leather"
 * 4) "In love today"
 * 5) "Keeping me alive"
 * 6) "Devil-may-care"
 * 7) "Repressed"
 * 8) "Rogue smoke" †
 * 9) "New York cab"
 * 10) "Die alone"
 * 11) "2 years"
 * 12) "Cruising"
 * 13) "Another American"


 * Notes
 * † "Rogue smoke" is written by Aurora Reed.
 * "Black leather" contains an interpolation of Depeche Mode's "Strangelove".
 * "Repressed" contains an interpolation of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence".
 * "Cruising" contains a sample of the Pet Shop Boys' "Being Boring".