First Signs Of Sunlight

First Signs Of Sunlight is the debut studio album by British pop singer and songwriter Candi, released via Blacklight Records on 23 May, 2011.

The album was recorded during late 2010 and early 2011. The pop oriented album is mostly composed of uptempo songs and ballads. Candi wrote the majority of the tracks herself, and produced two. With eight of the album's tracks being written by Candi, the remaining six were written by Alesha, Kleo, Nicola O'Neill, China and Elice Claire. First Signs Of Sunlight was aimed to launch Candi as the official Pop Princess of URAPS.

There is a lot of hype towards the album, due to it being preceeded by Candi's debut single "That's Hot" which debuted at #1. The album was released the same day as second single "Gold", which also charted at #1. Further singles released from the album include "The Sword", "PUSHIT" and "Jigglypuff". The album was the 12th best selling album of 2011 and the 15th best selling of 2012.

On 09 April, 2012 the album was re-released. Containing five brand new tracks that weren't on the original edition, "Sailors Vs Mermaids" was released alongside the re-release, which finally took the album to the #1 position.

Background
Candi had always shown a strong interest in singing, as well as owning an impressive voice. At a young age she did several television commercials and low key performances. However at the age of sixteen she was sent to boarding school in LA, where she very briefly joined a christian rock group, until she remembered she wasn't a christian. However in doing so, Candi's father saw just how commited his daughter was to her music, and thus he created a record label specifically for her, named Daddy's Records. This provided Candi with unlimited funds, and she created several tracks under this label, however after an offer from Blacklight Records, Candi decided she wanted to become an established artist without her father's assitance, and thus departed from Daddy's Records and joined Blacklight instead.

Despite only being new on the scene, many established acts saw the potential in Candi and requested to work with her, with Elice Claire writting a track for Candi, despite the fact she had retired from music. Also, the album is notable as the track "Sweet Deceiver" is the last track China recorded before her hiatus.

Originally, the album was going to be called "Eye Candi", however the name was eventually changed as Blacklight felt that the title was too cheesy.

Release and reception
"First Signs of Sunlight" was released on 23 May, 2011, the same date as the album's second single, "Gold". "First Signs of Sunlight" received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 22 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Jon Pareles of The New York Times perceived a "hermetic, cool yet cute calculation" on the album, writing that it "works the pop gizmos to the maximum, and created a sound that helped establish the Candi brand". Pitchfork Media writer Mark Peters said, "Despite the bubbly ditzy blonde persona, Candi is not someone to understimate. This album is going to be remembered for years." Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt commented that it shows Candi "as the new pop princess, who is going to rule the charts for years to come."

Allmusic writer Andy Kellman described it as "the album to remember from 2011" and commented on the media's portrayal of the star, most significantly sexually, stating:

"'Geniusly, Candi appeals to everyone. Women want to be her and admire her lifestyle, yet she still manages to make herself relatable. Men crave her and children admire her. No one I am aware of has managed to juggle the balance as pop princess and role model as well as being sexually admired. Tracks like 'Blonde's Have More Fun' and 'Jigglypuff' emphasise this sweet persona, yet 'Night Is Over' oozes sexuality. Candi is the dream marketing tool.'"

Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield praised the album, specifically tracks "Intergalactic" and "The Sword" but said some aspects it offered very little new to developing music in 2011, with tracks such as "Is This All Real?" and "That's Hot" focusing on the same theme. However they did state that despite contributions from the biggest females names in pop such as Alesha, China and Elice Claire, Candi fitted in perfectly, cementing herself as a future idol.

The re-release to the album was met with a positive response from critics, complimenting Candi for the "heart-felt" release. Popjustice stated "this is the transaction of Candi from her debut as 'the blonde pop princess who sings about being hot' into the 'a meaningful singer/songwritter'. Several critics also noted Candi seemed to be aiming for critical aclaim instead of chart success nowadays.

Night Is Over controversy
One track on the album, titled "Nght Is Over" recieved a lot of attention. Although the critics complimented the track by stating it was "a fun, perfect for the dancefloor song", it saw Candi and Chase Elite sing in a sexual manner, prompting criticism due to the pair being siblings. One fan stated "I love the song, I love both the singers, but together this just seems very wrong". Candi hit out at critics, saying "Night Is Over has absolutely nothing to do with incest. Yes me and Chase both sing about slightly sexual things, but not too each other. If a music video was made for this you'd see me singing my lyrics to one guy in a club, and Chase singing his lyrics to some woman in the club. The thought of singing that to my brother is disgusting and wrong!! Eww".

Despite the controversy, the track appeared on the soundtrack to the motion picture Prime Cut.

Singles

 * "That's Hot," was released March 28, 2011 as the album's lead single and Candi's debut. The single was well-promoted and had high expectations to go top five, however upon it's release, the track charted at #1, where it remained the following week. It has sold a total of 392,292 copies so far, earning it a platinum certification and making it the best selling single of 2011 to date.
 * "Gold," was released May 23, 2011 as the album's second single. The single features Alesha and was released on the same date as the album, becoming Candi's second #1 single.
 * "The Sword" was the third single released from the album on July 25, 2011. It charted at #2.
 * "PUSHIT" served as the album's fourth single, being released on October 03, 2011 and managed to give Candi her third #1 single and highest first weeks sales to date.
 * "Jigglypuff" is the album's fifth single, with a release date of January 23, 2012. It charted at #2.
 * "Sailors Vs Mermaids" was the lead single from the album's re-release, and the sixth and final overall single from the album. Released on April 9, 2012, it charted at #3, becoming Candi's first single to miss the top 2.

Tracklisting
Before the tracklisting's official reveal, five tracks were already known. The two singles That's Hot and Gold, as well as a track titled "Happiness", which was originally due to be the B-side to "That's Hot". Candi performed a track titled "Is This All Real?" while supporting 4tune on tour, and revealed that it will feature on the album, as will the song "Hold My Hand" which Candi orignally recorded for Rising Sun. On 04 May, "One Last Memory" and "Night Is Over" were announced. The entire album's tracklisting was revealed in the early hours of 09 May.

The album was re-released on April 9th, 2012. The new tracklisting was revealed on March 6th. It featured six new tracks that weren't on the original version of the album. Besides this, the tracks, 'One Last Memory', 'Is This All Real?' and 'Happiness' were not included on the new edition.

Charts
First Signs Of Sunlight debuted at number two on the official albums chart behind Paulo Araujo with 86,918 copies sold. The album has been certified Diamond for sales of over 1,000,000 copies, a status it recieved in it's 32nd week. In the album's 45th week, it was re-released, and finally reached the number one position.

Overall Sales: 1,834,585