Kill Pop

Kill Pop (stylized as KILL POP) is the second studio album by British recording artist Shell Ruin. Released on April 2, 2007 via Ensemble Entertainment, the album was Ruin's first studio album since Stories of a Girl (2005) and marked a new musical direction. The album was preceded by the single "All That Glitters", which was released as the album's lead single in January 2007.

The album saw Ruin reintroduce herself to music after taking a two year hiatus. During that time she became a socialiate and part-time model, and her 'party girl' lifestyle is chronicled in much of the songs on Kill Pop. Ruin worked on the album sporadically during 2006, and much speculation surrounded the album's production which was marred with delays and issues between Ruin and her collaborators. Ruin worked with a selection of the most successful artists at the time including, Alesha, Buffi, rock group girlASKboy and Ivy. All of whom contributed towards the songwriting or featured vocals on the album.

Development
In early 2007, Ruin ended her hiatus from music with the release of her second studio album Kill Pop which was released in March. The album was a moderate success and spawned the Top 10 singles "All That Glitters" and "Jealous Girls". Shortly after, Ruin teamed up with her close friends and recurring collaborators Alesha, Buffi and Taylor Brookes in July 2007 to release "Power Power", which they described as an "epic tour-de-force". Adverts ran on Channel 4 throughout the campaign and both songs were A-listed by BBC Radio 1 within the first week of their initial release. Despite the highly publicised promotional campaign and hype, the song failed to enter the Top 10 of the official singles chart and a backlash against the four began shortly after following their controversial antics during the release of the single.

During the promotional campaign, Ruin began writing and recording her third studio album. Ruin was highly influenced by sound and style of "Power Power", and the new song "Sound the Horn" which was featured on the re-release of Kill Pop and was initially written with the intention of being included on her third studio album.

In August 2007, Ruin confirmed that she was close to finishing the album. In a short interview with Mixmag magazine, she said "Kill Pop eased me back into music but there's so much more I want to experiment with. The next album is going to be more powerful lyrically and much bigger sound-wise". Ruin described the album as "fluorescent, bitch, dynamite, crunk, dark, fierce, sex and sugar." That same month, the working title of Here I Come was revealed by Peter Robinson of Popjustice. Referring to "Gasoline" and "My Teaches", Robinson said "the song combines a sample of elephants and babies along with rave stabs and crunk beats, whilst our favourite of the four is sure to become Shell's signature song when it's released".

In September 2007, Ruin announced the release of The Dirty Is Done and its lead single "My Teaches" via her official website.

Critical reception
Upon release, The Dirty Is Done was highly acclaimed by music critics. Aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalised rating of 73% based on seventeen critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. Mark Taylor of POP magazine described the album as "Twentieth Century 'It' Girl pop at its finest" and felt that Ruin "laid the groundwork with Kill Pop, but with The Dirty Is Done she marks her arrival as the demented Princess of Pop." Talia Kraines of BBC Music decided that the album was "quirky, modern and dripping with attitude" and "holds no disappointments." Virgin Media gave the album five stars, saying it was "bursting [...] with invention, quirky lyrics, tongue-in-cheek sauciness and [...] appeals to grown-up pop fans and music critics as well as to the teenyboppers." John Lucas of Allmusic considered it "a short, sharp and tight collection of some of the most exciting music" and complimented it for being "a perfectly constructed whole without becoming a tedious homogeny". Elizabeth Mason of Rolling Stone rated The Dirty Is Done four and a half out of five stars, describing the album as "ballsy pop with moments of eclecticism which [...] results in hair-curlingly exciting music" and stating that "Shell Ruin has arrived". Matthew May of The List praised the album's "witty lyrics, insanely infectious melodies and soaring choruses that explode out of nowhere", as well as its "groundbreaking production" and called The Dirty Is Done "a standout example of some of the best British songwriting in years".

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called The Dirty Is Done "witty, diverse, experimental and viscerally thrilling" and "by any standards [..] pretty irresistible," while Nick Levine of Digital Spy found the songs "fun, frivolous, catchy, sexy and innovative," and noticed that the album is Ruin's "most danceable album to date". A reviewer for NME reated the album a 7 out of 10, saying that Ruin "has been marked by genre-hopping," while commenting that The Dirty Is Done "will continue the trend." The reviewer also highlighted the songs "Hair of the Dog" and "Gasoline" as "unbeatable future pop hits". Steve Jelbert of The Times gave the album a mixed review, deeming it "as predictable as a motorway, but fun.

Track listing
All songs written and produced by Shell Ruin, except where noted.


 * 1) "Kill the Bitch" (Intro)
 * 2) "Sound the Horn"
 * 3) "Power Power" (with Alesha, Buffi and Taylor Brookes)
 * 4) "Jealous Girls"
 * 5) "Dancing with Numbers"
 * 6) "Warm Bitch"
 * 7) "Two of Hearts"
 * 8) "Pop Electric"
 * 9) "Sex Drug"
 * 10) "Warning Signs"
 * 11) "Lemon/Lime"
 * 12) "Trouble Sleeping"
 * 13) "All That Glitters"


 * Digital bonus tracks


 * 1) "Cherry Bomb" (Solo version)
 * 2) "Like a Slave"
 * 3) "Dirty Romance"
 * 4) "Wear Me Out"
 * 5) "Someone In My Bed"