The Asylum Pt. 3

The Asylum Pt. 3 is the fifth studio album by British recording artist Iris, due to be released in October 2014 through Next Generation Records. The album is the third and final part of the The Asylum trilogy, which consists of three mini-albums, all released during 2014. Iris started working on songs for the album after The Asylum Pt. 1 (2014) was released, but whilst The Asylum Pt. 2 was still in development. Musically, the songs on The Asylum Pt. 3 are a lot more soul based than the two prior parts of the trilogy.

Critical reception of the album was positive. Critics considered it an improvement on The Asylum Pt. 2, and claimed it felt like 'Iris at her best' after the last two albums had been more dance orientated. In the UK, the album charted at #1, giving Iris her second #1 album.

"Ghost on Sailor's Peak" was released as the album's only single on 27 October 2014, one week before the album was released. A teaser version of the song was featured on The Aslyum Pt. 2. The single charted at #3 in the UK. In March 2015 the album was nominated for Best Rock/Alternative album at the Urapopstar Awards 26.

Background
In late 2012, Iris announced in an interview with Popjustice that she would release three albums during 2014. She noted that it had been over two years since she released her last effort, Kaleidoscope (2012), and that she had not been in the studio "properly" since then. She explained that she did not want to wait until all the songs had been recorded; she rather wanted to split up the songs in three different releases. She chose to name the trilogy The Asylum for various reasons. Iris had initially been placed in an asylum at the start of her career in 2011, and revealed it was to show her development since then. It was also a reference to her music acting as an asylum, trapping her within the walls of the lyrics and leaving her unable to escape the music. In January 2014, the first in the trilogy, The Asylum Pt. 1, was released, and was followed by the announcement of The Asylum Pt. 2 several months later. The Asylum Pt. 3 was eventually revealed to have a release in October 2014.

Some of the songs on the album were written at the same time as the songs on Body Talk Pt. 2 however the majority were written after. Iris revealed "Ghost on Sailor's Peak" was the first song from the album that was written, and she instantly knew it would be the single released from the album. In late August 2014, music magazine NME reported that the mixing of the songs had been completed. Iris worked primary with Swedish producer and songwriter Klas Åhlund, who was also involved in the production of The Asylum Pt. 1 and Pt.2. As with all previous albums, the album also features several production credits from Iris herself. The album also includes Iris working alongside several other well known artists. Iris recorded a track titled "Hallucinations" with her label boss Coral Harris. She also worked with Ashley! who wrote the track "Higher Ground" for the album.

Critical Reception
The Asylum Pt. 3 received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 23 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Jaime Gill of BBC Music called the album a "spectacular and perfect ending to Iris' incredible The Asylum trilogy." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine referred to the album as "the best album out of the trilogy". Tom Ewing of The Guardian said that "the third part of the trilogy was the most different from the other two." Ewing named "Ghost on Sailor's Peak" as the best single released in a long time". Dan Martin of the NME stated that 'although Iris' dance direction was an exciting journey, having her return to her dark and twisted origins gives us a sense of euphoria. This is Iris at her best"

Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone wrote that the album "see's Iris return to her dark origins." He also added that Iris was quite possibly the "most underrated artist of current times". Pitchfork's Joe Colly felt Iris took a step back musically as she returned to her origins, however he also added that it shows her at her strongest. Luke Winkie of musicOMH wrote a mixed review as well, saying that "Pt 3 doesn't have the energy that the first two Parts offered; however it's also not trying too."

Singles
"Ghost on Sailor's Peak" was released as the first and only single from the album on 27 October 2014. A teaser version of the song was previously featured on the preceding album, The Asylum Pt. 2. The song was met with positive reviews, who described it as musicality mixed with poetry. The song reached number 3 in the UK and is to date, Iris' most successful single with over 400,000 copies sold in the UK alone.

As with the previous albums in The Asylum era, Iris will release several tracks as Digital promotional singles. The first of these, "Remember Who He Lies Beside" was released 12 January 2015 and charted at #2 on the Download chart becoming Iris' highest charting position on the chart to date. It also reached the top 40 on the AirPlay chart. The track was also nominated at the Urapopstar Awards 26 for Best Digital Release.

Commercial Performance
The album debuted at #1 on the UK album chart giving Iris her second #1 album, and first since her 2011 debut "In The Realms Of Reality". With first week sales of 106,967 it also gave Iris her highest first week sales. In the albums 19th week it was certified Gold for sales of over half a million.

Charts
Overall Sales: 608,748