The Asylum Pt. 1

The Asylum Pt. 1 is the third studio album by British recording artist Iris, released on 20 January 2014 by Next Generation Records. It is the first part of The Asylum series, which consists of three mini-albums. The only single from the album, "Poison Ivy", was released on the same date as the album.

Background
In an interview with PopJustice, Iris announced that she had plans to release three new albums in 2014. She said, "I got all these great songs so why not? [...] It's been 2 years since Kaleidoscope and I didn't want to wait with a release until they are all recorded, so I decided to start putting them out right away. It's been a long time since I actually made a record! And I was thinking of how to shorten that time down and thus I came up with the idea of what if I just start releasing songs, then I can tour them, then I can make some more songs. I started working like that. I think once it starts it will make more sense – you can just keep releasing stuff without the long breaks." The release of The Asylum Pt. 1 was announced on 4 December 2013, alongside the cover art to the upcoming single. Iris said that "the songs that are on the first album are simply the first ones that were finished."

Production
Iris began writting the album in July 2012 from her home, as she raised her newborn children. However she revealed that the writing process was "extremely slow" as she was making be a mother her full-time job, and the album took a back seat throughout 2012, being worked on only when Iris found enough time.

In an interview with Pitchfork, Iris talked about the main lyrical theme of the album: "The whole album is about being really lonely, but it's also a somewhat twisted sense of loneliness, as I now have my beautiful children so in that respect, I've never been less lonely in my life." She particularly wrote the song "Poison Ivy" with that in mind, and continued, "It's one of the few songs where I thought of the title before the actual lyrics." Iris told Billboard that The Asylum Pt. 1 is "a record about finding myself a whole with my children, but still missing having that someone beside me to experience their growth with me", and elaborated: "Living in loneliness is a really important place for my generation. It's the new church. It's where people go to experience something bigger than themselves."

Critical reception
The Asylum, Pt. 1 received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an sverage score of 76, based on 23 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Heather Phares of Allmusic stated, "Capturing the freedom and loneliness of independence, The Asylum, Pt. 1 is a concise set of songs on its own, and an impressive first third of the whole ambitious project." Marc Hogan of Pitchfork Media raved, "With The Asylum Pt. 1, [...] Iris doesn't just walk the line between what she has called the 'commercial' and 'tastemaker' realms. She obliterates it. Immaculately produced, fantastically sung, and loaded with memorable choruses, this eight-song effort has plenty to please everyone from post-dubstep crate diggers to rock inspired twisted tales." The A.V. Clubs Genevieve Koski opined that it is "an album about aligning your heartbeat with the pulses of your children, despite no other hearts around you, embracing synthetic sounds as a conduit for genuine emotion. Iris' icy, controlled vocals and cool synth textures are almost alienating in their precision." Michael Cragg wrote for musicOMH that with The Asylum Pt. 1, Iris is "ready to finally take her place at pop's top table of greats."

The Guardians Michael Hann commended Iris for her "defiant independence of spirit and her versatility within the pop idiom". Spin magazine's Jessica Hopper believed that on The Asylum Pt. 1, Iris "confidently chronicles the heartbreak ('Poison Ivy') and pleasure ('My Calling') of her life like she's ready to rule the musical world." Will Hermes of Rolling Stone called the album "near-perfect" and concluded, "Capped with her British stamp, The Asylum shows an underrated pop queen with more than just blonde ambition." Slant Magazine critic Sal Cinquemani commented that "the bulk of the album is comprised of stiff beats and in-your-face bluster that attempt to portray Iris as the most unlucky and depressed human being on earth." He added that "it also comes fully loaded with more hooks than your average pop album's entire tracklist." In a review for PopMatters, Jer Fairall expressed particular appreciation for the track "Will My Heart Ever Recover?", and stated that "The Asylum, Pt. 1 shows Iris as a popstar similar to nobody else out there." However, he also noted that "not all of The Asylum, Pt. 1 works", referring to "Earth At Night" as "the only real bomb". Luke Lewis of the NME called the album "impressive, but thin at eight tracks", while concluding, "Would it not have been better to hold back, and release just one, truly stunning record?" Matthew Horton of BBC Music felt that the album "triggers the sense Iris' holding something back" and that it "houses so much filler", but nevertheless described "All This Blood", "Poison Ivy" and "Paper Woman" as "scorchingly catchy, and laced with Iris' signature tones."

Singles
Iris stated in an interview that she would release only one official single per The Asylum album. The official single, "Poison Ivy", was released on 20 January 2014, alongside the album and charted at #03, becoming Iris' most successful single to date. Several album tracks were also released via digital outlets as promotional singles for the album, to help maintain healthy sales until "The Asylum Pt. 2" was released. "Earth At Night" was released on 10 February 2014 and peaked at #07 on the Download chart and #25 on Airplay. "Paper Woman" will be released on 17 March 2014.

Tracklisting
The tracklasting was announced on 14 January 2014.

Charts
The album was released on 20 January 2014. Upon it's release, the album debuted at #03 on the UK album chart, behind Elice Claire's Greatest Hits "Veni Vidi Vixi" and Curriculum's "Sophomore". The album had first week sales of 76,665. It became Iris' second highest charting album, third top five album and highest debut for an album.

Overall Sales: 255,701