4AM

"4AM"

Single by Eoin O'Neill
from the album Eoin

Released

September 16th, 2013

Format

CD, Digital Download

Recorded

2013

Genre

Pop/Rock

Length

4:58

Label

Blacklight

Writer

E. O'Neill

Producer

Matt Serletic

Chart position

#1

Certification

Gold

Additional artwork

^{Digital Cover}

Eoin O'Neill chronology

"Perfect Mistake"
(2013)

"4AM"
(2013)

"Party Lines"
(2013)

"4AM" is the third single from Eoin O'Neill's debut self-titled album "Eoin". The song is regarded highly by critics, and heralded as a favourite among Eoin's fanbase. The song was released in September in both the UK and Ireland, and was notable for being pitted against "Disco Love" by the Ace Rejects, of which band member Nicola O'Neill is Eoin's second cousin. Eoin beat the Ace Rejects to the top in the UK, but lost out to the Ace Rejects in his first week in Ireland. He then rose to claim #1 in his second week on the Irish chart. Like previous single "Perfect Mistake", "4AM" has reached #1 in both sales and airplay in Eoin's two main territories.

Background[edit | edit source]

"4AM" was one of the original demo tracks Eoin re-recorded and reworked for use on his album, working with Matt Serletic to build up the symphonic pop-rock sound that Eoin had been developing for the record. It was regarded as a single option early on in the album-making process, with Matt and Blacklight agreeing that it was among the strongest cuts on the album. Before even "Hide The Body" had been released, Eoin confirmed that the song would be a future single, and following the massive success of "Perfect Mistake", it was announced as the third single to be lifted from the album. It is notable for being the least "Irish" Eoin has sounded on record, while still having the distinctive sounds of Eoin's Irish brogue in his singing voice. To accompany the single, Eoin recorded a number of cover versions where his Irish accent is more prominent.

Reception[edit | edit source]

Critics were highly favourable to "4AM", lauding it as a standout track from "Eoin" at the time the album was released. The song also became extremely popular among fans, and many were pleased when it was confirmed that the song would definitely be a single. With hype at an all-time high following the smashing success of "Perfect Mistake", the confirmation of "4AM" as its follow-up was met with wide-spread approval. Radio was on-board quickly, and the song hit the digital chart quite early due to the song's popularity, having sold around 50k just as an album track before its official single release was announced. The strength of the song, coupled with Eoin's major hype carried it to become another major notch in Eoin's belt across the different charts.

Tracklisting[edit | edit source]

CD

"4AM"
"The Way Down"
"Love Is Gone"
"4AM (Cutmore Radio Mix)"

Digital EP

"4AM"
"The Way Down"
"Don't Look At Me"
"4AM (Jason Nevins Club Mix)"
"4AM (Paolo Ortelli & Luke Degree Club Mix)"

Music Video[edit | edit source]

The video opens with Eoin and his friends stumbling out of a pub all laughing and cheerful, and all of them clearly drunk. Eoin says goodbye and they leave him standing there. As soon as he’s alone the smile drops from Eoin’s face and he looks a bit miserable. He looks through the pub window to the clock on the wall inside; it reads 3:57AM. Eoin pulls out his phone and looks at it to find several missed calls and unanswered text messages from his girlfriend. He pockets his phone with a sigh and begins walking as the music begins. Being 4AM, the streets are mostly deserted, and Eoin wanders aimlessly as he sings along to the song, not acknowledging the camera as he goes. The main body of the video is shot in one continuous long take, so the camera follows Eoin as he walks, and as the song goes on he looks more and more upset.

By the end of the video, Eoin is outright crying, and looking out of his depth as he doesn’t know where he is. The video ends with him standing underneath a street light on the corner, pulling out his phone and calling his girlfriend to ask for help. Before the shot fades to black, Eoin sits down against the street light and puts his head in his hands.

Chart Performance[edit | edit source]

"4AM" benefitted from a number of high profile performances by Eoin, in the lead-up to the single's release. First, Eoin was involved with V Festival - a last-minute surprise on the bill, and later on Eoin appeared at the inaugural UrapsFest on the eve of the single's release, where he performed both the single and one of its b-sides. After the single's release was an appearance as one of the performers during the month-long iTunes festival, with Eoin's show taking place on September 24th. These live events coupled with rolling hype from Eoin's previous single, when combined with Blacklight's own promotional push led to the song becoming a second consecutive #1 hit, with debut week sales of 107,585 copies. To date, the single has spent three of its four weeks in the top 5, and has remained in the top 10 since release. It is expected to reach platinum certification in its fifth week.

Due to being a fan favourite, "4AM" impacted the digital chart quite early, spending a significant length of time on chart while still holding album track status. It fell off shortly before the single's release, but returned to the chart once the single was out, when it achieved its #2 peak. To date it has outsold "Perfect Mistake" on the digital chart, with a sales tally exceeding 107k. On the airplay chart it got off to a quick start, rapidly ascending into the top 10, upon which it hovered for a time until it became his third consecutive airplay chart-topper. "4AM" only spent one week atop the UK airplay chart, unlike its two predecessors.

In Ireland it continued Eoin's success streak on both the sales and airplay charts, hitting #1 on both; however, in its first week on the Irish singles chart, it debuted at #2 behind his cousin Nicola O'Neill and her band the Ace Rejects. "4AM" climbed in its second week however, to become his third consecutive Irish #1. The first-week situation was reversed in the UK, where Eoin was the one to beat the Ace Rejects to #1. Unlike their Irish battle, Ace Rejects did not later climb to #1 in the UK themselves.