Take A Picture, It'll Last Longer

Take A Picture, It'll Last Longer is the debut studio album by piano-alternative singer and URAPS Idol finalist Arianna DiCorso, released by Blacklight Records on December 12th, 2011. The album was preceded by debut hit "The Analyst", and spawned three further top 2 hits, including the #1 smashes "I Bite" and "Until The End Of Time". The album was released in America on September 18th, 2012, hitting the top 5. "I Bite" was the lead US single from the album, and it is being followed up by "Cold Summer", penned for Arianna by Romo.

Background & Recording
Arianna began recording for the album in August 2011, when she recorded studio versions of the songs "The Analyst" and "Chains Around My Heart". The former was a Delta Goodrem cover originally performed on URAPS Idol 12, and was recorded for the cast album released to accompany that season. The later was penned by Ben Johnston and was given to Arianna as her winners' single, which she would have gotten to release had she won the show. Following her elimination as 3rd place runner-up, Arianna was rapidly snapped up by Blacklight Records, who sent her away to America to work on her debut album. She worked with a number of producers on the album, which was originally intended to be released in 2012. After high demand, and upon receiving the finished album early, Arianna and her team marketed the album for a December 2011 release.

Of the material Arianna wrote for the album, a great number of it was tied to a six-month period in her life that dealt with relationships and her sexuality, although one song ("Without You") dealt with her estranged father. Arianna dabbled in a variety of styles on the album, from high octane piano-rock ("I Bite"), to lushly-orchestrated balladry ("Until The End Of Time"), jazz infusions ("Soulhate", "Gingerbread"), light R'n'B ("Twenty-Five To Love"), pop ("The Analyst") and dark, symphonic rock ("Before The Fall"). Arianna recorded a cover of "Made Of Stone" by Evanescence for the album, but this was left off when Arianna later covered "Say You Will", also by Evanescence. "Made Of Stone" was instead used as a b-side to Arianna's debut single.

In May 2012, Arianna began preparing additional material for the American release of the album; after her US label determined that some of the original album's material would be an ill fit for the US market. Arianna recorded a number of additional tracks to replace on the US tracklisting. Five songs from the original UK edition were replaced on the American edition with new songs that Arianna bundled together as a special UK EP release so that home audiences would not 'miss out' on the material she'd recorded. The EP was released on October 8th, where it went straight in at #1.

Collaborations
Arianna worked with Ben Johnston on two songs for the album; first of all was "Chains Around My Heart", which would have been Arianna's winners' single had she won URAPS Idol 12. Even though she was the 3rd place runner-up, Arianna held onto the song with the intention to include it on her album. Ben Johnston also provided Arianna with the song "Before The Fall", which was the darkest moment on the album with a heavy symphonic rock sound and ominous lyrics. Ben produced both songs for Arianna. Elice Claire contributed the ballad "Until The End Of Time", which Arianna would later release as the final single from the album. Arianna worked closely with Elice and producer Isabella Summers (of Florence & The Machine) on the song to create the ballad as it appeared on the album. Arianna would later collaborate with Aurora Reed on a soul version of "I Bite" when that song was released as the third single. The remix was recorded after Arianna met and worked with Aurora at the 21st URAPS Awards, and after much insistence from fans. Arianna worked with Romo on "Cold Summer", which was originally for a Romo album project to be released in February 2012, but after the project was cancelled Arianna retained the song, which was then included on the US edition of "Take A Picture, It'll Last Longer" and was released as the second US single following on from "I Bite".

Chart Performance
"Take A Picture, It'll Last Longer" debuted at #1 on the UK albums chart with sales of 171,398 copies, an exceptionally strong opening figure gained due to the Christmas sales period where sales were heavily inflated. Due to the Christmas sales week, its second week was even greater - an additional 191,993 copies were sold in the album's second week, when it slipped a position to #2. Its third week was similarly strong, holding at #2 in the post-Christmas sales week with a total of 80,201 copies. The album has the distinction of being one of the fastest-selling albums in recent URAPS history, having sold halfway to diamond status in its first four weeks alone. After the initial boom, sales slowed right down; however it continued to sell at a steady pace to eventually be certified diamond after four singles. A new edition of the album was released in America on September 18th, debuting at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart.

Chart Run
TOTAL: 1,225,185+
 * Week 1: #1 – 171,398
 * Week 2: #2 – 191,993
 * Week 3: #2 – 80,201
 * Week 4: #3 – 59,942
 * Week 5: #7 – 38,182
 * Week 6: #5 – 65,043
 * Week 7: #9 – 27,694
 * Week 8: #16 – 19,991
 * Week 9: #29 – 10,349
 * Week 10: #39 – 3,521
 * Week 11: #33 – 8,476
 * Week 12: #25 – 15,419
 * Week 13: #19 – 18,480
 * Week 14: #5 – 54,493
 * Week 15: #13 – 32,491
 * Week 16: #10 – 42,111
 * Week 17: #15 – 19,450
 * Week 18: #21 – 17,001
 * Week 19: #33 – 10,691
 * Week 20: #36 – 8,492
 * Week 21: #34 – 8,492
 * Week 22: #33 – 11,592
 * Week 23: #31 – 12,400
 * Week 24: #33 – 10,986
 * Week 25: #29 – 14,459
 * Week 26: #27 – 12,764
 * Week 27: #21 – 19,039
 * Week 28: #19 – 16,139
 * Week 29: #15 – 21,047
 * Week 30: #5 – 57,990
 * Week 31: #14 – 26,394
 * Week 32: #14 – 24,090
 * Week 33: #21 – 21,824
 * Week 34: #24 – 14,027
 * Week 35: #33 – 6,023
 * Week 36: #37 – 5,800
 * Week 37: #40 – 3,596
 * Week 38: #40 - 2,317
 * Week 39: #40 - 6,294
 * Week 40: #38 - 3,782
 * Week 41: #36 - 6,742
 * Week 42: #31 - 6,125
 * Week 43: #27 - 7,681
 * Week 44: #20 - 10,164