Carpe Diem

Intimate Encounters is the third studio album by American singer/songwriter Elice Claire, the album was released on 28 May 2012 in the UK and 29 May 2012 in the United States. The album's UK leading single was "Empire of the Falling Stars" while in the United States "Letters from a Broken Heart" was chosen. The singer started working on the album in 2011 and finished it in 2012. All of the songs on the album were written by Elice Claire. The record was awarded Best Album at the 2012 Urapopstar Awards 22.

Background
The talk of a follow-up to Elice's second studio album Intimate Encounters began in summer of 2011, when Elice temporarily returned to music to release her rarities album Mademoiselle. In December 2011, Elice revealed to fans that she was working on a project, but didn't specify what kind of project she was working on. Gossip sites speculated that the singer was in fact working on her fashion line rather than music. On her visit to the UK in January 2012, Elice revealed that she came over to record something at the Abbey Road studios and that she "had 'loads of ideas' for a comeback record." The singer also revealed that she was working on a song for Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel fashion show in the spring. The singer was confirmed to perform at the Chanel event, which was scheduled to take place in Paris on 9 March 2012. The performance was scrapped and Elice was substituted by a French singer instead. After cancelling her Chanel performance in January 2012, Elice took a break from the public eye. The singer also decided to take a break from updating her official website and twitter account. In March 2012, MTV US first handed reported that the singer was in fact working on her fashion line and also putting together songs. A close source to the star revealed that Claire had no intentions in releasing anything anytime soon. At the time, Claire's main focus was on her fashion career, but she did write some songs during her down time. In the same month, producer Isabella Summers wrote on her twitter account that she was putting finish touches on some songs for an American singer, hinting the sound was "symphonic." Another producer, Paul Reeve revealed on his website that the album by an unnamed singer would be out in a few months, and that he had just started mixing some tracks and it sounded wicked. on 1 April 2012, the first report that Elice would in fact be coming out of her hiatus came from American celebrity gossip site TMZ who received an anonymous e-mail. On the same day, Elice's website revealed two teaser posters with the "ECV" headline and lines of a song. Elice also for the first time in months updated her official twitter account. On 8 April 2012, American radio website all-access officially added Elice's new song "Letters from a Broken Heart" under the Triple-A format release schedule for 7 May 2012 adds.

On 10 April 2012, PopJustice officially announced Elice's comeback to music and saying the new song "[didn't] sound like like anything Elice [had] done before." The site also revealed the official promotional picture of the single sleeve. Three days after PopJustice announced her comeback, Elice officially revealed release dates for the album and single. Although never officially confirming] "Letters from a Broken Heart" as the first UK single, the British release schedule published it as an UK single as well. On 20 April 2012, Isabella Summers confirmed that Elice's third album would be completely different from her previous releases. She also commented on the album by saying, "I've heard a little more than half the record and it is big, edgy and powerful. Think Florence Welch or Matthew Bellamy but with some serious Fiona Apple and Johann Bach DNA." Elice was featured on the 24 April 2012 issue of NME magazine, where she gave an interview and revealed her new sound. The singer said the new LP was heavily influenced by alternative bands such as Muse, Florence & The Machine and Radiohead. She added that she had been inspired by a combination of the Baroque period, Latin language, Georgian choirs and Classical music. On 15 May 2012, Elice revealed on her official website that Carpe Diem was her "coming of age" record, calling it her best effort to date. The singer revealed that some of themes of the album included "freedom", "pursuit of happiness" and "forgiveness". She added that the main idea of the album which ties with the theme is "live for the moment and don't put too much worry on the future", this notion was coined by the Roman poet Horace. The title Carpe Diem is popularly translated as "seize the day". In Bread, the phrase is part of the longer Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future", and the ode says that the future is unforeseen, and that instead one should scale back one's hopes to a brief future, and drink one's wine. The Latin phrase appears in the chorus to the album's track 1 "Seize the Day".

Recording and release
The title of the album was revealed as Carpe Diem on the singer's official web page on 28 April 2012, while the first song was officially announced as "Letters from a Broken Heart" on the singer's twitter page. Following the announcement, producer Isabella Summers posted a blog on her website detailing the progress made by Elice by saying "I've had such a great experience working with Elice. She's a genuine artist, you can't deny that. I am so proud of the songs we've created and I cannot wait for everyone to hear it. This new direction she's taking is immense" The album was mixed by Summers and Reeve in New York City and is going to be supported by a headlining British and American tour. On 24 April 2012, Elice officially announced that she was in fact going to release an Alternative rock album. During her interview with NME she explained that her label [Saturdays Records] had a major influence on her previous release. With the new album, she had full control. On 27 April 2012, Elice officially announced the title of the album and the title of her British single. On 30 April 2012 iTunes uploaded the new album to their website. The outlet was also the first to reveal the track listing to the album. On 2 May 2012, the song "Empire of the Falling Stars" received its first official radio play in the UK. On 10 May 2010, iTunes added a-minute-and-a-half previews of all the tracks from the album.

Reception
Prior to its release, Carpe Diem receive favorable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86, based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Allmusic praised the album highlighting "Safe Haven", "A&E", and "Manifest of the Eccentric" calling it "by and large a brilliant record". In an interview with The Sunday Times, Elliott Sims mentions that "Elice have made an album that is out of this world. I didn't know she was capable to pull such a masterpiece". Some of the album's praise has been directed towards the three-part "Carpe Diem, Symphony" which used over 40 musicians in the recording process. The Fly awarded Carpe Diem two scores: 5 out of 5 for the three-part symphonic piece stating that "Carpe Diem: Symphony... is a streak of utter brilliance across album's beguiling, inconsistent sky," and 4 out of 5 for the rest of the album. Denise Prada of Clash magazine called the album a "confident, cohesive effort" stating that Elice's effort to do a 360 on her music style has made her one of the greatest pop stars around. Entertainment Weekly's Kyle Anderson praised it as a "confident, unflinching tour de force" and commented "If her previous releases were as strong and epic as this [Carpe Diem], the crown would be sitting on her head for years... Unfortunately though that was not the case". Allmusic critic James Yates Monger awarded the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "Bigger and bolder than any of her previous efforts, Carpe Diem rolls in like fog over the Thames, doling out a heavy-handed mix of alternative rock with classical music. The whole theme of the album ties in so well with the sound. What leaves me here banging my head against the wall is... Why the hell did she just decide to become a real artist. This is an album, this is music... I wouldn't call her previous records anything but generic, fabricated pop tunes. Well done Ms. Vitz" Rolling Stone writer John Daniels commented that the album contains "turbulent ballads, powered by booming drums and a classical feel that makes you fly up to the sky." He continued, "The album itself is perfect as is, the only slight problem we have is perhaps Elice's vocals (..) all in all, she improved a lot when compared to her previous efforts." The Daily Telegraph's Jim McCormick gave Carpe Diem four out of five stars and viewed it as "a giant, fluid, emotionally resonant album" Luke Higgins of the NME rated the album seven out of ten, arguing that "by completely changing her style of music she has created something quite genius and out of this world, but the new sound does not give her vocals enough justice nor enough credibility as a musician after she [Elice] said herself she wasn't a good singer." he continued "I do give Elice props, her lyrical abilities and instincts shows she's no ordinary artist. She's a one of a kind."

Commercial performance
Carpe Diem was generally a commercial success. In the United Kingdom, It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold 217,578 copies. The album became Elice's fastest seller and also the UK fastest seller of 2012. In its second week, the album remained at the top spot, selling another massive 150,000 copies. In the United States, the album opened at number two, selling a total of 81,987 copies. Based on first week sales, the album has proved to be Elice's most successful one to date. In the UK, it sold a total of 370,000 copies in its first two weeks, and earning its platinum certification. On its tenth week charting, the album exceed sales of 900,000 copies and earning 3x platinum. On its fourteenth week, the album earned diamond status for selling over a million copies.

Promotion
In order to promote the album in the UK and in North America, Elice released two singles simultaneously. The UK received the song "Empire of the Falling Stars" which the United States received the ballad "Letters from a Broken Heart". To promote the album in the United States, Elice appeared on the talk show Late Night with Jay Leno on 4 May, 2012 for an interview. On 8 May 12, Elice appeared on The Today Show to discuss her comeback. on 10 May 2012, Elice performed the song "Letters from a Broken Heart" on the hit American talent show American Idol. The performance was received by positive reviews. On 18 May 2012, Elice appeared on the afternoon talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The singer was also featured on the May and June issues of Cosmopolitan and Vogue respectively. To promote the album and single in the UK, Elice covered the magazine NME for the week of 24 April 2012. Elice also recorded a three-part exclusive interview for MTV. The first part of the interview, aired on 19 May 2012. The second and third parts are expected to air 26 May and 2 June respectively. Rumors that Elice was offered a spot on the British talent show The Voice surfaced the web on 21 May 2012. Elice however revealed to Extra that she had no plans to perform live, as she is saving her vocals for her tour in July. The song "Manifest of the Eccentric" was originally planned as the album's second single, but due to lack of promotional time, the release was scrapped. Elice performed the track "Safe Haven" at the Urapopstar Awards 22, where she was also awarded Best Alternative, Best Songwriter and Best Album for Carpe Diem. After the awards ceremony, Elice was interviewed by E!, where she revealed plans for a digital single. The song "Letters from a Broken Heart" was chosen to be released on 10 September 2012. Although only considered an iTunes exclusive promotional single, its original music video received its first UK TV play on 4 September 2012.

Tour
Main article: Carpe Diem Live Elice is expected to tour in the UK and in the United States in the summer. The British leg of the tour is considered by Elice as a revue rather than a full tour. The singer is set to take the stage at the Royal Albert Hall for eight, non-consecutive nights. Tickets for the tour went on sale 7 May 2012 and sold out within minutes. Fans who were unable to get tickets made complaints to Elice's team and even demanded more dates. The singer however revealed on her twitter that she was unable to add more dates to the Albert Hall, as all the rest of the dates had already been booked for the rest of the summer. After the album entered the charts at number-one, Elice decided to add new dates to her tour. Eight new arena dates were added. Although expected to tour the United States, Elice revealed that plans for a US leg was scrapped due to schedule conflicts. On 25 August 2012, Elice revealed that the DVD for the tour was set to be released in September 2012. The video will be released in DVD and Blu-ray formats.