Cry Wolfe

Cry Wolfe is the sophomore album by American pop singer Syd Wolfe. The album was released on 4 January 2010 in the UK via Ensemble Entertainment, making it her final album under the label before it closed down for business in mid 2010.

Featuring production credits from China and The Knobfeelers, the album was critically and commercially successful where it received overall positive reviews and managed to debut at #2 on the UK Albums Chart. The following week, the album jumped to #1, making it Wolfe's second number one album in the UK.

To date, the album has been certified Diamond by the BPI and has sold more than 1,000,000 in the UK.

Conception and production
Syd revealed during the recording of the album, that while it was not a conceptual album - most songs had either a "good and/or bad" theme and undertone to them. Syd commented that she "quite ironically found that it was usually the sad, melancholic tracks that were classed as the 'good' Syd".

Recording for the album began in August 2009 when Syd enlisted the help of Phoenix Rising, Esmerelda Dimuzio, Elice Claire, Aftershock & Paris to write tracks for the album. Crystal Barker, a close friend of Syd's, was the first official artist to sign on for the album. The pair wrote 'WOW' together and both share an interest in the song being released.

Syd went into the studio with Alex Washington and the two wrote tracks for each other. Syd wrote 'Rainbow & Gold' for Alex's album and in turn, Alex wrote Ridiculous. Syd states that upon hearing the final track, she and Alex both were adamant the song would be the lead single from the album.

In October, Syd was approached by Phoenix Rising to make their song a collaboration, which happened to make the final cut of the album. Romo was the next to come onboard when she sent a demo of the track to Syd insisting that they sang it together.

Six tracks on the standard edition were late additions to the album, which made the way for a deluxe edition. The collaborations, Logan Cross' track & the Shell Ruin tracks were all added within 2 weeks of the album going to press. Syd worked with her close friend China on a track called Gypsy, a song that China described as "a continuation of tracks on my album".

Release, artwork, and promotion
The album was released on 4 January 2010 as a standard edition and a limited deluxe edition. Only 5,000 copies of the deluxe edition were printed and was deleted one week after print. Avid music collectors describe the limited deluxe edition of the album as incredibly rare. The album has been re-issued twice since its initial release with one re-release being a new edition of the album with each single release. The final re-issue of the album was entitled "Ultimate Fan Edition" and included a disc full of brand new tracks.

The album returned to the top 3 after this release in August 2010.

To play on the album's overall "good and bad" theme, the artwork for the album's two "main" formats differently had either a "good" Syd and a "bad" Syd on the final set of the covers to put this theory into play. On the original version, the mainly white cover with a glowing pink heart and Syd smiling is the "good" cover while the white and purple limited deluxe edition cover with the staircase and Syd pouting is the "bad" cover.

During promotion for the album, and because of the album's "good and bad" theme, Syd would reveal a song with either the good or bad side of herself representing the track, to make the listener aware of the style and feel of the song.

Critical reaction
The Guardian's review of Cry Wolfe gave the album four and a half out of five stars, with reviewer Peter Robinson writing, "There was actually something at risk if the second album didn't work, but Cry Wolfe hits its target. A handful of upbeat numbers — including an unexpected foray into frothy high-speed electro — pull Syd back from the brink of boring." Jim Farber of the The Independent agreed, writing "Cry Wolfe has a sense of fun, yet clever breaks and beats, rarely on display on Big Bad Wolfe. It's faster, harder and way catchier." Neil McCormick, writing in The Daily Telegraph, said Wolfe's "mezzo-soprano range allows her to take melodies from luxurious low notes to high-flying falsetto, gliding with elegant power and impressive control through all kinds of fluctuations and modulations. [...] The approach of the album's producers is to throw Syd at a song, with multi-tracked vocals shooting off in every direction, until you feel like you're listening to a room full of cloned divas fighting over who gets the top line. It's an exhausting yet strangely exhilarating experience." Heat's Karen Edwards awarded the album five stars out of five, saying "From girlie pop to big ballads, this album will remind you what the fuss is all about. For those that ever doubted her, the Big Bad Wolfe really shows you who's boss this time."

Commercial performance
Cry Wolfe debuted at #2 on the UK Albums Chart with sales just barely under 100,000 copies and just a bit under 1,000 copies less than Jack Stevens who reached #1 that week on the albums chart with his album The Master. The following week, Syd and Jack switched positions and Syd managed to reach #1 on the albums chart, becoming her second album to reach #1 in the UK; Stevens fell to #2. The week after, Wolfe and Stevens were back at #2 and #1 respectively.

Cry Wolfe went onto sell more than 500,000 copies throughout the rest of its release year in the UK and has been certified Platinum by the BPI.

The album also reached #1 in Ireland.

Samples

 * The track "Cry Wolf" samples "Mannequin" by Britney Spears.