Maps of Music

Empathogen (2024)

Where the lyrics of Empathogen take you, and where it was really made.

Willow's sixth album leaned toward jazz and progressive rock, a break from the pop-punk of her earlier work that critics picked up on.

Key places

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios (2024)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — The release credits list Electric Lady Studios among the places where the album was recorded. The point marks the New York City location given in the candidate data. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Henson Recording Studios (2024)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — The release credits list Henson Recording Studios among the places where the album was recorded. The point marks the Los Angeles location given in the candidate data. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Empathogen: sixth album by American singer Willow
• Released May 3, 2024 through Three Six Zero and Gamma
• Preceded by a series of singles: "Symptom of Life", "Big Feelings", "Home", "Paint for Fun" and "Run!"
• Standard edition includes "Home" featuring Jon Batiste and "Pain for fun" featuring St. Vincent
• Credits list lead vocals by Willow Smith on all tracks

Background

• "Symptom of Life" released March 12, 2024, with a music video directed by Willow herself
• Album announced April 11, 2024, with a scheduled release date of May 3
• "Big Feelings" released alongside the announcement, also with a self-directed music video
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that "Big Feelings" "veers from her old pop-punk into jazz and prog-rock"
• Deluxe edition titled Ceremonial Contrafact released September 27, a separate release with three additional tracks

Recording

• Release credits list recording at Electric Lady Studios and Henson Recording Studios
• Other credited recording locations include Woodshed Recording, Catsnipstudios and LA Content Hub - Sony Studios
• Mastering by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound; mixing by Mitch McCarthy
• Zach Brown, Adam Schoeller and Chris Greatti credited for engineering on selected tracks

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Willow Camille Reign Smith, born October 31, 2000 in Los Angeles, known mononymously as Willow.
• Started as a child actress with I Am Legend (2007), then shifted to music under the name Willow.
• Signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2010, becoming the label's youngest artist.

Members

• Solo artist; co-formed the duo Melodic Chaotic with DJ Fabrega (2013) and the duo The Anxiety with Tyler Cole (2020).

Career

• Debut single "Whip My Hair" peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified 3× platinum by the RIAA.
• Debut album Ardipithecus (2015) on Roc Nation and Interscope; "Wait a Minute!" became a sleeper hit via TikTok and was certified 2× platinum.
• Moved from pop toward pop-punk on Lately I Feel Everything (2021) and Coping Mechanism (2022), then toward art pop, jazz, and funk on Empathogen (2024), which earned two Grammy nominations.
• Eight solo albums to date, including Petal Rock Black (2026) and The Thread (2026).
• Co-hosted the Facebook Watch series Red Table Talk (2018–2023), which won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show, Informative in 2021.
• Supporting act for Childish Gambino (2024) and Coldplay (2025).

Reception

At release

• Critics gave generally favorable reviews, often praising musical ambition, genre experimentation and maturity
• Dylan Green of Pitchfork described it as her "most mature and well-rounded album to date," praising its fusion of jazz, funk, Indian raga and Gregorian chant
• Green wrote that Willow's lyrics could sometimes rely on generalized aphorisms
• Adonis Gonzalez of In Between Drafts characterized the album as Willow "finally coming into her own"
• Imani Raven of Shatter the Standards viewed the album as an evolution in Willow's sound
• Charles Elliott of Okayplayer praised the more jazz-oriented and intricate approach, especially her use of her voice as an instrument on "I Know That Face"
• A.R.O. of Sputnikmusic described Willow as a "sonic shape-shifter" and praised the album's "open-armed, genreless" style
• Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop praised the album's creativity and performances but felt that several of its shorter tracks ended before their musical ideas could be fully developed
• SPIN included Empathogen among its best albums of 2024 to that point
• TIME selected the album among its ten best albums of the first half of 2024

Records

• Received Grammy Award nominations for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• Peaked at number 1 on the U.S. Top Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart
• Dork ranked it 25th on its list of the 50 best albums of 2024
• Included on several mid-year and year-end lists, including HuffPost and Okayplayer selections

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Symptom of Life" was released on March 12, 2024, with a music video directed by Willow herself.
• On May 1, NPR Music featured Willow in a Tiny Desk Concert ahead of the album's release, performing "Symptom of Life", "Big Feelings", and "Run!".
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that "Big Feelings" "veers from her old pop-punk into jazz and prog-rock".
• A deluxe edition titled Ceremonial Contrafact was released on September 27, with three additional tracks.
• Dork placed the album 25th on its list of the 50 best albums of 2024.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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