Dream Your Life Away

Dream Your Life Away is the debut studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy. It was released in Australia on 5 September 2014 via Liberation Music. The album was released on 9 September 2014 in the US via Atlantic Records and worldwide via Warner Music. The album has peaked to number 1 on the Australian Albums Chart. The album includes the singles "From Afar", "Riptide", "Mess Is Mine", "First Time" and "Georgia".

Dream Your Life Away
Studio album by Vance Joy
Released	5 September 2014
Recorded	2012–2013
Genre	Indie Indie folk indie pop
Length	49:00
Label	Liberation Music
Producer	Ryan Hadlock James Keogh Edwin White John Castle
Vance Joy chronology
God Loves You When You're Dancing (2013) ''Dream Your Life Away'' (2014) Nation of Two (2018)
Singles from Dream Your Life Away
"Mess Is Mine" Released: 9 July 2014 "First Time" Released: 4 August 2014 "Georgia" Released: February 2015

A "Deluxe Edition" was released on 4 September 2015, consisting of two new tracks and five live tracks.[1] "Fire and the Flood" and "Straight into Your Arms" were also released as singles.

As of January 2018, the album has worldwide sales over 2,000,000.[2]

Background

During a performance in Boston, Vance Joy explained that the song "My Kind of Man" included advice his uncle once gave him when he was young.[3] But he later learned from his father that the quoted advice was actually from a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. Vance Joy noted that though the lyrics changed, the message stayed the same: "Find something you love and understand.”[3]

Singles

"From Afar" was released as the lead single from the album on 21 January 2013. "Riptide" was released as the second single from the album on 21 May 2013, the song has peaked to number 6 on the Australian Singles Chart and number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, the song has also charted in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and United States. "Mess Is Mine" was released as the third single from the album on 9 July 2014, the song has peaked to number 33 on the Australian Singles Chart. "First Time" was released as the fourth single from the album on 4 August 2014, the song has charted in Belgium. "Georgia" was announced in February 2015 as the fifth single. It has currently peaked at number 11 on the Australian Singles Chart. "Fire and the Flood" and "Straight into Your Arms" were also released as singles from the deluxe version of the album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Clash	6/10[5]
Rolling Stone Australia	[6]
musicOMH	[7]
PopMatters	7/10[8]

Timothy Monger from AllMusic noted that the album is "built around the centerpiece of "Riptide" and that it "offers up a dozen or so additional songs in that familiar mold of romantic, introspective, acoustic folk-pop". He felt that the album "focuses on gently picked lovelorn pleas and somewhat uninspired romantic phrasing" and commented that it "seems a bit too middle of the road to really distinguish him from the crowded pack of similar young bards."[4] Clash writer Jack Scourfield praised the album's "heartfelt honesty" that can "spread the youthful nostalgia adeptly across any generational gaps." He also noted that the album "does become prone to dragging during some of its less well-defined, slower numbers."[5] Jaymz Clements for Rolling Stone Australia gave Dream Your Life Away a positive review, stating that the album effectively "[shows] there's more to Vance Joy than "Riptide"", noting that the album is "confident, self-assured and classically Australian, with an appeal that's universal."[6]

Commercial performance

On 13 September 2014 the album entered the Australian Albums Chart at number one. It is the eleventh album to reach number one for an Australian act in 2014 and the first time ever that the Liberation label have landed back-to-back number ones after Jimmy Barnes's album 30:30 Hindsight reached number one the previous week.[9] In the United States, the album peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard 200 chart and number two on the Top Alternative Albums chart. The album was eventually certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over a million units in the United States.

Track listing

All tracks were written by Vance Joy.

Standard listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Winds of Change"	Ryan Hadlock	2:15
2.	"Mess Is Mine"	Hadlock	3:43
3.	"Wasted Time"	Hadlock	5:00
4.	"Riptide"	James Keogh Edwin White John Castle	3:21
5.	"Who Am I"	Hadlock	2:39
6.	"From Afar"	Keogh White Castle	4:23
7.	"We All Die Trying to Get It Right"	Hadlock	4:07
8.	"Georgia"	Hadlock	3:50
9.	"Red Eye"	Hadlock	5:03
10.	"First Time"	Hadlock	3:44
11.	"All I Ever Wanted"	Hadlock	3:36
12.	"Best That I Can"	Keogh White	3:30
13.	"My Kind of Man"	Hadlock	3:49
Total length:			49:00

Dream Your Life Away — Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Fire and the Flood"	4:09
15.	"Straight into Your Arms"	3:37
16.	"Wasted Time (Live from Philadelphia)"	5:07
17.	"Mess is Mine (Live from Philadelphia)"	3:37
18.	"Georgia (Live from Melbourne)"	4:09
19.	"Best That I Can (Live from Melbourne)"	5:11
20.	"Riptide (Live from Dublin)"	3:39
Total length:		78:29

Personnel

• Jono Colliver – bass guitar, background vocals
• Ryan Hadlock – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, percussion, synthesizer
• Lauren Jacobson – viola, violin
• James Keogh – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, synthesizer bass, ukulele, lead vocals, background vocals
• Kimo Muraki – saxophone, background vocals
• Jerry Streeter – background vocals
• Adam Trachsel – bass guitar, upright bass
• Edwin White – brass arrangements, cello, drums, electric guitar, keyboards, percussion, string arrangements, synthesizer, synthesizer programming, background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11] 94 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[12] 166 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[13] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 130 Irish Albums (IRMA)[15] 26 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16] 40 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[17] 23 Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 22 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 13 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 23 UK Albums (OCC)[21] 20 US Billboard 200[22] 17 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[23] 2 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[24] 2 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[25] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 44 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[27] 45 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[28] 15 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[29] 74 Chart (2015) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[30] 16 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 86 US Billboard 200[32] 66 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[33] 17 Chart (2016) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[34] 70 Chart (2017) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 64 Chart (2018) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[36] 56

Decade-end charts

Chart (2010–2019)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[37]	73
Australian Artist Albums (ARIA)[37]	13

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[38]	Platinum	70,000^^
Canada (Music Canada)[39]	3× Platinum	240,000
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[40]	Gold	10,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[41]	Silver	60,000
United States (RIAA)[42]	Platinum	1,000,000
^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Release date	Format	Label	Catalogs
Australia[43]	5 September 2014	CD digital download	Liberation	LMCD0247
New Zealand[44]
Worldwide[45][46]	9 September 2014		Atlantic Warner	7567867185
Australia[47]	24 September 2014	LP	Liberation	A5451701
Australia[48]	4 September 2015	CD digital download (Deluxe)		LMCD0314
Australia[49]	14 September 2018	Limited Edition LP		LRLP0005

References

1. "Dream you life away – Deluxe". iTunes AUS. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
2. "Here Is The New Vance Joy Song 'We're Going Home'". noise11. 11 January 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
3. Hutchings, Beth. "Pure Australian Charm: Vance Joy". Sound of Boston. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
4. Monger, Timothy. "Dream Your Life Away – Vance Joy". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
5. Scourfield, Jack (29 September 2014). "Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Clash. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
6. Clements, Jaymz (2 September 2014). "Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Rolling Stone Australia. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
7. Baber, Andy (19 September 2015). "Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". musicOMH. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
8. Allister, Mark (29 January 2015). "Vance Joy: Dream Your Life Away". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
9. Vance Joy Dream My Life Away Debuts At 1 On ARIA Albums Noise11.com music news Music News | New Music | Noise11.com
10. "Australiancharts.com – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Hung Medien.
11. "Ultratop.be – Vance Joy – {{{album}}}" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
12. "Ultratop.be – Vance Joy – {{{album}}}" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
13. "Vance Joy Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
15. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA.
16. "Charts.nz – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Hung Medien.
17. "Norwegiancharts.com – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Hung Medien.
18. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
19. "Swedishcharts.com – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Hung Medien.
20. "Swisscharts.com – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Hung Medien.
21. "Vance Joy | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
22. "Vance Joy Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
23. "Vance Joy Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
24. "Vance Joy Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
25. "Vance Joy Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
26. "End of Year Charts – ARIA Top 100 Albums 2014". ARIA Charts. Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
27. "Alternative Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Retrieved 17 April 2015. (subscription required)
28. "2014 Year End Charts – Top Billboard Folk Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
29. "2014 Year End Charts – Top Billboard Rock Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
30. "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 2015". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
31. "Årslista Album – År 2015" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
32. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
33. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
34. "ARIA Top 100 Albums 2016". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
35. "ARIA End of Year Albums 2017". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
36. "ARIA End of Year Albums 2018". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
37. "2019 ARIA End of Decade Albums Chart". January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
38. Ryan, Gavin (5 September 2015). "ARIA Albums: The Weeknd Takes Top Spot On Australian Chart". Noise11. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
39. "Canadian album certifications – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
40. "Danish album certifications – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Awat". IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 5 September 2018. Scroll through the page-list below until year 2018 to obtain certification.
41. "British album certifications – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Awat". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 October 2017. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Dream Your Life Awat in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
42. "American album certifications – Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Awat". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2 February 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
43. "Dream Your Life Away by Vance Joy". iTunes Store (AU). Apple Inc. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
44. "Dream Your Life Away by Vance Joy". iTunes Store (NZ). Apple Inc. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
45. "Dream Your Life Away by Vance Joy". iTunes Store (US). Apple, Inc. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
46. "Dream Your Life Away by Vance Joy". iTunes Store (CA). Apple Inc. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
47. "Dream Your Life Away by Vance Joy LP". JBHiFi. JBHiFi. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
48. "Dream Your Life Away (Deluxe) by Vance Joy". JBHiFi. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
49. "Dream Your Life Away by Vance Joy LP Limited Eudition". JBHiFi. JBHiFi. Retrieved 14 September 2018.