Ugly Is Beautiful

Ugly Is Beautiful is the debut studio album by Oliver Tree. It was originally scheduled for release on March 27, 2020[3] and then delayed to June 12, 2020[4] through Atlantic Records, before being delayed again and released on July 17, 2020. In addition to Tree himself, the album features production from MacGregor Leo, Andrew Goldstein, David Pramik, Marshmello, NVDES, Rogét Chahayed, Stint, and frequent collaborator Whethan, among others. The album debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Top Rock Albums chart.

Ugly Is Beautiful
Studio album by
Oliver Tree
ReleasedJuly 17, 2020
Genre
Length37:28
LabelAtlantic
Producer
Oliver Tree chronology
Do You Feel Me?
(2019)		 Ugly Is Beautiful
(2020)
Singles from Ugly Is Beautiful
  1. "Hurt"
    Released: December 7, 2018
  2. "Miracle Man"
    Released: June 7, 2019
  3. "Cash Machine"
    Released: December 6, 2019
  4. "Let Me Down"
    Released: April 7, 2020
  5. "Bury Me Alive"
    Released: May 26, 2020

Background

Tree began hinting at Ugly Is Beautiful shortly after the release of the single "Hurt" in December 2018. He then embarked on a tour of the same name as the album.[5] On August 2, 2019 he released Do You Feel Me?, an EP that contains six songs, four of which appear on Ugly Is Beautiful.

On December 6, 2019, Tree released the single "Cash Machine", and announced that Ugly Is Beautiful would be released on March 27, 2020.[3] However, on March 25, just two days before the initial release date, it was announced that the album had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tree announced jokingly that due to the pandemic, the album had been cancelled and that while he still planned to release it "within the next 5-10 years", for now he was "officially going into retirement".[6]

On April 7, 2020, Tree released "Let Me Down", which he jokingly announced as his "final song and video ever".[7] However, on May 19, 2020, following a brief social media blackout, he posted an Instagram live video on his account that showed him being "kidnapped" by someone, as well as a picture of Ugly Is Beautiful's album cover. The "kidnapper" then stated that if the post with his album cover got to 100,000 comments, he would reveal the release date for the album. The post made it to 100,000 comments in about 45 minutes only for the comment goal to be updated to 250,000, which was also reached. The "kidnapper" then updated the comment goal to 500,000, then to 1,000,000. Finally, once this goal was reached, a video was posted to Instagram in which Oliver announced that Ugly Is Beautiful would be released on June 12. Tree then stated that if the album cover post reached 2,000,000 comments, he would release a new song and music video. The post reached this goal on May 25, and the next day, on May 26, he released the single "Bury Me Alive" along with pre-orders and a release date for the album for June 12, 2020.[4]

On June 8, 2020, Tree announced that he had decided to delay the album yet again, due to the issues of racism and police violence against black people going on at the time after the killing of George Floyd, and the protests surrounding it. He stated that he "did not believe it was an appropriate time" to release the album when "much bigger things" deserved attention. The new release date was revealed to be July 17.[8]

On July 14, 2020, the tracklist for the album was revealed.[9]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
NME[2]
Pitchfork4.8/10[1]

Ugly Is Beautiful received mixed reviews from music critics. Ben Jolley of NME said that "beyond the fuzzy guitars and old-school hip-hop beats, Tree's thought-provoking narrative – which tackles depression, loneliness, commercialism, bullying and ignoring haters – proves he's more than a piss-taking internet troll" and that the album "just about silences his credibility critics by delivering wall-to-wall pop-rock ragers while encouraging fans to be unashamedly themselves".[2] However, Cat Zhang of Pitchfork wrote that "for an artist chasing shock and bombast, Oliver Tree's music is surprisingly tame" and criticized the album's length and Tree's voice which "is riddled with distortion, casting a fuzzed-out sameness over even the more left-field selections". Zhang said that Tree's lyrics "indicate deeper struggle behind Tree's ludicrous facade, touching on the same themes of being an outsider, fucking up, and dealing with negativity, although in the vaguest possible terms" but that they appeared heartfelt. She concluded that "the album contains glimmers of a better artist" but was unsure how much of Tree's persona was down to him or other people.[1]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Me, Myself & I"
  • Nickell
  • Snoreck
2:53
2."1993" (featuring Little Ricky ZR3)
  • Snoreck
  • Nickell
  • Ricky Robinson
  • Casey Mattson
  • Nickell
  • Mattson
  • Snoreck
  • Little Ricky ZR3
2:39
3."Cash Machine"
  • Nickell
  • Snoreck
  • Pramik
2:56
4."Let Me Down"
  • Snoreck
  • Nickell
  • Pramik
  • Nickell
  • Snoreck
  • Pramik
1:51
5."Miracle Man"
  • Nickell
  • Pramik
  • Nickell
  • Pramik
2:05
6."Bury Me Alive"
  • Nickell
  • William Zaire Simmons
  • Trevor Brown
  • "Downtown" Trevor Brown
  • Nickell
  • Simmons
2:44
7."Alien Boy"
  • El-Amine Imad Roy
  • Nickell
  • Mattson
  • Imad Royal
  • Nickell
  • Mattson[a]
2:44
8."Joke's on You!"
3:11
9."Again & Again"
  • NVDES
  • Nickell
  • MacGregor Leo
2:54
10."Waste My Time"
  • Bhattacharyya
  • Nickell
  • Nickell
  • Stint
3:27
11."Jerk"
  • Pramik
  • Marshmello
  • Nickell
2:15
12."Hurt"
  • Nickell
  • Snoreck
  • Nickell
  • Snoreck
2:25
13."Introspective"
  • Goldstein
  • Nickell
2:16
14."I'm Gone"
  • Nickell
  • Dylan Wiggins
  • Wiggins
  • Nickell
3:05
Total length:37:25

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies a co-producer.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[10]

Musicians

Technical

  • Michelle Mancini – mastering
  • Mike Freesh – mixing
  • Jacob Dennis – engineering (1, 2, 5, 8, 11–13)
  • Zaire Koalo – engineering (6)
  • Trevor Brown – engineering (6)
  • Iain Findlay – engineering (7)
  • MacGregor Leo – engineering (9)
  • Stint – engineering (10)
  • Matt Dyson – engineering (14)

Charts

References
  1. Zhang, Cat (July 23, 2020). "Oliver Tree: Ugly Is Beautiful Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  2. Jolley, Ben (July 22, 2020). "Oliver Tree – Ugly Is Beautiful review: more than just a piss-taking internet troll". NME. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  3. Greenwood, Koltan (December 6, 2019). "Oliver Tree drops over-the-top "Cash Machine" video, debut album details". Alternative Press. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  4. Havens, Lyndsey (May 27, 2020). "Oliver Tree Announces Debut Album, Shares New Single". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  5. "Oliver Tree announces Ugly is Beautiful tour 2019".
  6. "Oliver Tree". www.facebook.com.
  7. Mao, Jessica (April 11, 2020). "Oliver Tree delivers final song and performance in, 'Let Me Down' [Watch]". Dancing Astronaut. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  8. "Instagram post by Oliver Tree • Jun 9, 2020 at 3:14am UTC". Instagram.
  9. https://www.reddit.com/r/olivertree/comments/hr5469/tracklist_leaked_on_google/
  10. "Credits / Ugly Is Beautiful / Oliver Tree". Tidal. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  11. "Australiancharts.com – Oliver Tree – Ugly Is Beautiful". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  12. "Austriancharts.at – Oliver Tree – Ugly Is Beautiful" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  13. "Oliver Tree Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  14. "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  15. "Charts.nz – Oliver Tree – Ugly Is Beautiful". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  16. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  17. "Oliver Tree Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  18. "Oliver Tree Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  19. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
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