Are You Alright?

Are You Alright? is the debut EP by British indie band Lovejoy, released on May 9, 2021. The album includes four tracks: "Taunt", "One Day", "Sex Sells", and "Cause for Concern". It was produced by Cameron Nesbitt and mastered by Shaw.

Alongside quickly trending, the album charted on streaming services and three of the singles charted on the UK Singles Chart.

Recording and production
Lovejoy wrote the EP from August 2020 to February 2021, with Wilbur Soot and Joe Goldsmith writing the most. While the songs retain some of the satirical emphasis in Wilbur's earlier songs from Your City Gave Me Asthma and his e-girl trilogy, they feature a different style that the band describes as indie rock. Thematically, they focus on similar topics, such as troubled romances and self-doubt.

The band initially drafted six songs; however, only four were released in the EP. In February 2021, the band also planned to record and mix the songs themselves before sending the recordings to be produced, but the audio recording failed and the band sent a video of themselves performing one of the songs, "Taunt", instead. The EP was eventually recorded in Brighton Electric Studios in March 2021, produced by Cameron Nesbitt, and mastered by Shaw.

Title and artwork
The EP cover was drawn by @elsiecairns on Instagram. The title of the EP refers to lines from "Taunt" and "One Day":

The question "are you alright?" is commonly asked when the answer, usually negative, is clear. The lyrics refer to this mannerism through lyrics about how the narrator of the songs recognizes that he is in a bad relationship, yet overlooks the relationship's problems. The EP cover refers to this by having the words "Are you alright?" pointing at an obviously dead cat.

Release and promotion
Parts of "One Day" were teased on Wilbur's stream on April 14, 2021, and he discussed the EP on-stream with other streamers such as JackManifoldTV. Mark also posted Studio Archives on Instagram, which featured clips of band members recording the songs and other behind-the-scenes pictures and videos. Due to Wilbur's following from YouTube and Twitch, a large fanbase quickly supported Lovejoy after Wilbur announced it in February 2021 and spread news of the EP.

The tracks and music video for "One Day" were released simultaneously on YouTube and Apple Music on May 9, 2021. A second music video for "Taunt", featuring GeorgeNotFound, was released on May 10, as well as the EP on Spotify.

Reception
Are You Alright? quickly gained traction. The EP trended on Twitter, both music videos accumulated over one million views within a day of release, and all three videos (EP and music videos) trended simultaneously on YouTube. Several popular content creators, such as TommyInnit, also listened to songs from the EP on-stream.

The EP debuted at number two on the US, UK, and Australian iTunes Charts, number three in Canada, and charted in Germany, and later peaked at number one on the US chart. In Apple Music, the EP charted in the top pop and top album categories, including in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the Philippines. On Spotify, "One Day" and "Taunt" were added to Spotify's Top 50 playlists in the US, UK, and Canada. The EP has also been played on some radio stations internationally.

Personnel
Credits are adapted from YouTube.


 * Wilbur Soot, Joe Goldsmith, Ash Kabosu, Mark Boardman — lyrics
 * Cameron Nesbitt — production
 * Shaw — mastering