Happy New Year (mixtape)

Happy New Year is the debut mixtape by American singer-songwriter Neriah Fisher. It was released on October 28, 2016, through Republic Records. The record was primarily produced by Joel Little and Fisher herself, who also serves as executive producer.

Happy New Year received generally positive reviews from music critics. The mixtape debuted at number 178 on the US Billboard 200, and number 36 in Canada. The lead single, "Back to You", was released on November 18, 2016, three weeks after the release of the mixtape. It charted at number 20 in Canada, and number 48 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart but failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number 32 on the US Mainstream Top 40 chart. The title track, "Happy New Year", was released as the second and final single from the record. In Japan, a deluxe edition of the album was released, with two remixes of "Back to You", by Alison Wonderland and Diplo. The Diplo remix charted at number 24 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart and remained on the chart for two additional weeks after that.

The mixtape consists of fifteen tracks, inspired by 80's sounds and aesthetics, according to Fisher. All fifteen tracks were produced by Joel Little and written by Fisher alone.

Background and release
When announcing the release of the record, Fisher made an Instagram post in which she said "These fifteen tracks mean a lot to me. And for a long time, I felt like they were too personal and I wasn't comfortable knowing that they would go out to the entire world. But the world is changing, and so am I. And now seems like a good time to tell my stories. If this project helps even one person feel less alone and more accepting of themselves, then this will all be worth it. I hope you have as much fun listening to this as I did making it." She went to thank Joel Little for assisting her with the making of the mixtape. Steven J. Horowitz of Billboard called the project a "mature and somber collection of moody, self-deprecating tracks". From December 2016 to April 2017, Fisher released a collection of six videos to her YouTube channel titled "The Making of Happy New Year". In the videos, she shares snippets of demo recordings of certain songs from the record, as well as video footage of the studio recording sessions. She has created videos for the lead single, "Back to You", the title track "Happy New Year", as well as "Forget About Me", "Butterflies", "Love Is Pain" and "Break Me Again".

Promotion
Fisher first performed "Back to You" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on November 22, 2016 and again on December 7, 2016. She also performed it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on December 6, 2016. She performed the title track and second single, "Happy New Year" at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards in a medley with Shawn Mendes, and the pair then went on to perform his hit single, "Mercy" on March 5, 2017. "Break Me Again" has been performed live at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards, despite not being released as an official single. Fisher shared the cover art and track listing on Twitter and Instagram on October 26, just two days before the release of the record.

Singles
The lead single, "Back to You", was released on November 18, 2016, three weeks after the release of the mixtape. It charted at number 20 in Canada, and number 48 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart but failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100. Two remixes of "Back to You" were released, by Alison Wonderland and Diplo. The Diplo remix charted at number 24 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart and remained on the chart for two additional weeks after that. It also reached number 32 on the US Mainstream Top 40 chart. The title track, "Happy New Year", was released as the second and final single from the record.

Critical reception
Happy New Year received generally positive reviews from music critics upon its release. On the review aggregator site MetaCritic, the record holds a score of 77/100, based on 13 reviews. Rob Sheffield, writing for Rolling Stone, awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars, commending Fisher's songwriting and vocals and praising her "addicting cloudy and vacant tone through the album". Sheffield ends his review by commenting that "Happy New Year is filled to the brim with its fair share of catchy, radio-friendly songs and moody, downbeat songs. It doesn't stick to a specific genre, which works in its favor. It's wide scope excellently represents the rollercoaster of emotions shown throughout the album, and leaves me wanting more." NME likewise gave the album 4 stars out of five and stated "the album maintains an authentic feel, quickly establishing that this is a story about pain, and healing." He singled out "Break Me Again", "Rumors" and "Talk to Me" as the best songs from the record.

Commercial performance
The mixtape debuted at number 178 on the US Billboard 200, and number 36 in Canada.