Drop Dead (originally titled Dear Nolan, Drop Dead) is the fourth studio album by American singer & songwriter, Rowan Blanchard. It was released on October 1, 2021. Following the end of her tour, Rowan Blanchard: The World Tour, she began recording new songs for her fourth album. Unreleased songs from her third studio album, Timeless, were included on Drop Dead.
The title track was released as the album's lead single on March 5, 2021. It begins with Blanchard mentioning her ex-boyfriend, Nolan Gould. The song peaked at number one in the United States and the United Kingdom. It also broke a string of records, including the record for the most plays in a single day by a female artist on Spotify. The album's next single, "Quick Getaway", was released on May 1, 2021 and peaked at number one in 8 countries, making Blanchard the fourth female artist to have two or more songs debuting atop of the Hot 100. The third single, "Bad Man", premiered on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on September 16, 2021 and was made available for streaming and digital download the next day. It debuted at number two and peaked at number one after the remix featuring Future was released to radio.
Upon its release, Drop Dead received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised the cohesiveness and production of the album as well as the "dark and surreal" lyrics throughout the album. The album sold 491,000 pure copies in the US alone during it's first week, as it wasn't made available on streaming services until two weeks after. Worldwide, it sold 723,000 copies. As of November 2021, it has sold 1 million copies in the United States.
Background[]
In November 2020, Blanchard broke up with her boyfriend of 3 years, Nolan Gould. In an interview, Blanchard said that the album would be about a woman who had a boyfriend who was "mentally abusive and ignorant". She later noted that the album wouldn't be completely about Gould, but some of the songs on the second side would be. Shortly after, Blanchard began posting dull-lit images on her Instagram account, rather than her usual pastel-colored theme. She then announced that she had been working on an album, which would have a darker theme than her previous three albums with a "revenge and crime and punishment vibe".
Recording and production[]
Blanchard recorded thirty songs for her third album, Timeless. 17 songs were featured on the album, including those on the deluxe edition. 2 of the 13 unreleased songs were featured on Drop Dead.
Blanchard opted to write the album by herself and worked with producers such as Max Martin and Jack Antoff. The album is said to be inspired by Reputation by Taylor Swift and When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish for it's first half. The second half is inspired by Dedicated by Carly Rae Jepsen, having a disco vibe.
Jack Antoff said in an interview that the album was almost like two albums in one, due to how different the 2nd side is when compared to the 1st side.
Composition[]
Songs and lyrical content[]
The albums begins with the song "Drop Dead", an electropop ballad with a trap-inspired rhythm. The song had the lyric "I hope you drop dead / as you stare into my lifeless eyes / They're just as dead as you". The second song, "Bad Man" begins as a piano ballad before embracing an EDM/trap beat, becoming lyrically darker, such as "You're screamin', I'm crying / You slap me, I fall to the floor". The third track, "In The Blink of An Eye" featuring Charlie Puth, is a duet with elements of soft rock and electropop. The fourth song, "Back For More", is about going back to a mentally abusive ex-boyfriend simply because it feels familiar. The next tracks, "Black Magic" and "Quick Getaway" are about Blanchard realizing her relationship with Nolan Gould is bad for her and building up enough courage to leave.
The second half of the album beings with "perfect as you are", an upbeat pop song about a new, blossoming relationship where both people involved learn to love each other despite their flaws. The next song, "i think about you all the time" is, according to Blanchard, a pop song about an unhealthy obsession to your partner. "i dance like no one's watching" and "text me when you wake up" are both about sharing intimate moments with your partner and have tropical elements mixed with indie-pop and trip-hop. The eleventh and final track, "i trust you with my heart" contains elements of disco and electropop, similar to Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.
Release and promotion[]
Drop Dead was released worldwide on October 1, 2021, by Interscope Records. The album cover is meant to represent the fact that Blanchard has left behind the bright pink colors and has embraced the grey. The title of the album, according to Nolan Gould, is the last thing Blanchard said to him face-to-face.
Live performances[]
The lead single was performed at Coachella in April 2021. She later performed In The Blink of An Eye with Charlie Puth on The Ellen Show. In May 2022, Blanchard did a surprise cover of The Last Time by Taylor Swift with her ex-boyfriend, Nolan Gould on The Voice.
A tour is planned for the album. It will be titled The Drop Dead Tour and will begin in the summer of 2022.
Singles[]
Drop Dead was released as the lead single from the album on March 5, 2021. The song peaked at number one in the United States and the United Kingdom. It also broke a string of records, including the record for the most plays in a single day by a female artist on Spotify. She performed the single at Coachella the following month. It is currently the most streamed song on Spotify, having been streamed 9.8 billion times.
Quick Getaway was released as the album's second single on May 1, 2021. The track was also commercially successful, peaking at number one in 8 countries, making Blanchard the fourth female artist to have two or more songs debuting atop of the Hot 100.
Bad Man was released as the third single two weeks prior to the release of the album on September 17, 2021. It has been compared to Copycat by Billie Eilish, due to it's laid back but sinister lyrics. It premiered on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on September 16, 2021 and was made available for streaming and digital download the next day. It debuted at number two and peaked at number one after the remix featuring Future was released to radio. According to Nielsen, the debut airing of the song was listened to by close to two million people. The music video was released on October 1, 2021, on the day of the album's release. It features Blanchard as well as Future on a yacht, goofing around by blowing bubbles at each other, having a dance off, etc.
After the release of the album, Black Magic was released as the fourth single from the album on November 5, 2021. Despite being heavily promoted throughout the month leading up to it's release as a single, it debuted at number seventy-one before falling off the charts the next week. However, it is the second most streamed song from the album on Spotify, with 893.7 million streams. To help boost sales, a music video was released and showcased Blanchard as a witch hunter in a forest at nighttime. It led to the song peaking at number one due to the music video being viewed nearly 1.1 billion times in just two weeks.
In The Blink of An Eye featuring Charlie Puth was released as the fifth single on March 4, 2022. Blanchard and Puth performed the song on The Ellen Show. It debuted at number sixty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of the album's release. As a single, it re-entered the chart at number twelve and peaked at number one.
i dance like no one's watching was released as the sixth single from the album on September 30, 2022. It debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Nearly a month later, it peaked at number one. After this, a music video was released which shows Blanchard with Nolan Gould at a disco, alone. The video went viral. It now has over 400 million views on YouTube. A vertical video was released exclusively to Spotify three weeks later. The vertical video is one-shot and was done by Blanchard in a forest, surrounded by trees and snow.
Blanchard has stated that she will continue to release singles from the album.