Calling All Lovers

Calling All Lovers is the fourth studio album by American singer Tamar Braxton. It was released on October 2, 2015, by Epic Records and Streamline Records. The album was preceded by the release of three singles — "If I Don't Have You", "Catfish" and "Angels & Demons".

The album debuted at number five in the United States, debuting with 43,000 units (36,919 in album sales) in the United States. The album's second single, "If I Don't Have You" was released on May 27, 2015, and was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, becoming Braxton's fourth nomination.

Background and release

On October 7, 2014, Braxton's single, "Let Me Know" featuring Future, was released. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard's Trending 140 Chart, less than an hour, after its premiere on Braxton's official SoundCloud account and it eventually reached at number one by 12:00 AM. Billboard.com gave the song 4 out of 5 stars in its review of "The Best and Worst Singles of the Week" for the second week of October 2014. Braxton performed "If I Don't Have You" at the BET's 15th Annual Awards 2015 on June 28, 2015 and at Mega Fest 2015 on August 21, 2015.

On September 6, 2015, Target confirmed that Calling All Lovers would miss its scheduled release date of September 11, 2015 due to a "street date change". On September 11, 2015, the deluxe version of the album became available for pre-order on iTunes with a track listing of 16 items and a new release date of October 2, 2015. Braxton performed "King" on the daytime show, The Real on September 14, 2015. Braxton performed "Circles" on The Wendy Williams Show on October 1, 2015.

Promotion

Singles

"If I Don't Have You" was released as the album's second single on May 27, 2015, . The music video for "If I Don't Have You" was released on VEVO on July 9, 2015. The song peaked at number eighteen on the Hot R&B Songs chart on August 1, 2015 and number six on the Adult R&B Songs chart on August 15, 2015. It received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

"Catfish" was released as the second single on September 11, 2015. "Angels & Demons", was released as the third single on September 18, 2015. The music video for "Angels & Demons" was released on VEVO on September 17, 2015.

Other songs

"Circles" was released as the first promotional single from Calling All Lovers on September 25, 2015. On November 24, 2018 three years after the album release, a music video of "Love It" was released.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 5 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 43,000 units (36,919 in album sales) in the United States. The album also peaked at number 2 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 16 on the UK R&B Albums charts.

Critical response

Calling All Lovers was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Andy Kellman of AllMusic gave the album three and a half out of five stars, saying, "The album starts in scattered fashion with some neo-reggae, a retro-modern midtempo groove that evokes breakbeat-driven early-'90s productions, and a church-ified ballad. After those three songs, the album stabilizes, sliding between a number of plush ballads and sophisticated but bumping slow jams. Heartache prevails during the first half and crests with 'Never,' an authoritative and elegantly paced kiss-off of an inappreciative lover. The latter half is mostly about devotion and awe, while the back-to-back 'Love It' (all booming bass, tapping keyboards, and rattling percussion) and 'Must Be Good to You' (light and springy disco-funk) turn it up several degrees with Braxton offering firm declarations of her sexual power."

Track listing

Notes

• ^[a] signifies a co-producer
• ^[b] signifies a vocal producer

Sample credits

• "Never" contains an interpolation of "I'm Dancing For Your Love", written by Patricia Austin, Peggy Lipton Jones, John Robertson and David James Wolinski.
• "I Love You" contains a portion of the composition "If Only for One Night", written by Brenda Gordon Russell.
• "Let Me Know" samples "(At Your Best) You Are Love" performed by Aaliyah, written by Ronald Isley, Ernie Isley, Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Jr. and Chris Jasper.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.

Performers and musicians

• Tamar Braxton – Vocals, Background
• Tiyon "TC" Mack – Vocals, Background

Technical personnel

• Tamar Braxton – Composer, Producer, Creative Director,
• Antonio "L.A." Reid – Executive Producer
• Vincent Herbert – A&R, Executive Producer
• LaShawn Daniels – A&R, Composer
• Ramahn "Jer-Z" Herbert – A&R
• Ashley Fox – Creative Director
• Anita Marisa Boriboon – Art Direction, Creative Director, Design
• Theo "MasBeatz" Edmonds – Producer
• The Underdogs – Composer, Producer
• Rivelino Raoul Wouter – Producer
• Blair Taylor – Producer
• Afro Steve – Producer
• Cedric "DaBenchWarma" Smith – Producer
• Polow da Don – Producer
• Brian Alexander Morgan – Bass, Composer, Drum Programming, Keyboards, Producer
• Mel & Mus – Producer
• Melvin Hough – Producer
• Gerald Haddon – Producer
• John Henry Gordon – Producer
• Tiffany Fred – Composer, Producer
• Leigh Elliott – Producer
• Da Internz – Producer
• Brandon Bell – Composer, Producer
• Blac Elvis – Producer
• Alessandro Calemme – Producer
• Khari Cain – Composer, Producer
• Darhyl "DJ" Camper Jr. – Composer, Producer
• Tiyon Mack – Composer, Mixing, Vocal Engineer,
• Keon Young – Composer
• David James Wolinski – Composer
• Dewain Whitmore, Jr. – Composer
• Isaac White – Composer
• Kristal "Brave Jaxon" Murphy
• Atozzio Towns – Composer
• Damon Thomas – Composer
• Amber Streeter – Composer
• Patrick "J Que" Smith – Composer
• Edsel Alexander – Composer
• Makeba Riddick – Composer
• Tony Russell – Composer
• Muhammad Ayers – Composer
• Brenda Russell – Composer
• Marcos Palacios – Composer
• Vurdell Muller – Composer
• McKenzie Brooke Lawson – Composer
• Sherita Lowery – Composer
• Kevin Randolph – Composer
• Peggy Lipton Jones – Composer
• Denisia Keys – Composer
• Claude Kelly – Composer
• Jamal Jones – Composer
• Andrew Hey – Engineer, Guitar
• Patricia Austin – Composer
• Timothy Paul Hinshaw – Composer
• Atia Boggs – Composer
• Courtney Harrell – Composer
• Anthony D. Bennett – Composer
• Ernest Clark – Composer
• Candice Boyd – Composer
• Larry Griffin Jr. – Composer
• Kameron Glasper – Composer
• Gene Grimaldi – Mastering
• Dave Boyd – Assistant
• Brandon N. Caddell – Mixing
• Zach Nicholls – Mixing
• Harvey Mason, Jr. – Composer, Mixing
• Dashawn "Happie" White – Composer, Producer
• Robert Ector - Photography

Charts

Release history