Thank you (album)

The sound of the album, unlike the previous Vendetta disc, is completely acoustic. All the main parts were recorded by the current composition of the singer: Zemfira Ramazanova (voice), Dmitry Shurov (keyboards), Konstantin Kulikov (trumpet), Dan Marinkin (drums), Alexey Belyaev (bass), Yuri Topchy (guitar). Yuri Tsaler (Mumiy Troll band) performed as a guest guitarist. The Orchestra of Cinematography under the direction of Sergey Skrypka also took part in the recording.

Songs

"In the underground"

An opening composition in which wind instruments and keys are connected. Zemfira herself describes her as “militant, but romantic. Song is a nerve. The pipe is like hope. ” Alexey Mazhaev wrote that “In the Metro” is the only piece on the album where the keyboard and vocal excitement seem justified " ^[4] .

"Sunday"

Built on guitar accompaniment accompanied by keyboards, winds and drums. The lyrics of the two songs are quite atypical for the singer's work. Alexey Mazhaev wrote that “the rhyme “ Friday - Moscow is sausage ” leaves a feeling of some sort of extortion” ^[5] . The song was written pretty quickly. The author notes that she is “light and informal. Song is a holiday. ”

"House"

The song was written in a rather light state of mind. Zemfira said that elated spirit was able to drag through all the work on the song. Critics compared the lines of the song “I have a beautiful house, old and beautiful, I recently live in it sad and happy ...” with the early work of Andrei Makarevich ^[4] . Nikolai Fandeev suggested that the song was inspired by the 1974 Spyglass Guest record by Greenslade ^[6] .

“We are breaking”

The formal second part of the disc is opened by the song “We Crash” - a piano ballad, which is the central composition in the album.

Having written this song, she could not sleep at night. There was a feeling that I had more than usual. It’s as if I took a deep breath and cannot exhale. Song is happiness.

- Zemfira about the song “We Crash” ^[7]

The song became the most successful for Zemfira and did not leave the first position in the music charts for several weeks ^[8] . A short film clip was also shot for the song, directed by Renata Litvinova . She played the main character in it. The action takes place on the outskirts of the city, where a car arrives with three men - killers. On assignment, they must kill the fourth accomplice, because of which their colleagues died. The narration is conducted from one of the agents who is in love with her and he himself executes the sentence by a shot in the back of her head. Zemfira appears in the video, standing near the accompanist in the barn and singing the chorus of the song. At the end of the track you can hear the cry of Renata Litvinova "Bravo!"

"Boy"

A song with a rather catchy chorus “Money zero, sex zero - the music died, boy zero!” And a piano part accompanied by a guitar part. This song was the first record for the album after a long break. The maxi-single “ 10 Boys ” was posted on the singer’s website, which includes 10 remakes of the song “Boy” sent to the singer during a contest held on the Internet.

Vladimir Polupanov suggested that “Zemfira’s chorus outperforms the inner emptiness and the notorious current generation of the“ nulls. ” ^[9] Mikhail Margolis wrote that in the waltz,“ addressing the boy and the decadent presentation of the song immediately resurrects Gumily’s “Sweet boy, you're so funny ...”. Vyacheslav Ogryzko also drew parallels with “Blind Boy” by Shevchuk , Auktsionovsky “Boy” and the work of Kira Muratova , noting teenage maximalism in the phrase “Money is zero. Sex is zero. The music died ” ^[10] .

"Lord"

The composition consists of two parts - slow, based on rhythm and voice, and instrumental, consisting of expertly made piano solos reminiscent of the atmosphere of a cabaret. InterMedia also noted that the song ends with "the rollicking variety show-melody of Dominic Frontier from the movie Stuntman ".

At some point, I was surrounded on all sides by weak, but ambitious people. This song is for you gentlemen! Song - Irony

- Zemfira about the song "Lord" ^[11]

A video clip was also shot for the song, directed by A. Ramazanov. In the story, four young "gentlemen" sit down at the table, drink vodka and start playing cards. Among the players there is a sharpie, who, of course, constantly wins. The company is nervous. At some point, they notice the actions of a sharpie and a fight ensues. In the end, the smartest one, hiding under the table, crawls out, searches the cheater lying on the floor and takes all the money. From the sleeve of the culprit, he takes out a card of the Queen of Spades , which turns into Zemfira and winks ^[12] .

“I fell in love with you”

Like the composition of “The Lord,” the song is also built on piano solos, accompanied by violin, castanet and accordion. The song was written in the morning under the impression of reading the verses of Marina Tsvetaeva ^[13] . Nikolai Fandeev from the PCMusic.ru portal stated that in the Zemfira song he was trying to experiment with tango at all ^[6] .

The text of the song is an interpretation of a poem by Marina Tsvetaeva 1915 "Anna Akhmatova." Zemfira herself said that at one time she decided who was closer to her, Tsvetaeva or Akhmatova : “I read a lot of poetry, which is actually unusual for me. And so she decided. But I would not talk about influence or any kind of borrowing. During the work on the disc, I read Brodsky even more. And the declaration of love by Tsvetaeva is simply a declaration of love by Tsvetaeva ” ^[10] .

"Take me"

Composition with low vocals Zemfira, built on the accompaniment of piano, vibraphone and jazz rhythm section. Zemfira noted that this song is “the most delicate in sound and condition” ^[13] .

“The snow will begin”

A melancholy song “about waiting” ^[13] with contrasting vocals and an interesting instrumental insert. A video clip was posted on the song, posted on the official website of Zemfira on December 1, 2008. The video was made by the album designer Alexander Lobanov and resembles a video installation.

"1000 years"

The darkest composition from the album is remembered by the scream (Renata Litvinova) in the middle of the song and the accompaniment of the harpsichord part. The song contains a real church organ. The song also has the line “Take Chanel, go home,” which many perceived as Zemfira’s departure to the “glamorous postmodern” ^[14] . The song was written when the singer had problems with the ligaments and the doctor forbade her to talk. Zemfira kept the sound of the song in her head for a long time, not trying by ear. The author also says that this song is the most favorite of this album ^[13] .

"In my"

Lyrical composition with percussion and keyboard accompaniment (many also noted that the piano parts resemble the interpretation of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”), telling about the singer’s most personal thoughts: “I have cities in me, all love in me ...” . Zemfira characterizes the song as “the thought that pierced her. Song is a discovery ” ^[13] .

"Thank"

The album closes with a calm “Thank you” keyboard. The track is a rehearsal record in November 2006 (on the second couplet Zemfira commands: “Chorus!”). Zemfira considers this song “the main message of the record. The song is gratitude ” ^[13] .

Back in the summer of 2007, it became known that the singer was preparing a new album, and then Zemfira gave the only concert in Moscow (Green Theater Gorky TsPKiO), presented to the public in a new image (the unexpected thinness of the girl immediately generated a wave of rumors and speculation about various diseases and drug addiction). The album was preceded by the appearance of the radio single “Boy” and the video for the song “We're Crashing”, shot by Renata Litvinova .

The album was released in collaboration with the Kommersant Publishing House and Euroset . From October 1, 2007, the album could be bought together with the first issue of Citizen K magazine (project of Kommersant Publishing House), and from October 5 (in Moscow from October 2), it was sold in Euroset communication stores at a price of 140 rubles . In ordinary music stores, the disc was not for sale. Since the beginning of October, 30 thousand copies of the album were sold together with Citizen K magazine in Euroset salons and newsstands. In total, at the beginning of December 2007, 177 thousand copies were sold under the project ^[15] .

In an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station on September 24, 2007, Zemfira stated that regardless of the success of such an action, it is not planned to renew the contract for subsequent albums.

September 27 at the Winery, and Zemfira made the entrance to the concert free. And in a closed format, the singer performed five days later - at the presentation of Citizen K magazine. On September 28, the album became available for download on the Internet . On this occasion ^[16] Zemfira stated:

Well, it all happened. The album is online, ahead of schedule. It makes no sense to conscience someone - thieves were, are and will be. In contrast to the creator and the bestowal. Harmony is mine.

On October 20, a tour of Zemfira began in Khabarovsk in support of the new disc, which ended with a concert at the Olimpiysky sports complex on April 1, 2008. During the tour, Zemfira organized special autograph sessions at Euroset stores. The concerts also sold a special maxi-single "10 Boys", which includes 10 remakes of the song "Boy", sent to the singer during the contest held on the Internet.

Subsequently, Zemfira commented ^{[17] on} such a way to release the album:

The way everything was arranged with Thank you is a consequence of the difficult situation in which I found myself - yes, of course, through my own fault. Well, the record company "helped." And I think that I got out of the situation with brilliance, sorry for the indiscretion.

The album was designed by Alexander Lobanov, a cover photo was taken by Sergey Bermenyev . The cover itself is a white paper on which an outline print of a portrait of Zemfira is printed, feathers flying from her hair. On top of the image is a sticker that says "Thank you." Unlike the previous record, thanks to the name Zemfira is not indicated on the cover.

The album was distributed in three versions. A paper disk in a paper envelope was distributed with Citizen K magazine. The regular edition has a two-page booklet and an envelope-shaped disc. This option was distributed in stores of the Euroset mobile network. Collector's Edition - a digipack autographed by Zemfira, a booklet containing lyrics and two bonus video tracks (the clip “We Crash” and filming from the studio while recording the song “We Crash”).

The album received mixed reviews, more often the question arose about the lyrics of the songs. So Andrei Bukharin from Rolling Stone noted that “finally Zemfira got out of the rut along which she was dragged, starting with the deafening debut of 1999. Now we hear pure rock ... and no electronics, fortunately, is a solid analog feast with a sea of ​​live instruments, from a solo piano to an orchestra. The album is not without drawbacks - it is heterogeneous, there are weak numbers ("House") and flavoring punctures in the lyrics - but the main thing is that Zemfira will not calm down in any way ” ^[18] .

Yaroslav Zabaluev from the online newspaper Gazeta.ru gave a positive assessment to the work and wrote that “with the new album she finally proved her right to assign the status of the country's only independent singer” ^[20] .

The album received a mixed assessment from the columnist of Izvestia newspaper Mikhail Margolis, noting that “ Thank you (in comparison with the first records of Zema) will probably not have an easy victory. But the whole range of emotions, from delight to disappointment, the disc is sure to cause. Zemfira’s “live” album, recorded with worthy musicians and accented on keys and trumpet, without any admixture of electronics, is the most heterogeneous and aesthetic of her projects ” ^[21] .

Guru Ken from the business newspaper Glance noted that “Zemfira recorded such a concept album as she had not written before. With thoughtful transitions between songs, it is end-to-end, then through selected atmospheric sounds. Why is it so eclectic? It seems that Zemfira was in a hurry to pour out all that was. And the concept could not stand it. Songs spread out from the quick feverish statement, spread like cockroaches, leaving behind themselves spots of dried up conceptualism ” ^[14] .

Vladimir Polupanov from the portal TOPPOP.ru noted that Thank you - probably the most intimate and chamber album of the singer, with a confessional tone and Tsvetaeva melancholy. It is no accident that the album also has a dedication to Marina Tsvetaeva - the song “I Loved You” ^[9] .

Margarita Tarantseva from the portal Right. Ru also wrote that “if it were not for a couple of ironic songs (“ Boy ”and“ I fell in love with you ”) and a bold attempt of topical satire (“ Lord ”), the record could definitely be sent to sucks. Compared with the gloomy reflections and hypersexual optimism of the drunken punk girl in Vendett’s previous album, Zemfira is clearly drifting toward desperate self-destruction ” ^[22] .

• Rock Alternative Music Prize ( RAMP ) 2008 - award in the category "Album of the Year"

Words and music of all songs of Zemfir Ramazanov.

• Zemfira Ramazanova - music, lyrics, voice, acoustic guitar (2, 3), percussion, piano (12), synthesizer (11, 12), tubular bell (10), recording, mixing, producing
• Dmitry Shurov - piano, organ, harpsichord , clavinet, hammond, rhodes, percussion, metallophone , accordion , celesta , strings arrangement, recording, mixing, sound production
• Dan Marinkin - drums, percussion
• Nikolay Kozyrev - castanets , organ synthesizer (12), rainstick (9), recording, mixing, sound production
• Yuri Tsaler - guitar (except 9), acoustic guitar (1, 3) *
• Yuri Topchy - guitar (9)
• Alexander Kondratiev - technical support
• Renata Litvinova - laughter, scream, karma
• Alexey Belyaev - bass, harp , acoustic guitar (6)
• Kostya Kulikov - trumpet, flugelhorn , pipe, piano (12)
• Alexey Strelnikov - violin (3, 7)
• Dmitry Chepiga - violin (3, 7)
• Andrey Spiridonov - cello (3)
• Margarita Spiridonova - viola (3)
• Ekaterina Katomina - viola (7)
• Alexey Muromtsev - horn (8)
• Sergey Pravdin - French Horn (8)
• Andrey Lebedev - trombone (8)
• Orchestra of Cinematography: conductor Sergei Skripka Mikhail Shestakov, Victoria Ivashov, Olga Poludino Gregory Hayriyan Tyuvaeva Vera Violetta Tsarahova Svetlana Kherson, Tamara Egorova Julia Shevarova, Lyudmila Borisenko, Eugene Zeidman, Irina Ermakova Eugene Beloshitsky Dragan Teodora Mirčić, Vladimir Brisev, Tatyana Dikan, Natalya Chesnokova, Tatyana Denisova, Valera Karpets, Vitaly Vitvitsky, Natalya Krylova, Alexander Khersonsky, Elena Yurku, Tatyana Guryanova, Vartan Darakchan, Eva Isaeva, Alexander Dober, Natalya Morozova, Augustina Mikhailova, ergey Aduev, Aleksandr Ermakov, Natalia Zhurkov Alexei Isplatovky Igor Sapezhinsky Andrei Zharkov.
• Record: Antti Uusimaki, Ann, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Ilya Galushko, Sergey Becker, Andrey Levin, Alexander Volodin, Oleg Chechik, Dasha Gubenko, Kostya Matafonov
• Vladimir Ovchinnikov - mastering

• Clip for the song “We're Crashing” on YouTube
• Interview in the Argentum program on the Echo of Moscow radio (text and mp3 )
• 247 seconds “We are breaking” (unspecified) . Kommersant (September 5, 2007).