About Iridescence by BROCKHAMPTON Album
iridescence is the fourth studio album by American band BROCKHAMPTON, released on September 21, 2018, by Question Everything, Inc. and RCA Records, as the first installment of "The Best Years of Our Lives" trilogy. The self-produced album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, as well as the group's own studio in Hawaii. It is their major label debut as well as their first album since Ameer Vann's departure following sexual misconduct allegations. The album marked BROCKHAMPTON's first number-one album, as the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. The album sold 101,000 copies in its first week and was released just weeks before the band embarks on their first tour without ex-member Ameer Vann. On December 14, 2017, BROCKHAMPTON announced their fourth studio album "Team Effort" slated for release in 2018, but in March 2018, they announced that Team Effort had been delayed. On March 20, Kevin Abstract and other members posted a "work-in-progress" album cover of "PUPPY", scrapping the name "Team Effort" completely. "PUPPY" was set to be released sometime in June. The next week, they announced via social media that they had signed a record deal with Sony's RCA Records, a deal reportedly worth $15 million for six albums over three years. "PUPPY" was also delayed (revealed on Kevin Abstract's Instagram Live) following allegations of sexual misconduct against founding member Ameer Vann. On May 27, BROCKHAMPTON announced via Twitter that Vann would no longer be a part of the group, and canceled the remainder of their tour dates to regroup. Following Vann's departure, on June 20, the band made their late-night television debut when they appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performing a new song "Tonya", accompanied by guest vocalists Jazmine Sullivan, Ryan Beatty, and Serpentwithfeet, as well as revealing the new title of their upcoming album, "The Best Years of Our Lives". The next month, the group announced a Beats 1 radio show "Things We Lost in the Fire Radio", where they debuted a trilogy of singles, "1999 WILDFIRE", "1998 TRUMAN" and "1997 DIANA", released in July 2018. The album was recorded over 10 days at Abbey Road Studios in 2018, with further recording taking place at the BROCKHAMPTON Factory in Hawaii. Kevin Abstract stated on Twitter that the album was inspired by English rock band Radiohead's fourth studio album "Kid A". On August 26, Kevin Abstract made a post on Instagram announcing the album's title and that it would come to be released in September, and later announced dates for their new "i'll be there" tour. On September 10, they released new iridescence merchandise on their website. The next day, they announced a documentary titled "The Longest Summer In America", set to be released in selected theaters on September 20. The group then released the track listing and artwork for the album. A video for "J'OUVERT" was released the day before the album's release and features shots of the members and other environments filmed on a thermal camera. The videos for "SAN MARCOS" and "NEW ORLEANS" were released on September 25 and 27, respectively. They were filmed during a tour of Australia, with "SAN MARCOS" shot outside of a Hungry Jack's in Melbourne and "New Orleans" shot inside an Event Cinemas complex in Sydney. The North American/Australian tour, "i'll be there" featuring 37 shows was going on from iridescence's release date up until December. On October 23, the band returned to Jimmy Fallon performing "DISTRICT". iridescence debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 dated October 6, 2018, with 101,000 album-equivalent units (including 79,000 pure album sales). It is the group's first number-one album. It fell to No. 88 in the next week's Billboard 200 chart and was not in the Billboard 200 chart dating to October 20, 2018.
