City of Black & White

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City of Black & White
City of Black & White cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 19, 2009
RecordedBlackbird Studios
Nashville, Tennessee
GenreRock, Pop, Acoustic
Length50:02
63:45 (Bonus Track Version)
LabelAware / Columbia
ProducerRobert Marvin, Mat Kearney
Mat Kearney chronology
Nothing Left to Lose
(2006)
City of Black & White
(2009)
Young Love
(2011)
Singles from City of Black & White
  1. "Closer to Love"
    Released: March 10, 2009
  2. "All I Have"
    Released: 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic3.5/5 stars[1]
The Album Project4/5 stars[2]
Jesus Freak Hideout4/5 stars[3]

City of Black & White is the third studio album by Mat Kearney. Released on May 19, 2009, it follows his 2006 major-label debut, Nothing Left to Lose. The first single, "Closer to Love", was released on March 10, 2009, as a digital download. To promote the album, Kearney toured with Keane and the Helio Sequence.[4] On the day of its release, the bonus track version peaked at #7 on the iTunes Top Albums, and the standard version peaked at #19.[5] Kearney wrote the title track while traveling in Turkey. He explained that this song "was born on a ferry as I crossed the Bosphorus River, which splits Istanbul in two.".[6] "Fire & Rain" was also released as a digital download to MySpace the week of the album release. Immediately after the album was released, "Lifeline" was used in commercial advertisement for season 3 of Lifetime Television's Army Wives. The commercial has been aired not only on Lifetime but ABC as well.

According to Soundscan, as of September 21, 2010, City of Black & White has sold 87,459 copies in the US.

Track listing[]

All songs written by Mat Kearney unless stated otherwise.

  1. "All I Have"- 4:49
  2. "Fire & Rain"- 3:50 (Mat Kearney, Robert Marvin)
  3. "Closer to Love" – 3:37 (Mat Kearney, Robert Marvin, Josiah Bell)
  4. "Here We Go" – 4:14 (Mat Kearney, Robert Marvin)
  5. "Lifeline" - 4:14 (Mat Kearney, Trent Dabbs, Matthew Perryman Jones)
  6. "New York to California"- 4:15
  7. "Runaway Car" - 4:12
  8. "Never Be Ready" - 3:37 (Mat Kearney, Trent Dabbs, Hilary Lindsey)
  9. "Annie" - 3:49
  10. "Straight Away" - 3:51
  11. "On & On" - 4:02 (Mat Kearney, Kate York)
  12. "City of Black & White" - 5:38 (Mat Kearney, Michael Logen)
  13. "Everyone I Know" (iTunes bonus track) - 4:33
  14. "Here We Go (Acoustic)" (iTunes bonus track) - 4:04
  15. "All I Have (Acoustic)" (iTunes bonus video) - 5:06
  16. "Closer to Love (Acoustic)" (iTunes pre-order bonus track) - 5:06
  17. "Save A Line" (Best Buy bonus track) - 4:09
  18. "Fire & Rain (Acoustic)" (Best Buy bonus track) - 3:51

City of Black & White Revisited (EP)[]

In 2019, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the album, an EP titled City of Black & White Revisited was released. It peaked at number 46 on the Top Christian Albums chart.

Track listing[]

  1. "City of Black & White (Re-recorded)"
  2. "All I Have (Re-recorded)"
  3. "Fire & Rain (Re-recorded)"
  4. "New York To California (Re-recorded)"
  5. "Closer To Love (Re-recorded)"

Source:[7]

Personnel[]

  • Mat Kearney – vocals, acoustic guitar (1, 2, 3, 5, 7-12), electric guitar (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11), Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (4), keyboards (5), acoustic piano (6, 10), synthesizers (6, 11), vocal choir (6), bells (7), mandolin (12)
  • Robert Marvin – acoustic piano (1, 2), synthesizers (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12), programming (2, 3), keyboards (3, 4, 11), vocoder (4, 12), tack piano (5), bass (7, 8, 12), Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (8, 9), sampler (11), recorder (12)
  • Josiah Bell – programming (3, 10)
  • Jason Lehning – keyboards (11, 12), electric guitar (11)
  • Tyler Burkum – acoustic guitar (1), electric guitar (1)
  • Paul Moak – electric guitar (3, 5-11)
  • Lynn Nichols – electric guitar (4, 5, 8)
  • Dan Brigham – electric guitar (10), programming (12), guitar (12), cello (12)
  • Gabe Scott – dulcimer (3, 12), steel guitar (6, 12)
  • Tony Lucido – bass (1, 2, 4-8, 10, 11)
  • Mike Elizondo – bass (3)
  • Aaron Sands – bass (9)
  • Jeremy Lutito – drums (1, 2)
  • Aaron Sterling – drums (3, 5, 7, 9-11)
  • Josh Crosby – drums (4)
  • Will Sayles – drums (8)
  • Claire Indie – cello (6)

Production[]

  • Mat Kearney – producer
  • Robert Marvin – producer, engineer (1, 2, 6), mixing (6, 8)
  • Steve Smith – A&R
  • Chris Testa – engineer (3, 4, 5, 7-12)
  • Paul Moak – engineer (5)
  • Kene "Ghost" Bell – assistant engineer (1, 2)
  • Dan Martine – assistant engineer (3, 4, 5, 7-12)
  • Lowell Reynolds – assistant engineer (3, 4, 5, 7-12)
  • Michael H. Brauer – mixing (1-5, 7, 9-12)
  • Andy Selby – editing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Maria Paula Marulanda – art direction, design
  • James Minchin III – photography
  • Gregg Latterman – management
  • Jason Rio – management

Charts[]

Chart performance for City of Black & White
Chart (2006) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[8] 13
US Christian Albums (Billboard)[9] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[10] 3

References[]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ The Album Project review Archived 2009-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Jesus Freak Hideout review
  4. ^ "Official Site". Mat Kearney. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  5. ^ [1] Archived April 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ City of Black & White Songfacts
  7. ^ https://www.amazon.com/City-Black-White-Revisited-Kearney/dp/B07T2C7G6S
  8. ^ "Mat Kearney Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  9. ^ "Mat Kearney Chart History (Christian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  10. ^ "Mat Kearney Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2020.

External links[]

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