A Public Affair

A Public Affair
Studio album by Jessica Simpson
Released	26 August 2006
Recorded	Early 2005 – 14 July 2006[1]
Genre	Pop R&B
Length	54:26
Label	Epic
Producer	Lester Mendez Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Cory Rooney Dan Shea Scott Storch Stargate Sam Watters Louis Biancaniello Greg Kurstin Wally Gagel
Jessica Simpson chronology
ReJoyce: The Christmas Album (2004) A Public Affair (2006) Do You Know (2008)
Singles from A Public Affair
"A Public Affair" Released: 29 June 2006 "I Belong to Me" Released: 26 September 2006

A Public Affair is the fifth studio album by American pop singer Jessica Simpson. The album was released on 26 August 2006 in the United States by Epic Records. The album is Simpson's first effort following her divorce from Nick Lachey.^[2]

The album was produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Cory Rooney, Scott Storch, Stargate and Lester Mendez. Simpson had co-written nine of the thirteen songs on the album. It received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who complimented its musical diversity from Simpson's previous albums, while criticizing its length.

Two singles were released from A Public Affair. The lead single and title track, "A Public Affair", became Simpson's sixth top-twenty single in the United States and her third song to reach number fourteen, after "With You" (2003) and "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (2005).^[3] The song had also reached success in parts of the United Kingdom, reaching the top ten in Scotland and Ireland while charting at number twenty on the UK Singles Chart.

The second and final single, "I Belong to Me", failed to achieve the success of the lead single, "A Public Affair". The song did not place on the US Billboard Hot 100. However, it peaked at number ten on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100, which acts as an extension of the chart.^[4]

The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 101,000 copies. Although it charted at number six in Canada,^[5] the album has failed to perform well outside the United States, peaking in the top 40 in Australia and Ireland. A Public Affair has sold 500,000 units in the United States and over one million copies worldwide to date.

Background

Following the release of her fourth studio album ReJoyce: The Christmas Album (2004), Simpson began working on the album in late 2004, saying that she was listening to Björk for inspiration.^[6] Simpson first announced the album on July 29, 2005 in an interview with MTV. The album was initially reported to be titled And the Band Played On, with a release set for November 2005. Simpson said that the record would be her first that she would executive produce.^[7] In October 2005, it was reported that the album had been delayed to spring of the following year.^[8] In April 2006, a rep for Simpson confirmed that the album had been delayed again, but was to be released by the end of the year.^[9] It was reportedly delayed due to her divorce from Nick Lachey, as the pair announced their split in November 2005.^[9][10] Simpson continued to work on recording music following their split, and wanted her perspective to reflect in the album, saying: "When you persevere through so much, when you go through so much, you want to show that in your music".^[9]

Simpson worked with Janet Jackson's extensive producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs on A Public Affair.^[11] The duo had previously produced Simpson's country-pop cover version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" for the soundtrack to The Dukes of Hazzard; the song was a hit single in 2005,^[12] reaching the top 15 in the United States while charting in the top five in Australia and the United Kingdom.^[13][14][15] The song was included as a bonus track on international releases of the album.

Simpson noted Jackson as an influence on the album, who at the time was also recording at the same studio as Simpson.^[9] Simpson said that she took "a Janet Jackson approach" with the ballads on the album, and singled out "Back to You" as a track that reminded her of works by Jackson.^[9][16] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani regarded Simpson's work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as unexpected, saying their contributions are "surprisingly, country-inspired."^[17] Simpson said that the duo wanted to focus on country influences, but described the influence as inconspicuous and "like an accent".^[16] Producer Scott Storch worked on producing two songs for the album. The first track, "Fired Up", was reportedly being considered as the album's first single. Storch compared the track to "Dirrty", the 2002 single by Christina Aguilera. The second track that Simpson worked on with Storch was titled "Mr. Operator", but the track was ultimately not included on the album.^[7]

In July 2006, the artwork for A Public Affair surfaced. The intitial cover art for the album showed a "sultry" image of Simpson wearing a strapless dress with her hair down.^[18] However, this cover was ultimately switched to a more "casual" image of Simpson wearing a green T-shirt, wearing a ring on her right index finger, and with her hair pulled back.^[18][19] Simpson's representative Rob Shuter explained to TMZ that the original cover was provided to the record label because the final decision on the album's artwork had not yet been made at that time.^[18]

Music

The album opens with the lead single, "A Public Affair", which was compared to Madonna's "Holiday".^[20] The next song, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" interpolates Dead or Alive's 1984 song of the same name.^[21] Simpson compared the song to "Waiting for Tonight" by Jennifer Lopez, while MTV compared the song to Rihanna's "SOS", the latter of which samples Soft Cell's "Tainted Love".^[16] The fourth song, "If You Were Mine" was compared to Janet Jackson's "When I Think of You".^[22] "Push Your Tush", a song with country influences,^[23] heavily samples the Ohio Players 1976 song, "Who'd She Coo?".^[24]

"Let Him Fly" is a cover of the song originally recorded by Patty Griffin. Reviewiers Lizzie Ennever from the BBC believed the cover was in reference to Simpson's divorce from Nick Lachey.^[25] Simpson's sister, Ashlee Simpson, had introduced her to the song in late 2005.^[16]

"We laid there listening to the song and just cried and cried like babies," Jessica recalled. "In a lot of ways, my sister really gave me the strength to pull through this really hard time. And it was just lying there and being with her that got me through it. I knew everything would be OK. The song is about how sometimes you just have to know when to let something go. And that was that moment. And I had to sing it."

Singles

"A Public Affair" was released as the album's lead single on 29 June 2006.^[26] The song was favorably likened to Janet Jackson for its "breathy vocals" and "sweet melody".^[17] The music video features appearances by Christina Applegate, Christina Milian, Eva Longoria, Maria Menounos, Andy Dick and Ryan Seacrest.^[27] In the United States, the single debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, on the issue dated 15 July 2006.^[28] On 12 August 2006, it peaked at number 14 on the chart.^[29] The single became Simpson's sixth top 20 single in the US and her third song to reach number, 14 tied with "With You" (2004) and "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (2005).^[3] The single was certified Gold by the RIAA for selling 500,000 copies on 20 July 2007.^[30]

On August 9, 2006, Simpson announced on her official website that she wanted her fans to choose the second single from A Public Affair. She provided six choices: "If You Were Mine", "The Lover in Me", "B.O.Y.", "I Don't Want to Care", "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" and "I Belong To Me".^[31][32] "I Belong To Me" was released as the album's second and final single on September 26, 2006.^[33][34] The song was initially only included on the Walmart release of A Public Affair as a bonus track; however, the album was later reissued with the song.^[35] The single peaked at number ten on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.^[4]

Prior to the release of A Public Affair, Simpson expressed that she wanted "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" chosen as its second single, but her management was concerned that it was "too much of a club track".^[16] The song was ultimately released as a promotional single; it peaked at number 95 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart and at 21 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart on the issue dated September 23, 2006.^[36][37]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[38]
BBC	mixed[25]
Entertainment Weekly	C[39]
IGN	[40]
Rolling Stone	[41]
Slant Magazine	[42]
The Guardian	[43]
Music Server	[44]

A Public Affair received mixed reviews from music critics. The album was both praised and criticized for similarities to previous hits from the 1970s and 1980s; several songs on the album were compared to works by Janet Jackson.^[45]

In a positive review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic described A Public Affair as a "party album, pure and simple". Although Erlewine felt the album was inconsistent, he noted that "a good portion of [the album] is indeed pure cheerful fun" and called it her strongest and most entertaining album.^[46] Bill Lamb from About.com also felt the album was inconsistent, but described its final five songs as "genuine songs that are worth hearing".^[47] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine categorized A Public Affair as "shallow", but also named it her "best [album] to date" with themes of "underrated nostalgia".^[17]

Lizzie Ennever from the BBC was critical of Simpson's vocal performance on the album, saying "you get the feeling that she might not even make it through the initial rounds of American Idol".^[25] Erlewine felt that Simpson's voice was "suspiciously buried in the mix throughout" the album.^[20] Spence D. from IGN praised Simpson's vocal delivery on "Let Him Fly", saying the song showcased Simpson "crooning in a twangy resonance that shows that she can actually sing".^[24]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200, selling 101,000 copies in its first week.^[48] The album sold 300,000 copies in the US.^[49] A Public Affair was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for denoting 500,000 in shipments.^[50]

In Canada, the album debuted at number six, marking Simpson's highest position on the Canadian Albums Chart and was later certified Gold for 50,000 copies sold. A Public Affair also reached the top forty in Ireland and Australia, in the latter country peaking lower than In This Skin which reached number thirteen and was certified Platinum. To date, the album has sold one million copies worldwide.^[51][52]

Track listing

– Standard editionNo.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length1."A Public Affair"Lester Mendez3:212."You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"Cory Rooney3:493."B.O.Y."3:224."If You Were Mine"3:175."Walkin' 'Round in a Circle"Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis4:406."The Lover in Me"Mendez3:417."Swing with Me"3:258."Push Your Tush"Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis4:489."Back to You"Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis4:1110."Between You & I"4:5811."I Don't Want to Care"Stargate3:5712."Fired Up"Storch3:5813."Let Him Fly"Patty GriffinMendez3:11Total length:50:38

• Ron Allaire – engineer
• Chris August – backing vocals
• Xandy Barry – producer
• Magnus Beite – keyboards
• Louis Biancaniello – keyboards, mixing, producer, programming
• Jerry Brown – drums
• Ravaughn Brown – backing vocals
• Sherree Ford Brown – backing vocals
• Orlando Calzada – engineer
• Vince Cherico – drums
• Cacee Cobb – backing vocals
• Ian Cross – engineer, mixing
• Barry Danielian – trumpet
• Mikkel S. Eriksen – engineer, instrumentation, vocal producer
• Wally Gagel – engineer, instrumentation, mixing, producer
• Siedah Garrett – backing vocals, vocal arrangement
• Steve Geuting – assistant engineer
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Sharlotte Gibson – backing vocals
• Conrad Golding – engineer
• Tamyra Gray – backing vocals
• Keith Gretlein – assistant engineer
• Niki Haris – backing vocals
• Dorian Holly – backing vocals
• Paul Jackson, Jr. – guitar
• Jimmy Jam – keyboards, producer
• Justin King – guitar
• Greg Kurstin – guitar, keyboards, producer, programming
• Dan Kurtz – bass
• Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums
• Evan Lamberg – A&R
• Terry Lewis – producer
• Espen Lind – keyboards
• David Andrew Mann – tenor saxophone
• Matt Marrin – engineer, mixing
• Farra Mathews – A&R
• Chris Megert – vocal arrangement
• Ozzie Melendez – trombone
• Vlado Meller – mastering
• Lester Mendez – arranger, beats, Moog synthesizer, piano, producer
• Jessica Paster – wardrobe
• Ken Paves – hair stylist
• Dave Pensado – mixing
• Rafael Padilla – percussion
• Brett Ratner – photography
• Eric Rennaker – assistant engineer
• Makeba Riddick – backing vocals
• Tim Roberts – mixing assistant
• Reuben Rodriguez – bass
• Cory Rooney – drum programming, keyboards, producer, vocal producer
• Laurie Rosenwald – cover typeset
• Bobby Ross Avila – bass
• Andrew Rugg – engineer
• Dan Shea – keyboards, producer
• Jessica Simpson – vocals, executive producer
• Joe Simpson – executive producer, management
• Scott Storch – producer
• Phil Tan – mixing
• Mike Terry – engineer
• Tony Tolbert – backing vocals
• Valente Torrez – assistant engineer
• David LeVita – guitar
• Peter Wade – engineer
• Brian Warwick – assistant engineer
• Sam Watters – mixing, producer
• David E. Williams – guitar
• Joe Wohlmuth – engineer
• Lyle Workman – guitar
• James "Big Jim" Wright – keyboards
• Joe Zook – mixing

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