Cosmic

Cosmic is the second studio album by Antarctican country pop group Penguin Band. It is their second studio release after four years following the success of their debut album The Four Penguins (2010) that sold millions across the Antarctic. The album was released on September 15, 2014 on Club Penguin Music Records for download, CD and vinyl. The album's production team was very small, consisting only of band member Petey K and Terrain artist and producer DJ Crow, both serving as executive producers, TrillBron and Yusei. The album was recorded between February 2012 and July 2014. It is DJ Crow's first project to have assisted following the release of his fourth album Today's Declaration (2013). Interestingly, the album features no official guest appearances but does feature additional vocals by DJ Crow. The album serves as a slight transition from their debut effort, incorporating fusion, alternative and classical elements into the album's songs across the course of the 10 tracks.

The release of Cosmic was preceded by four singles, all of which attained chart success. Upon the release of the album, Cosmic received positive reviews from critics that felt the new musical elements showed the band's progress. The album sold 1,140,638 copies in Antarctica and debuted at number 1 across the Arctic. It became one of the fastest-selling albums to ever be released, however didn't manage to surpass the first-week sales record of The Four Penguins.

Critically, Cosmic is considered the Penguin Band's best album to date out of their discography.

Background
In December 2010, the Penguin Band's debut album, The Four Penguins, was released across the Antarctic. It debuted at number 1 on every chart and sold 782,420 copies in the USA in its first week of release. Critics gave positive reviews of the album, attaining a score of 70/100 as an average based on 32 reviews. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The Four Penguins Tour followed the album's success that lasted six months, performing across Antarctica. It left the band exhausted and overwhelmed by their sudden success. They felt pressured with the burden of having to follow up the album's success as they didn't want their second album to flop. So Franky, Petey K, G Billy and Stompin' Bob decided to take a break before they returned to the studio in order to relax.

Album information first surfaced as early as mid-2012 where reports claimed that Penguin Band were back in the studio recording for their untitled sophomore album. In an interview with the Penguin Times, G Billy did not say whether they were working on an album or not but did announce that they were releasing a song at the end of the year. This song proved to be "Better Days". G Billy then announced that the album was "way away". Fans then thought the band were pulling a similar promotional campaign to their first album's where they release singles years before the album's release gradually. This only proved to be the case for one single.

Penguin Band wanted to work with new producers for the album. They knew that DJ Crow was free in early 2014 and contacted him to help executive-produce the album. He brought his team consisting of TrillBron and Yusei to help Petey K produce the album.

The band decided on a theme for the album that was announced in early 2014 to be "space". Halfway through the album's completion whilst in the studio at night, the band thought of the concept and decided to base the rest of the album on it. Originally, the album was expected to feature 15 tracks - eleven on the standard edition and four on the deluxe edition but the band decided to shorten the album entirely to 10 tracks with no bonus tracks.

Album information soon surfaced in May 2014 after the release of the second single that announced the album was due to be released in August 2014, but was pushed back a month for a September release after the third single. In July, the album's name was announced as well as the official release date.

Recording & composition
After over a year of not recording, the Penguin Band headed to the studio in February 2012 to begin working. The band pulled out demos that they had recorded between 2006 and 2008. After listening to over sixty demos, they stumbled upon "I've Been Delayed" that was recorded before Franky joined the band. Petey K decided to re-do the song for the album and was the first song to be recorded for the album. In preparation for the Music Jam, G Billy independently worked on a 2-minute song titled "Days". After presenting it to the other band members, Petey K worked on it with Yusei to turn it into "Better Days". The band recorded fifteen more songs that year that didn't end up on the album. In 2013, Penguin Band wrote and recorded 29 songs, of which they used four. At the time the band were unsure on what songs they would use until March 2014. Between April and September 2013, "Epic", "Flipper Stomper", "Jam" and "Cosmic" were recorded. "Cosmic" marked the beginning of the space theme for the album and named the album after the song as well. Once other producers got on board, the remaining songs "Telescope / Universe", "Sleepwalkers", "Eclipse" and "Solar Zone" were recorded between February and July 2014. "Telescope" was the final song to be recorded that was used for the album.

Petey K was producing the album by himself from February 2012 to January 2014. Once DJ Crow, Yusei and TrillBron were brought on board from late January, the entire album was revamped to include new musical elements. Most songs had been recorded already and just needed production redone but some vocals had to be recorded again to suit the new production. Originally the album was entirely country pop and soft rock until DJ Crow added his production.


 * Country pop − "Flipper Stomper", "I've Been Delayed", "Cosmic"
 * Alternative − "Sleepwalkers", "Telescope", "Solar Zone"
 * Rock − "Better Days", "Jam"
 * Fusion/classical − "Epic", "Universe", "Eclipse"

Release and promotion
The album was not heavily promoted, using mainly the power of singles and television appearances. The band performed several times as well as appearing on talk shows. The album's promotional posters all kept to the theme of space to build an identity for the album.

Artwork
The album art for Cosmic keeps to the space theme of the album. The cover depicts a purple atmosphere in space with stars. There is no writing on the album for the band name or album name, unlike the cover for The Four Penguins that had both on the cover. Yusei, who was creative director for the album, decided to do this so that penguins can know it is the Penguin Band's album just by looking at it rather than reading their name or album name on it.

Singles
The first single of Cosmic, "Better Days", produced by Petey K, premiered at the Club Penguin Music Jam in May 2012 but was released for purchase on December 2, 2012, nearly two years before the release of the album. A year and five months later, the second single "I've Been Delayed" was released for digital download on May 2014. Produced by Petey K, it was the first single of the plan to release a new single every month. This only carried on up until the third single, "Jam", released on June 18, 2014 and produced by DJ Crow. By this point, both rock songs of the album and one country pop song were released. The fourth single, "Flipper Stomper", another country pop song, was released a week before the release of Cosmic - produced solely by Petey K.

A break was then given to singles releases. At the start of the new year, over three months after the release of Cosmic, a classical-fusion song "Epic" was released as the fifth single off Cosmic. The final single, "Universe", the second half of the eighth track "Telescope / Universe", was released on April 3, 2015 as the fifth single - another classical-fusion song. No alternative songs were released as singles.

Track listing

 * Notes
 * "Jam" features additional vocals from DJ Crow.
 * "Telescope" runs for a length of 4:29.
 * "Universe" runs for a length of 3:17.
 * "Telescope / Universe" features orchestral instrumentation from Awesome Drama Orchestra.

Commercial performance
On the Antartican Hot 100 Albums, Cosmic debuted at number 1 and sold 1,140,638 copies in its first week of release. It became the fastest-selling album to be released by a band, being certified Platinum 7 days after release. In its second week of charting, Cosmic sold a further 653,251 copies. In the third week, the album sold 215,260 copies and then 103,141 in the fourth week. The album entered at number 1 on every chart, including the UnitedTerra Albums Chart where the album sold 325,629 in its first week and was certified Gold after two weeks. It took two months for the album to be certified Platinum.

Critical response
Upon its release, Cosmic received positive reviews from music critics all across the Antarctic. The album averaged a score of 81/100 based on 39 reviews, which indicates near-acclaim. SnowMusic gave the album five out of five stars, stating: "DJ Crow works his magic again and saves the album from being dominated with cliche country pop by adding in a range of genres and successfully experimenting. Much better than their debut effort."