Late Nights & Early Mornings

Late Nights & Early Mornings is the debut studio album by English singer Marsha Ambrosius. Recorded after the disbandment of her former band Floetry, it was released by J Records on 1 March 2011 in the United States.^[1] Her only album for the label before its dissolution seven months later,^[2] it debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 96,400 copies sold in the first week.^[3]

Late Nights & Early Mornings
Studio album by Marsha Ambrosius
Released	1 March 2011
Length	51:25
Label	J
Producer	Marsha Ambrosius (exec.) Dre & Vidal Canei Finch Focus... Rich Harrison Just Blaze Syience
Marsha Ambrosius chronology
Late Nights & Early Mornings (2011) Friends & Lovers (2014)
Singles from Late Nights & Early Mornings
"Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)" Released: 13 August 2010 "Far Away" Released: 7 December 2010

Background

Songs from Late Nights & Early Mornings were produced and written by Ambrosius herself with other contributors, including Just Blaze, Dre & Vidal, Focus... and co-writing credits by Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill^[4][5] The album also contains a cover version of Portishead's "Sour Times".^[6] Ambrosius said that the overall vibe of the album is "sensual, it’s sincere, it’s seductive"^[7] and also explained, “Not too many women get the opportunity to say what they want, and having controlled and written pretty much everything I get to do all of that on one album. J Records, they understood me as an artist and said, ‘What do you want? How do you want to sound? What do you feel like your album should be’ and they allowed me to go in the studio.”^[7] Ambrosius describes the song, "Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player)" as "the reality of a bad break up."^[4]

Promotion

"Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)" was released as the album's first single on 13 August 2010.^[8] The song peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number twenty-two. "Far Away" was released as the album's second single on 7 December 2010. It is produced by Just Blaze and written by Marsha Ambrosius with co-writing by Sterling Simms.^[9][10] The track was inspired by one of Ambrosius's own friends who committed suicide, and discusses how it feels once someone she's loved is gone. This song has reached number three on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The title track, "Late Nights & Early Mornings", was released as the third single.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
DJBooth	[12]
Slant	[13]
SoulTracks	(favorable)[14]
The Village Voice	(favorable)[6]

Late Nights & Early Mornings received generally positive reviews from music critics. Allmusic editor Andy Kellman found that "in a way, Late Nights & Early Mornings picks up where 2005's Flo'Ology, left off [...] Those who could not get into the Floetry albums due to Ambrosius' occasionally tremulous delivery should have no problem this time. The characteristic is no distraction – put to use with less frequency and typically in service to the song, not purely for show."^[11] Melody Charles from SoulTracks remarked that the album "captures what is so intriguing about the triple-threat performer: her straight-forward sensuality, her emotional authenticity and the way she grafts those qualities together into melodic masterpieces [...] Self-possessed, skillfully-rendered and undeniably soulful, Ms. Ambrosius' debut is already one of 2011's Must-Haves: if you value depth and dimension in your listening experience, count on having many Late Nights & Early Mornings with this CD/download enveloping your ears."^[14]

DJBooth.net's Nathan Slavik referred to the album as a "near-classic," stating "Marsha Ambrosius’ debut is the R&B album of the year."^[12] Slant critic Jesse Cataldo wrote that "despite the appearance of established hip-hop producers and the vocal talents of an intelligent, assured female performer, Late Nights & Early Mornings is drab all over. None of its elements, from expressions of female sexuality to revenge wishes against unfaithful ex-lovers, are sufficiently piercing to cut through the blandness." She felt that the album "blurs together through typical narratives of love and loss, joy and sorrow, merely approximating these emotions through the standard language established for such things. Nothing especially stands out, and though Ambrosius makes no overt mistakes on her first album, nothing she offers ever approaches making it memorable."^[13]

Commercial performance

In the United States the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, behind fellow Brit Adele's "21", with fellow Brits Mumford and Sons "Sigh No More" at number 3 (the first instance British artists had held the top 3 positions on the chart in over 25 years).^[15] It also peaked at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, with 96,400 copies sold in the first week.^[3] By June 2011, Late Nights & Early Mornings had sold 306,700 units in the United States.^[16]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Anticipation" (Intro)	Marsha Ambrosius	Ambrosius	1:29
2.	"With You"	Ambrosius Alicia Keys	Ambrosius	5:09
3.	"Late Nights & Early Mornings"	Ambrosius Rich Harrison	Harrison	3:34
4.	"Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)"	Ambrosius Canei Finch	Ambrosius Finch	4:06
5.	"Far Away"	Ambrosius Finch Sterling Simms	Just Blaze	7:17
6.	"Lose Myself"	Lauryn Hill	Finch	5:03
7.	"Your Hands"	Ambrosius Andre Harris Vidal Davis	Dre & Vidal	3:30
8.	"I Want You to Stay"	Ambrosius	Ambrosius	3:50
9.	"Sour Times"	Geoff Barrow Beth Gibbons Adrian Utley	Ambrosius	3:20
10.	"Tears"	Ambrosius Norman Whitfield	Focus...	2:57
11.	"Chasing Clouds"	Ambrosius Reggie Perry	Syience	3:45
12.	"The Break Up Song"	Ambrosius	Ambrosius	3:29
13.	"Butterflies (Remix)"	Ambrosius Harris	Ambrosius Finch	4:12

iTunes bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Fan"	Ambrosius	Ambrosius	2:58

Sample credits

• "Far Away" contains a portion of the composition "You Keep Me Hangin' On" as performed by The Supremes.
• "Sour Times" is a cover of the composition "Sour Times" by Portishead.
• "Tears" contains a portion of the composition "Crying" as written by Norman Whitfield.

Credits and personnel

Credits for Late Nights & Early Mornings from AllMusic.^[17]

Marsha Ambrosius – Composer, Primary Artist, Producer Glynis Selina Arban – Photography Geoff Barrow – Composer Adam Blackstone – Bass, Bass (Upright) Mikaelin 'Blue' Bluespruce – Engineer, Mixing Henry Brooks – Composer Nell Brown – Engineer Canei Finch – Composer, Mixing, Producer Vidal Davis – Composer, Drum Programming, Mixing, Producer DJ Aktive – Scratching, Turntables Lamont Dozier – Composer Peter Edge – Producer Robyn Fernandes – Stylist Focus... – Engineer, Instrumentation, Producer Jesus Garnica – Assistant Beth Gibbons – Composer Erwin Gorostiza – Creative Director Andre Harris – Composer, Engineer, Producer Rich Harrison – Composer, Producer Brandon D. Henderson – Engineer Lauryn Hill – Composer Brian Holland – Composer Eddie Holland – Composer

Rayfield Holloman – Guitar, Musician Michelle Holme – Art Direction Jaycen Joshua – Mixing Trevor Jerideau – Producer JJ – Make-Up Just Blaze – Producer Alicia Keys – Composer Ryan Moys – Engineer Reggie Perry – Composer Oscar Ramirez – Engineer Montez Roberts – Engineer Darrell Robinson – Brushes, Musician Lalo Schifrin – Composer Tippi Shorter – Hai Soon Sterling Simms – Composer Justin Smith – Composer Syience – Musician, Producer Otis Turner – Composer Adrian Utley – Composer Ryan West – Mixing Norman Whitfield – Composer Andrew Wright – Engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2011) Peak position US Billboard 200[18] 2 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[19] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position US Billboard 200[20] 77 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[21] 19

References

1. "Late Nights, Early Mornings: Marsha Ambrosius: Music". Amazon. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
2. Album Cover: Marsha Ambrosius – ‘Late Nights & Early Mornings’ rap-up.com. Retrieved 10-10-2010.
3. Langhorne, Cyrus (9 March 2011). "Nicki Minaj & Rihanna Lose Their Tops, Eminem Can't Recover His Spot, Marsha Ambrosius Flows Onto The Chart". Sohh.Com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
4. (August 2, 2010) Jermy Leeuwis, Marsha Ambrosius to release Late Nights and Early Mornings album musicremedy.com. Retrieved 10-10-2010.
5. Gail Mitchell, Ex-Floetry Member Marsha Ambrosius Readies Solo Set Billboard. Nielson Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 10-10-2010.
6. Tate, Greg (April 6, 2011). Marsha Ambrosius Can Bring the R and the B - Page 1 - Music - New York - Village Voice. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2011-04-13.
7. Clover Hope, Marsha Ambrosius Discovers Herself On ‘Sensual, Seductive’ Solo Album vibe.com. Intermedia Vibe Holdings, LLC. Retrieved 10-10-2010.
8. Hope She Cheats On You (With a Basketball Player) - Single by Marsha Ambrosius itune.apple.com. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 11-10-2010.
9. "iTunes Store". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
10. Marsha Ambrosius Music New & Info Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10-10-2010.
11. Kellman, Andy Review: Late Nights & Early Mornings. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2020-03-20.
12. Slavik, Nathan. "Late Nights and Early Mornings - Marsha Ambrosius Album Review". DJBooth.net. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
13. Cataldo, Jesse (27 February 2011). "Review: Marsha Ambrosius, Late Nights & Early Mornings". Slant. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
14. Charles, Melody (25 February 2011). "Marsha Ambrosius - Late Nights, Early Mornings (2011)". SoulTracks. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
15. "Adele and Mumford & Sons aid Brit domination of US chart". Nme.com. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
16. Langhorne, Cyrus (15 June 2011). "Tech N9ne Sticks Up Top 5, Rick Ross' MMG Detours Into Top 40, Marsha Ambrosius Gets Her Spot Back". SOHH.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
17. "Late Nights & Early Mornings - Marsha Ambrosius | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
18. "Marsha Ambrosius Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
19. "Marsha Ambrosius Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
20. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
21. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved 23 July 2020.