Lonely Avenue (Ben Folds and Nick Hornby album)

This article is about the album by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby. For the album by Freddie McCoy, see Lonely Avenue (Freddie McCoy album).

Lonely Avenue is a collaboration album by American singer-songwriter Ben Folds and English novelist Nick Hornby, and was released in the United States of America on September 28, 2010 by Nonesuch Records.

Lonely Avenue
Studio album by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby
Released	September 28, 2010
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	43:37
Label	Nonesuch
Producer	Ben Folds
Ben Folds chronology
Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! (2009) Lonely Avenue (2010) The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective (2011)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	B[3]
Chicago Tribune	[4]
The Independent	[5]
musicOMH	[6]
PopMatters	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Slant Magazine	[9]
Spin	7/10[10]
Uncut	[1]

The album contains eleven songs featuring music by Folds with lyrics by Hornby. "From Above", the first single, was released on August 6. Some the songs are named after Levi Johnston, Doc Pomus, and Saskia Hamilton.

Release

The album was promoted by the single "From Above" released in 2010. The song features guest vocals from Australian singer-songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke.

Music video

The music video for the single is animated, with the characters from the song being drawn in a book and the characters move around on the page, acting out the story of the song. The video was directed by Julius Pretite of The Simpsons.^[11]

Track listing

Lonely Avenue

No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Working Day"	1:51
2.	"Picture Window"	3:42
3.	"Levi Johnston's Blues"	5:16
4.	"Doc Pomus"	4:14
5.	"Your Dogs"	3:23
6.	"Practical Amanda"	3:52
7.	"Claire's Ninth"	3:50
8.	"Password"	5:21
9.	"From Above"	4:04
10.	"Saskia Hamilton"	3:06
11.	"Belinda"	6:13

All lyrics are written by Nick Hornby; all music is composed by Ben Folds.

Amazon bonus track

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Christian Life"	3:34

iTunes bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Picture Window" (Pop version)	4:04
2.	"Things You Think" (featuring Pomplamoose)	3:14
3.	"Lonely Avenue Trailer" (music video)	7:15

Personnel

• Ben Folds – vocals, piano, bass, drums, Roland Juno, Moog, Hammond, clav, acoustic guitars, wind chimes, ARP string ensemble, percussion, handclaps
• Joe Costa – handclaps
• Kate Miller-Heidke – vocals
• Keir Nuttall – primal screams
• Jared Reynolds – bass, backing vocals
• Jack Jezioro, Joel Reist – bass
• Sam Smith – drums, backing vocals
• Chad Chapin – acoustic guitar, primal percussion, percussion, glockenspiel, backing vocals
• Andrew Higley – Wurlitzer, Fender Rhodes, Roland Jupiter, Roland Juno, Moog, French horn, backing vocals
• Paul Buckmaster – string arrangement, conductor
• David Davidson, David Angell, Carolyn Bailey, Christian Teal, Conni Ellisor, Connie Heard, Elisabeth Small, Karen Winkelmann, Kristina Siemer, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Stefan Petrescu, Wei Tsun Chang – violin
• Kristin Wilkinson – viola, contractor
• Chris Farrell, Kathryn Plummer, Monisa Angell – viola
• John Catchings, Anthony LaMarchina, Kirsten Greer, Sarighani Reist – cello
• Beth Beeson, Jennifer Kummer – French horn
• Jeff Bailey, Steve Patrick – trumpet
• Prentiss Hobbs, Roy Agee – trombone
• David Loucky – bass trombone