OutRun is the debut studio album by French electronic musician Kavinsky, released on 22 February 2013 by Record Makers, Vertigo Records and Mercury Records. Production for the album was handled primarily by Kavinsky, along with close friend and fellow French electro house artist Sebastian. The album is named after Sega's 1986 arcade game of the same name, which featured the Ferrari Testarossa.[1][2]
| OutRun | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 22 February 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2006–2012 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 44:26 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| Kavinsky chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from OutRun | ||||
| ||||
The concept behind OutRun follows Kavinsky's backstory of a young man who crashed his Testarossa in 1986 and reappeared in 2006 as a zombie who produces electronic music.[2][3][4] Kavinsky cites influences from 1980s video games, television cop shows such as Miami Vice, and the films of Dario Argento.[5]
Singles
"ProtoVision" was released on 10 December 2012 as the album's official lead single.[6] The music video, directed by Marcus Herring, was released on 7 December 2012 on Vimeo and on 10 December 2012 on YouTube.[7][8]
Usage in media
A one-minute snippet of the song "Odd Look" was used in a 2012 French commercial for BMW i, which was shown in cinemas.[9][10] "Nightcall" plays during the opening credits of the 2011 film Drive.[1] "Roadgame" has been used by Mercedes-Benz in a 2012 French commercial and in 2015 for the Italian commercial of the CLA Shooting Brake. It was also used when Manchester City players and their staff arrives at the Etihad Stadium from their bus during their home matches. In a British 2021 TV commercial for Gusto pre-prepared food ingredient boxes, a short clip of "Rampage" was used as an example of 80's electronica.
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 75/100[11] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Consequence of Sound | [12] |
| Drowned in Sound | 6/10[13] |
| The Independent | [14] |
| Mixmag | 4/5[15] |
| NME | 8/10[16] |
| Pitchfork | 6.3/10[3] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[17] |
| Spin | 8/10[18] |
OutRun received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 12 reviews.[11]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prelude" |
| Kavinsky |
| 1:54 |
| 2. | "Blizzard" |
| Sebastian | 3:27 | |
| 3. | "ProtoVision" |
|
| 3:26 | |
| 4. | "Odd Look" (featuring Sebastian) |
| Sebastian | 4:49 | |
| 5. | "Rampage" |
| Sebastian | 2:55 | |
| 6. | "Suburbia" (featuring Havoc) | Havoc | Kavinsky |
| 3:28 |
| 7. | "Testarossa Autodrive" | Kavinsky | Kavinsky | 3:37 | |
| 8. | "Nightcall" (featuring Lovefoxxx) |
|
|
| 4:18 |
| 9. | "Deadcruiser" | Kavinsky | Kavinsky | 3:33 | |
| 10. | "Grand Canyon" |
|
| 3:12 | |
| 11. | "First Blood" (featuring Tyson) |
|
|
| 3:04 |
| 12. | "Roadgame" |
|
| 3:44 | |
| 13. | "Endless" |
| Kavinsky | Kavinsky | 2:59 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "ProtoVision" (Red Sky Mix featuring Sugar Tongue Slim) | 3:02 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of OutRun.[20]
Musicians
- Kavinsky – vocals (tracks 4, 8, 12)
- Paul Hahn – voice (tracks 1, 13)
- Raw Man – guitars (tracks 2, 3, 11)
- Sebastian – vocals (track 4)
- Havoc – vocals (track 6)
- Lovefoxxx – vocals (track 8)
- Tyson – vocals (track 11)
- José Reis Fontão – backing vocals (track 11)
Technical
- Kavinsky – production (tracks 1, 3, 6–12)
- Sebastian – production (tracks 1–6, 10–12); mixing (all tracks)
- A-Trak – recording (track 6)
- Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo – production (track 8)
- Florian Lagatta – engineering (track 8)
- David Mestre – recording (track 11)
Artwork
- The Directors Bureau Special Projects – album art concept, photography
- Marcus Herring – director
- Tari Segal – director of photography
- Benjamin Glovitz – production
- Duffy Culligan – executive production
- Charlotte Delarue – art direction
- Adrien Blanchat – image manipulation
- Graphame – layout
Charts
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| France (SNEP)[31] | Gold | 50,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 22 February 2013 | Mercury | [32] |
| Ireland |
| [33] | |
| France | 25 February 2013 | [34] | |
| United Kingdom | [35] | ||
| United States | 26 February 2013 | [36] | |
| Australia | 1 March 2013 | Universal | [37] |
| Italy | 12 March 2013 | [38] |