Paris (mixtape)

Paris is the name of the first mixtape from Chicago singer-songwriter A Censored Sunlight. The first single, "The Middle Man" was released on August 11, 2012 via Malone's blog and SoundCloud. It is produced entirely by Malone, using GarageBand and GarageBand for iPhone. This has been compared to the planned EP from A Censored Sunlight, ihes iluna, which was produced with GarageBand for iPhone, but was cancelled and repurposed. The mixtape was released in full on August 13, 2012 on the ACS BandCamp for five dollars, but was given a price drop on October 1, 2012 that would make the mixtape permenantly free. Paris includes the song "One Missed Call," that was co-written by Angelica Barragan.

Background
At around 11 PM on August 11, 2012, Nick Malone released a new track called "The Middle Man." It was described as the "neo-jazz approach to a diss track."

"I'm really not an aggressive enough songwriter to write a song that like knocks other people off thier high horse, but I had this really mean sounding track put together, so I decided to make it seem like I was the 'one to watch' as far as teen musicians go. One of my goals with this track is to show that I don't just write these songs that are all doom and gloom- I am a versatile lyricist... I can write a song that is this weird indo-hybrid-soul-rant and make it work..."

The new song features a fast bass line and Middle Eastern percussion, as well as a electric piano solo. It also showcases simple vocal harmonies from Malone.

Along with the release of "The Middle Man," Malone announced a "new mixtape" called Paris. It was described as "self produced, using GarageBand and with my iPhone." Malone also stated that it may include previously made cuts from the cancelled EPs, The Origin and ihes iluna, such as "The Head + The Heart" and "A Brief History of Pain."

Malone claims to have recorded the mixtape over the course of one weekend after receiving inspiration from The Middle Man, however the set was still criticized for using almost only GarageBand loops for backing tracks. The mixtape did not generate any singles, promotional or commercial.

Influences
Malone addressed in a blog post that his songs were starting to sound very similar, and the goal with the new mixtape was to break away from that sound and avoid using his go-to chords.

"I'm done being sad, really. I wrote a fourteen track set of sadness, I'm over it. I was listening to a lot of sad music when I was writing Bloodlines, so I got a whole new set of influences that are way happier. I'm listening to a lot of Marina and the Diamonds, Alex Clare, Uffie, Azealia Banks, The Lumineers, James Taylor, Jun Miyake, The Prodigy- I mean I love the sadcore stuff like Lana Del Rey, but you can only take so much inspiration from one person."

Malone described what his fans can expect from Paris:

"If you think I can only pull off a record like Bloodlines, you're going to be very caught off guard with this mixtape. It's going to be a lot different in comparison. It's very aggressive, and has a lot of energy. A lot of weird percussion and things I couldn't use with the songs I was writing before. I think people will be pleasantly surprised."

Track Listing
The full track listing was announced early in the day on August 13, 2012, and the mixtape was released digitally that evening. Malone wrote all the melodies and lyrics himself except for "One Missed Call" which was the second co-write ever from the songwriter. The song was written with another local teen songwriter, Angelica Barragan. Malone ended up releasing the two full songs from the ihes iluna EP, The Head + The Heart and A Brief History of Pain.