音乐疗程 (2021)

Therapy is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Anne-Marie. It was released on 23 July 2021 through Major Tom's, Asylum, and Atlantic Records. A pop record, the album was produced by TMS, who previously produced her debut studio album, Speak Your Mind (2018), alongside Digital Farm Animals, Mojam, Nathan Dawe, Grades, Sire Noah, Lostboye, Cameron Gower Poole, Oak, Jean-Marie, Rudimental, Elvira Anderfjärd, Blake Slatkin, and Fred Ball. Therapy features guest appearances from producers Digital Farm Animals, Nathan Dawe, and Rudimental, alongside KSI, Little Mix, Niall Horan (previously of One Direction), and MoStack. Raye also provided backing vocals on the opening track, "x2".

Therapy was supported by four singles. "Don't Play", featuring KSI and Digital Farm Animals, peaked at number 2 on the UK singles chart, Anne-Marie's highest-charting single as a lead artist as of 2025. It also peaked at number 9 on the Irish Singles Chart and was certified Platinum in the UK. The second single, "Way Too Long" featuring Nathan Dawe and MoStack, was peaked at number 37 in both the UK and Ireland and was certified Silver. The third single, "Our Song" (featuring Niall Horan), peaked at number 13 in the UK and number 7 in Ireland, and was certified Platinum in the UK. The fourth and final single, "Kiss My (Uh-Oh)", peaked at number 10 on the UK singles chart, where it certified Platinum.

Therapy was positively received by music critics, who praised the guest appearances and Anne-Marie's vocals, but criticized its lack of a unique sound and confusing direction. The album charted higher in the UK than its predecessor, Speak Your Mind, peaking at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It also charted at number 4 and number 2 in Ireland and Scotland, and at number 3 on Ultratop's Belgian Albums Chart in Flanders. The album would eventually be certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for equivalent sales of 100,000 units in the country. To promote the album, Anne-Marie went on the Dysfunctional Tour, which featured artists such as Gracey, Billen Ted, and Mimi Webb. A deluxe edition would later be released, featuring the non-album singles "To Be Young" with Doja Cat and "Birthday", alongside a guest appearance from JJ Lin.

Background

Planning for Anne-Marie's second studio album began in 2019; in an interview with Music Week in March of that year, she provided information on her upcoming second studio album, stating: "I love the studio. I was able to get in there and have some sort of therapy with my own brain for a week and that's going towards the next album". She further commented that "the first album was made up of so many songs that people had heard for years and that's amazing. But for me as a creative person, I'm writing something new all the time and all I want to do is put it out straight away. That wasn't the way it happened with [the debut] album so, for this next one, I'm hoping to be more active on writing and put something out straight away that's fresh and no one's heard before." During 2020, Anne-Marie released the standalone singles "Birthday", "Her", "To Be Young" (featuring American singer and rapper Doja Cat) and "Problems", with "Birthday" and "To Be Young" later appearing on the Japanese edition of Therapy.

Composition

Therapy is a pop album that draws influence from trance, indie, electronic, trap, UK garage, and pop rock. The opener, "x2", begins as a soulful song before turning into a revenge track. Lead single "Don't Play" was described as a 2-step-influenced UK garage track about heartache. "Kiss My (Uh-Oh)", a collaboration with Little Mix, was described as a calypso-pop number that was compared to the works of Beyoncé. It samples "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)" by Lumidee. "Who I Am" was described as a pop song with lyrics of defiance and self-acceptance. "Unlovable", a collaboration with Rudimental, is a "fist-pumping" dance track. "Beautiful" sees the singer detailing her own insecurities over what NME described as swaying percussion. The tracks "Tell Your Girlfriend" and "Better Not Together" both contain lyrics about turning heartbreak into self-confidence. The title track serves as the closer for the album, being a trop-pop number.

Promotion

On 15 January 2021, Anne-Marie released the lead single of Therapy, "Don't Play", in collaboration with British YouTuber and rapper-singer KSI and English DJ and producer Digital Farm Animals. On 9 April 2021, the second single "Way Too Long" was released in collaboration with English producer Nathan Dawe and British rapper MoStack. On 21 May 2021, the third single "Our Song", a collaboration with Niall Horan, was released. On that date, Anne-Marie announced the title, cover art, and release date of Therapy. She later announced that she would embark on the Dysfunctional Tour in 2022, and Therapy: The Live Experience on 7 August 2021 in support of the album.