The Evolution of Man is the fourth studio album by English musician Example, released on 19 November 2012 through Ministry of Sound.

The Evolution of Man
Studio album by Example
Released	19 November 2012 (2012-11-19)
Recorded	2012
Genre	Hip hop dance-rap[1] rock[2] pop[3]
Length	54:21
Label	Ministry of Sound
Producer	Alesso Benga Dirty South Feed Me Friction Calvin Harris Zane Lowe Moám Sheldrake Skream Alex Smith Tommy Trash
Example chronology
Playing in the Shadows (2011) The Evolution of Man (2012) #Hits (2013)
Singles from The Evolution of Man
"Say Nothing" Released: 16 September 2012 "Close Enemies" Released: 11 November 2012 "Perfect Replacement" Released: 24 February 2013

Background and development

Example tweeted that on the plane to Sydney, he planned on writing some songs for a new album and he would be listening to Kasabian's album Velociraptor! for lyrical inspiration. Whilst in Australia for 2 months, the singer planned to write the entire album in the time he spent there.

On 25 July 2012 Example announced via Twitter that the name of the lead single from his fourth album was "Say Nothing" – produced by Dirty South, also revealing it would premiere Monday 30 July 2012 on Capital FM. The track, alongside "Perfect Replacement" (produced by Feed Me), received its live debut on 18–19 August 2012 at the V Festival.

After fans' complaints about the lack of dubstep influence in "Say Nothing", Example responded to a comment on Facebook, saying "wait for the album, I'm not gonna fill the album with the same sounding song, and I'm not gonna keep releasing the same 'dubstep' or 'electro' record".[4]

The promotional video for "Come Taste the Rainbow" premiered on 19 October 2012 on Hunger TV. This was also uploaded later to Example's official YouTube channel.[5]

"Close Enemies", produced by Alex Smith, was released as the second single from the album on 11 November 2012, entering the UK Singles Chart at No. 37.

On 15 November, Greg James at BBC Radio 1 had the exclusive first play of "Perfect Replacement", with Example claiming that he "wanted it to be a single" but that there were "five or six" tracks that could be chosen as the third single. On 24 November, Example confirmed "Perfect Replacement" as the third single. Previous tweets had hinted towards "Queen of Your Dreams" becoming a future single. During a live hangout on Google+, he revealed that he struggles to reach the high notes and so he doesn't perform "Queen of Your Dreams" live.

From 11 February to 1 March 2013, Example and his live band completed their second UK arena tour. He performed six tracks from The Evolution of Man along with songs from his previous two albums Playing in the Shadows and Won't Go Quietly. The band consists of Gleave, Sheldrake, Johnny "Drummachine" and Kaikai (who replaced David Stewart as guitarist). He was supported by Benga on all dates and Micky Slim, Sway, Baller B and P Money on selected dates.

Singles

• "Say Nothing" is the album's lead single. It is produced by Dirty South, and was released on 16 September 2012. The single debuted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.[6]
• "Close Enemies" is the second single from the album. It is produced by Alex Smith, and was released on 11 November 2012. The single debuted at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart but debuted at number 7 on the UK Indie and dance.[6]
• "Perfect Replacement" is the third and final single from the album. It is produced by Feed Me and was released on 24 February 2013. The single peaked at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart but it peaked at number 7 on the UK Indie chart and number 9 on the UK Dance chart[6]

Reception

The album received mostly mixed to positive reviews from music critics.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
BBC Music	(favourable)[7]
Digital Spy	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
The Independent	[10]
NME	[2]
SB.TV	(favourable)[3]
Time Out London	[11]
Virgin Media	[12]

Track listing

Notes

• Track listing and credits from album booklet.
• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^b} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^c} signifies a remixer

Personnel

Charts

Release history

References