Imagination & the Misfit Kid

Imagination & the Misfit Kid is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Labrinth, released on 22 November 2019. The album was recorded in London and New York City and features vocals by singers Sia and Zendaya. While the album did not chart upon release, it entered the charts in 2022 when the single "Mount Everest" was featured in Euphoria, and was included in both of Labrinth's scores for the show.

Imagination & the Misfit Kid
Studio album by Labrinth
Released	22 November 2019 (2019-11-22)
Length	38:49
Label	Syco RCA[1]
Producer	Labrinth Nathaniel Ledwidge Ilya Darren Poole
Labrinth chronology
Euphoria (Original Score from the HBO Series) (2019) Imagination & the Misfit Kid (2019) Euphoria Season 2 Official Score (From the HBO Original Series) (2022)
Singles from Imagination & the Misfit Kid
"Misbehaving" Released: 15 September 2017 "Miracle" Released: 7 June 2019 "Mount Everest" Released: 21 June 2019 "All for Us" Released: 30 June 2019 "Something's Got to Give" Released: 16 August 2019 "Where the Wild Things" Released: 31 October 2019[2] "Like a Movie" Released: 8 November 2019[3] "Oblivion" Released: 22 November 2019

Background

In an October 2019 interview, Labrinth described Imagination & the Misfit Kid as a "concept collection about a child who sells his imagination to a businessman in exchange for success",^[4] while the album announcement called it an "adventure is laced together by the story of a journey through art, commerce, and imagination."^[5] The album was released for digital download and streaming on 22 November 2019, with the LP released on 28 February 2020.^[6]

"Misbehaving" was released as the first single from the record on 15 September 2017. "Miracle", "Mount Everest", "All for Us", "Something's Got To Give", "Where the Wild Things" and "Like a Movie" were released as singles prior to the album release in 2019. "Oblivion" served as the album's eighth single. Imagination & the Misfit Kid was written and produced entirely by Labrinth, with additional writing by Darren Poole, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ammar Malik, Jason Evigan and Cass Lowe on select tracks. Labrinth wrote "Oblivion" with featured artist Sia, and the song was later re-recorded and featured on her 2021 album Music – Songs from and Inspired by the Motion Picture.^[7]

The album's music is influenced by hip-hop, electro, gospel, video game music, and the sounds of the '70s and '80s.^[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	7/10[8]
The Observer	[9]

In her review for Clash, Narzra Ahmed stated that Labrinth has "plenty of fun with his sound" and scored the album seven out of ten.^[8] Alex Green of the Belfast Telegraph, who positively reviewed the album, stated that it was "simultaneously more experimental and more jam-packed with potential pop hits than his debut",^[10] while Damien Morris of The Observer gave the album one out of five stars, opining that Labrinth's "inventive music is decent in tiny bursts, but wearying at album length".^[9] The track "Where the Wild Things" was included on Time magazine's five best songs of the week of 1 November 2019. The list's curator, Raisa Bruner praised the song as "consistently compelling".^[11]

Appearances in other media

The song "All for Us" was performed by American singer Zendaya in the first season finale of the drama series Euphoria.^[12] It garnered the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics in 2020.^[13]

The song "Mount Everest" was added to the soundtrack of the video game "UFC 4" "Like a Movie" appears in Apple's iPhone 13 Pro 'Hollywood in your pocket' TV ad campaign,^[14] while "Dotted Line / Juju Man" is featured in the Netflix fantasy comedy film We Have a Ghost (2023).

Track listing

Imagination & the Misfit Kid track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Imagination"	Timothy McKenzie	Labrinth	1:30
2.	"Misbehaving" (The Misfit version)	McKenzie	Labrinth Nathaniel Ledwidge	3:13
3.	"Miracle"	McKenzie Darren Poole Ilya Salmanzadeh	Labrinth Ilya	3:49
4.	"Juju Woman"	McKenzie	Labrinth	0:48
5.	"Dotted Line / Juju Man"	McKenzie	Labrinth	3:02
6.	"All for Us" (with Zendaya)	McKenzie	Labrinth	3:11
7.	"The Producer"	McKenzie	Labrinth	2:43
8.	"Something's Got to Give"	McKenzie Poole Ammar Malik Jason Evigan	Labrinth Poole[a] Ledwidge[a]	3:50
9.	"I'm Blessed"	McKenzie	Labrinth	0:50
10.	"Like a Movie"	McKenzie	Labrinth	2:20
11.	"Sexy MF"	McKenzie	Labrinth Ledwidge	2:58
12.	"Where the Wild Things"	McKenzie Cass Lowe	Labrinth	3:18
13.	"Mount Everest"	McKenzie	Labrinth	2:37
14.	"The Finale"	McKenzie	Labrinth	0:27
15.	"Oblivion" (featuring Sia)	McKenzie Sia Furler	Labrinth Ilya	4:13
Total length:				38:49

Charts

Chart performance for Imagination & the Misfit Kid

Chart (2022)	Peak position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[15]	77
French Albums (SNEP)[16]	194
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[17]	27
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18]	32
US Billboard 200[19]	151

Certifications

Certifications for Imagination & the Misfit Kid

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[20]	Gold	20,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history and formats for Imagination & the Misfit Kid

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Various	22 November 2019	Digital download streaming	Syco	[12]
Europe	28 February 2020	LP		[6][21]

References

1. Domanick, Andrea (22 August 2019). "Inside the World of Prolific Producer and 'Euphoria' Songwriter Labrinth". Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
2. Mamo, Heran (31 October 2019). "Labrinth Announces 'Imagination & the Misfit Kid' Album, Delivers Whimsical 'Where The Wild Things' Single". Billboard. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
3. Moodie, Alice (9 November 2019), "Labrinth Drops New Single "Like a Movie"", GRM Daily, archived from the original on 18 May 2020, retrieved 25 November 2019
4. Smyth, David (25 October 2019). "Labrinth interview: 'I felt like my crown was becoming a burden'". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
5. Aswad, Jem (12 November 2019). "Labrinth Inks With Columbia Records". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
6. McKenzie, Timothy [@Labrinth] (12 February 2020). "Imagination & the Misfit Kid Vinyl coming February 28th. Pre-order now: https://syco.lnk.to/Imagination-Vinyl" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 February 2020 – via Twitter.
7. Croft, Emily (15 February 2021). "Sia's newest "Music" falls flat". Xavier Newswire. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
8. Ahmed, Narzra (20 November 2019). "Labrinth – Imagination & The Misfit Kid". Clash. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
9. Morris, Damien (8 December 2019). "Labrinth: Imagination & the Misfit Kid review – inventive but wearying". The Observer. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
10. "Albums of the week - from Rod Stewart to Martin and Shirlie Kemp". Belfast Telegraph. 22 November 2019. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
11. Bruner, Raisa (1 November 2019). "The 5 Best Songs to Listen to This Week From Dua Lipa's Disco Pop 'Don't Start Now' to Labrinth's Uplifting 'Where the Wild Things'". Time. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
12. Saponara, Michael (22 November 2019). "Labrinth Unleashes 'Imagination & the Misfit Kid' Album Featuring Sia & Zendaya: Stream it Now". Billboard. Archived from the original on 26 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
13. Willman, Chris (28 July 2020). "Emmy Music Nominations Include Dual Score/Song Nods for Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Labrinth; Nathan Barr Earns Three (See Complete List)". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
14. iPhone 13 Pro – Hollywood in your pocket | Apple, archived from the original on 21 September 2021, retrieved 21 September 2021
15. "Labrinth Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
16. "Top Albums (Week 9, 2022)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
17. "2022 8-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 25 February 2022. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
18. "Album 2022 uke 8". VG-lista. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
19. "Labrinth Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
20. "Brazilian album certifications – Labrinth – Imagination and the Misfit Kid" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
21. "Imagination & The Misfit Kid [VINYL]". Amazon. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.