Man Alive is the debut studio album by British band Everything Everything. Recorded in various studios across England and Wales between 2008 and 2010 with producer David Kosten, it was released on 27 August 2010 in the United Kingdom through Geffen Records. The album peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. The songs "Suffragette Suffragette", "Photoshop Handsome", "MY KZ, UR BF" and "Schoolin'" were released as singles between 2008 and 2010, though the first three were re-recorded for the album. The songs on Man Alive draw from a wide variety of styles, such as math rock, R&B, hip hop, electronica, baroque, and choral music, with overtly detailed lyrics sung by Jonathan Higgs in a rhythmic, falsetto style. Several of the songs originated as demos made by Higgs on his laptop, which were refined and expanded upon in the studio, though some tracks simply remixed Higgs' demos. The album was received well by critics, and placed highly on year-end "best of" lists; British magazine The Fly declared it the fifth-best album of 2010, while NME placed it at number 43. It and its tracks were nominated for two Ivor Novello Awards, and the album was also nominated for the 2011 Mercury Prize. Critics praised the album for its originality and versatility, whilst others felt it lacked a clear direction and found the complexity of the material difficult to follow. Recording and production The majority of Man Alive was recorded at Bryn Derwen Studios, a small residential studio in Bethesda, Gwynedd, Wales. The band recorded songs originally developed over a two-year period in two-week stints. The band brought David Kosten on board to produce after previously working together on the "MY KZ, UR BF" single in 2009, which was received positively. These sessions were the first to feature guitarist Alex Robertshaw, who stepped in to replace Alex Niven after he left the band to resume his studies. Promotion and release The album's cover art, depicting an urban red fox, is based on a photograph by Swiss photographer Laurent Geslin. Additional photography on the album art was contributed by Paul Cecil. The album was released on 27 August 2010 through Geffen Records in the United Kingdom. Higgs told the NME that the band chose the title from the lyrics on the record, and that they briefly toyed with "Taj Mahal" as a potential title. To commemorate the release, they played a