Studio Album · No. 9
I Hope You're Happy Songwriting Credits by Blue October
Produced by Justin Furstenfeld · Engineered by Marshall Breedlove, Colin Leonard
Holds writing credit on 12 of 12 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 12 / 12 documented
Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Blue October carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
The authorship story here is Justin Furstenfeld's. He produced the whole album and holds a writing credit on all twelve tracks, so his name anchors every composer line. The co-writers rotate around him: frequent collaborator Dwight Baker on the opening run, Steve Schiltz on the title track and 'Colors Collide,' Blue Miller on 'How to Dance in Time,' Eric Holtz on 'King,' and guitarist Matthew Ostrander on the closing three songs. Bandmates Ryan Delahoussaye and Matt Noveskey appear as co-writers on a handful of cuts, and 'Remission in Cmaj' is Furstenfeld solo. Note the lineup: this album predates C.B. Hudson's later return, so the guitar chair belongs to Matthew Ostrander, not Hudson. Furstenfeld is the sole credited producer; longtime Blue October collaborator Tim Palmer handled final mixing rather than production, with per-track mixing spread across Mark Needham, Phil Tan, Damien Lewis, and Eric Holtz.
I Hope You're Happy is the ninth studio album by Blue October, released August 17, 2018 on the band's own Up/Down Records. It is the band's brightest and most pop-leaning record, built around frontman Justin Furstenfeld's recovery and gratitude rather than the darkness of his earlier work. Furstenfeld produced the album and co-wrote every song, pulling in outside collaborators like Dwight Baker, Steve Schiltz, Blue Miller, and Eric Holtz alongside bandmates Ryan Delahoussaye, Matt Noveskey, and guitarist Matthew Ostrander. The title track led the campaign, reaching the top fifteen on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart and becoming one of the band's biggest latter-day hits. The album reached number 28 on the Billboard 200 and topped out at number 2 on the Independent Albums chart, closing with the nine-minute suite 'Further Dive (The House That Dylan Built).'