Away from the World is the eighth studio album by American jam band Dave Matthews Band. It was released on September 11, 2012 through RCA Records. The album was primarily recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle, Washington from January to May 2012 and is the band's first to be produced by Steve Lillywhite since Before These Crowded Streets (1998). It is the band's last album to feature full participation from violinist Boyd Tinsley before his departure in 2018.
The album was a commercial success, becoming the band's sixth straight number-one album on the Billboard 200. Two singles were released—"Mercy" and "If Only"—which both found success on Adult Alternative radio. Critical reception was positive, with many reviewers praising the album's production, band interplay, and fusion of multiple genres, and multiple publications including the album on year-end lists of the best albums of 2012.
Recording
Away from the World is the band's first album to be produced by Lillywhite since 1998, although he also worked with the band on their ill-fated "Lillywhite Sessions" in 2000, most of the songs from which were re-recorded with Stephen Harris for the band's 2002 release Busted Stuff. Frequent collaborator John Alagía also contributed, co-producing the tracks "Broken Things", "Mercy", and "Rooftop". Recording began at Studio Litho (established by Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam) in January 2012 and concluded in May of that year. On the band's recording process, Tinsley stated: Tower of Power's Roger Smith played Hammond organ on "If Only", while a youth chorus provided vocals on "Gaucho".
Release and reception
On April 24, Matthews debuted soon-to-be lead single "Mercy" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In May, "Gaucho" was made available for download from the band's website for members of the Warehouse Fan Association, although the song did not receive an official single release. Numerous tracks that would be included on the album—"Mercy", "Gaucho", "Sweet", "If Only", "The Riff", "Rooftop", "Snow Outside", and "Belly Belly Nice"—were all played on the band's 2012 summer tour. During the week leading up to the album's release, it was available to stream for free on iTunes. The album's title was taken from a lyric in "The Riff": "Sitting in a box/away from the world out there", which, according to Matthews, relates to the idea that "we are born and die alone" and that "our body is our box".
Commercial performance
The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200 with album sales of 266,000 in its first week, becoming the band's sixth consecutive album to top the chart. By the end of December 2012, the album had sold 458,000 copies. The album also peaked at the top of Billboard'''s Top Rock Albums chart, and reached No. 3 in Canada.
"Mercy" was released as the album's lead single on July 16. It became a number-one hit on the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart, and also reached No. 95 on the Hot 100 and No. 30 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. The second single, "If Only", was also successful on the AAA chart, reaching number 11.