CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

UN (album)

album by Dan Black

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ4052359 ↗
Source-derived summary

UN (styled as ((UN))) is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Dan Black, the former lead singer of the alternative rock band, The Servant. The album was released in the UK on 13 July 2009 by Polydor, and later in the United States on 16 February 2010 by A&M Records.

The album was recorded entirely by Black and debuted to generally mixed reviews from music critics, with some praising its sound and others denouncing its lack of originality.

Conception

Black spent a year creating material for the album, writing over seventy songs. However, Black later referred to many of them as 'rubbish'. Prince, DJ Shadow, Beck, and De La Soul have all been cited as having a significant influence on the album. Black conceived the title UN meaning "one" in order to signify his debut album.

However, Black has stated that the album's title also refers to its substance, such as, "un-rock, un-hip hop, un-everything".

Recording

Black recorded the album entirely on his laptop in the basement of his apartment in Paris, in a span of two months. In the studio, Black would work alone as long as twelve hours at a time.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “UN (album)” as album by Dan Black. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2009, 2010—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2009-07-13. The account is most persuasive where album and Black can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as album by Dan Black. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4052359. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2009 and 2010.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “UN (album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow UN (album) primary sources, UN (album) archive and album research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “UN (album)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “UN (album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.