The purpose built next generation interstellar Dawn Richard thread

it's p hard to fuck up claire de lune tbh, probably the greatest song ever written (no lie)

outro is wonderful, seriously one of the most affecting and satisfying finales to an album i can recall i think

pure pure pure after-the-curtain-falls lonely spotlight schmaltz but so good

even its borrowedness is meaningful

the 'pretty wicked things'/'goldenheart' suite p much completely rejects this reading of dawn as mildly autistic fantasist

the sorrow for the "fallen tales" of the former, then the yearning once more for "white knights, white horses" of the latter is a prism you can read the entire album through

The final third of this album is fantastic, although I'm a bit underwhelmed by the rest, especially the first third. Think it's something to do with Dawn's vocal presence, like she's gone for for stateliness over the snap of Armor On and Tell Tale Heart. Like she sounds like she's floating over the top of the battle surrounded by a disc of light when on previous records she'd have been right in the fray.

'86 video. danity kane tribute or shade?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-C_NAt6uHY

the album actually took several listens for me to really get my head around/into it (partly because i only had an unmastered copy for ages) but it was def the less in-your-face final third that took the most time for me to fall for.

i loved "bombs" and "automatic", but even on armor on, by the end of the ep you'd pretty much left them behind, and it would feel odd for similar songs with that hip-hop snap to be on goldenheart...

Yeah I'm definitely prepared for it to open up before me, but the final third clicked immediately, maybe because the vocal melodies are stronger. I'm kind of missing the rhythmic tricksiness of Armor On as well, a lot of this one is very... hymnal, even over the bangers. Northern Lights is great though.

there's so much going on rhythmically here though - all those handclaps interacting with the main rhythm line in so many of the tracks...

does anyone else have the problem that 'gleaux' just makes you want to go and listen to Last Train To Paris another eleven times? (i can only assume that's why pretty wicked things comes next, to keep you from wandering away)

it would feel odd for similar songs with that hip-hop snap to be on goldenheart...

Why? There are some pretty in-your-face beats on the first half of the album, it's full of battle imagery.

I suppose the chorus of Pretty Wicked Thing encapsulates the sort of thing I'm getting at, there are several moments here where her vocal presence and melodies don't quite do justice to the force of the track (and the production is great throughout).

this album is fucking nuts, and also completely incredible

kind of curious to see how reviewers approach it, especially with the full-on commitment to the warrior motif, and the lack of pop / calling-card track to rally around

but like, the gauntlet for AOTY 2013 has well and truly been thrown down

lol that our mutual love of dawn has turned us all into LARPers

LARP&B

somebody needs to cut the 86 video to just the fight scenes and dub MORTAL KOOOMBAAAT over it

dawn is seaux pretty~~~ my heart is gonna expleauxde

if any reviewers cover it at all (apart from already known fans) it'll be a minor victory

lmao @ the actual golden heart she picks up from the forest floor, I wonder if she bought it on etsy

my goal in life is to go to a comiccon w/ dawn

that 86 video is really lame

if any reviewers cover it at all (apart from already known fans) it'll be a minor victory

― lex pretend, Tuesday, January 15, 2013 6:55 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its getting near universal love on my twitter feed anyway im sure its just a thinkpiece away from being called the most brilliant record ever made or w/e

i like it but think its sounds kind of same-y

lol @ anyone who thought the chief keef album displayed wildly varying styles thinking this album sounds same-y

you have to be kidding me

yeah tbh I'm trollin u a lil bit

haha 乒乓 otm

only a lil tho

kinda trolly but also true

i mean if you think an album that contains "riot", "gleaux" and "300" sounds samey, uhhh

i should have known better than to challenge the great consensus record of january 2013 but while i like individual tracks over the course of the record this sounds way more of a piece than a rap record that had what 5 different producers that included tracks recorded for three different projects

its getting near universal love on my twitter feed anyway

well ditto but i can pretty much name every critic who loves it, which is not the same thing as people outside this twitter circle giving a fuck, which they didn't about armor on

nahhhh it's not a consensus record. a bunch of people love it but there are certain people i follow who are kind of bellwethers for consensus hype records (more industry-focused journalists etc) and they don't care at all

yes but you being able to name everyone who likes it doesnt mean that ppl wont all be loving it in 2 mo. after the guilt-tripping thinkpieces about why this is being slept on. i mean, it just went #1 on itunes R&B/soul

to me, this record is cool but in a faint echoes of LTTP way, but where that record had variety, this one sticks to pretty much one overarching feel, imo. LTTP is the record w/ which by comparison this feels 'samey'

idk like i said ... i like it. it just feels premature that everyone is so completely on board from jump

if we're gonna fight about this album i'm gonna need some sandals and a shield, brb

nah all you need is love on your armoured chest

a thousand soldiers against one sword

kinda soon to be running your mouth on this album tbh deej

i already have a sword, it glows when trolls are near

I am pretty sure all of Dawn's releases go to #1 on iTunes

armor on went #1 on itunes r&b too, no?

i've been kinda nervous about what others would think because i've had it for so long w/o being able to talk about it, and it def was not immediate for me, so it's really gratifying that people are on board immediately

it's not really similar enough to LTTP in its aims/sounds/scope for the comparison to really mean much imo - also the whole point of LTTP was the theatrical multiplicity of voices and sounds and perspectives, whereas this is an album from a singular singer-songwritery pov that's specifically designed to be a cohesive work

xps

I was about to say, isn't the whole idea the fact that it's one overarching presentation? It even feels like it, thus my sequencing comments.

the thing about iTunes is they update their sales ranks constantly (hourly?) so if you get a cult rushing the gates when something first drops, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll sell enough throughout the week to do major damage on the Billboard charts. although it would be pretty cool if she does crazy numbers for an independent R&B release.

idk after the last year encouraging critics to get stoked about an R&B record feels like a downhill battle, like, not that miguel & frank arent good but after that jeremih nonsense im kind of like, critics will buy anything

notice im using the word 'battle' in keeping w/ the record's theme

i'm a little mystified by how people who slept on Jeremih's albums bumrushed the mixtape, but i mean it was good music

mmm we already discussed the kind of r&b record critics refuse to get excited about though didn't we

sure well enjoy your cheerleading i feel like this record wont withstand the long term SUPERENTHUSIASTIC CLASSIC scrutiny but more power to you b/c it is a good record. dont feel like its turning my head upside down or anything

nobody even used the c-word you c-word

i would never, ever use the word "classic" about an album in its week of release lol

save that for the kendrick stans

is there a mordy thread you can do this on

imo only lex will have heard this enough by now to validly declare whether it's samey or not, let alone start jumping off into how it relates to its barely embryonic place in the critical landscape

in other words put a sock in it lunatic