idk alfred this might not be a record for you
it is definitely a record for me
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, 9 May 2014 16:34 (nine years ago) link
like the vast dimensional swaths of reverb actually lend a warmth and drama to the songs, reminds me of a more functional lanois production
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, 9 May 2014 16:41 (nine years ago) link
xp I dunno, this seems like a pretty direct, earnest album that anybody could get behind.
I don't get the "omg she worked with Greg Kurstin" dismissal at all. It's like like Kurstin is Max Martin or something, and I really don't hear his stamp on this at all. For all its uumph, I think the production does a great job staying out of the way
― Evan R, Friday, 9 May 2014 16:44 (nine years ago) link
it isn't a dismissal -- two out of his three tracks are the best ones on the album! -- and if anything this needed *more* of him. but I just don't think it's good criticism to be like "she moved to L.A. to ~*find herself*~" when if you look at the industry (and "I Follow Rivers" being a surprise(?) chart hit after the fact) there are more likely reasons. (the same goes, fwiw, for "you just need to break up with someone, then you'll understand")
― katherine, Friday, 9 May 2014 16:59 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, I rolled my eyes a bit at the break-up narrative, since it's one of those tropes critics have a way of overstating. Mirah also just came out with a new album the same week that was also born of A Really Hard Break Up. Break-ups aren't nearly as rare or exotic as critics make them out to be sometimes; they're a pretty universal experience.
But I understand why they play it up for albums like this. It's pretty clearly a break-up album, and having that autobiographical context, however oversimplified, really does help listeners connect to records. And since critics play up and overstate any narrative they're handed (It's their first album in three years! First album with a new bassist! First album after moving from one indie label to another! Etc) I don't think there's anything that unusual about how they framed this one
― Evan R, Friday, 9 May 2014 17:07 (nine years ago) link
for the record i think the pr narrative about this record both overexplains and hinders it, and personally i am a fan of luxuriating semi-identical sadnesses but i might find them tiresome if the whole thing exceeded 30 minutes
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, 9 May 2014 17:10 (nine years ago) link
the new one has grown on me a ton
― Mordy, Wednesday, 17 September 2014 23:21 (nine years ago) link
I was in the midst of a break-up depression when it came out so I listened to it once and put it away. Perhaps it's time to reassess.
― Insane Prince of False Binaries (Gukbe), Thursday, 18 September 2014 00:11 (nine years ago) link
this record will probably attach to fall nicely
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 18 September 2014 01:03 (nine years ago) link
^^ It really, really does. Love how unabashedly honest this record is. Frequently getting This Mortal Coil vibes too, which make it all the more autumn-y. Love it.
― definite classic, predicting a solid 8/10 from the p-fork boys (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 8 October 2014 20:15 (nine years ago) link
New album coming in June called, So Sad So Sexy. Sean from Drowned In Sound has said the new songs he's heard sound like Aaliyah and Prince. Apparently it's her return to pop and two new singles are coming next week. Looking forward to this even though her last album didn't really do anything for me.
― kitchen person, Monday, 16 April 2018 01:58 (six years ago) link
Sean from Drowned In Sound has said the new songs he's heard sound like Aaliyah and Prince
I would bet this is completely inaccurate
― boxedjoy, Monday, 16 April 2018 20:59 (six years ago) link
You're probably right, but it did get my hopes up.
― kitchen person, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 02:07 (six years ago) link
The album is out June 8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO408PZgek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ5zqTEDeHc
01 hard rain02 deep end03 two nights [ft. Aminé]04 last piece05 jaguars in the air06 sex money feelings die07 so sad so sexy08 better alone09 bad woman10 utopia
― monotony, Thursday, 19 April 2018 04:54 (six years ago) link
Not sure about these new songs. They're ok, they just don't have the character of her first two albums. Hopefully they'll grow on me.
― kitchen person, Thursday, 19 April 2018 14:12 (six years ago) link
Major 3LW vibes on "Deep End"
― Evan R, Thursday, 19 April 2018 14:39 (six years ago) link
06 sex money feelings die
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 14:47 (six years ago) link
I really like these! It's nice to hear some grit behind her soft voice, even if it is borrowed sadcore-trap vibes from Lana Del Rey.
"sounds like Aaliyah and Prince" is gonna be my new ironic refereence in talking about people who don't understand anything remotely r&b influenced in the present.
― boxedjoy, Thursday, 19 April 2018 20:41 (six years ago) link
99% of the time, a trap beat makes me tune right out. No different here.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 19 April 2018 21:32 (six years ago) link
"deep end" is pretty cool but considering it was produced by jeff bhasker, malay & t-minus it also feels a bit like less than the sum of its parts to me. nb ive never had a use for her music but the way ppl were talking about this one got me to check it out
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 19 April 2018 21:37 (six years ago) link
The swimming pools / indigo / deep blue hook in Deep End is real nice.
― triggercut, Friday, 20 April 2018 05:36 (six years ago) link
Really disappointed with the new album. Totally passed me by the couple of times I listened to it.
― kitchen person, Thursday, 7 June 2018 22:50 (five years ago) link
What’s it like?
― Slippage (Ross), Friday, 8 June 2018 12:40 (five years ago) link
im liking it
― johnny crunch, Friday, 8 June 2018 14:40 (five years ago) link
Same!
― Slippage (Ross), Friday, 8 June 2018 14:49 (five years ago) link
Albums super short. Template seems to be the prior collab with ASAP and the Lynch ballad
― Slippage (Ross), Friday, 8 June 2018 16:27 (five years ago) link
Why in God’s name did she use vocoder on this
― Slippage (Ross), Friday, 8 June 2018 20:50 (five years ago) link
man this album is a grower, it's great
― Slippage (Ross), Sunday, 10 June 2018 15:39 (five years ago) link
i've only heard "two nights" so far, like it
― dyl, Monday, 11 June 2018 21:18 (five years ago) link
Record is very dense production wise. Full of miniature details and very self contained. I absolutely love the opening song
― Slippage (Ross), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 00:42 (five years ago) link
The general reaction for this album seems above average, critically and just user opinions I’ve read. Which is fair as the album is so short and ends on “utopia” which is a stunner of a song, at 34 mins this is succinct.
This record feels transitory to me in that her last one was a fairly bummer ride compared to previous work, but here she seems to be reconciling? Not as much a shift as sundfors last two to draw a comparison.
― Slippage (Ross), Wednesday, 13 June 2018 00:19 (five years ago) link
in love with this record
the concise nature makes every song shine, it's gorgeous
― sunburst N snowblind (Ross), Tuesday, 19 June 2018 06:14 (five years ago) link
wow someone really loved "High By The Beach" a lot eh
― boxedjoy, Monday, 16 July 2018 17:26 (five years ago) link
I had put off listening to this because the last one was such a washout but this is much better, maybe lacking a great single but possibly her best full album?
― boxedjoy, Monday, 16 July 2018 17:28 (five years ago) link
Great record
― Ross, Monday, 16 July 2018 18:31 (five years ago) link
I'm still not enjoying this as much as I want to. It certainly is a step up from the last album, but it's nowhere near the quality of her first two albums for me. Wounded Rhymes is my favourite.
― kitchen person, Tuesday, 17 July 2018 04:19 (five years ago) link
I never learn is a masterpiece u philistines
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 17 July 2018 05:19 (five years ago) link
this one has some good bits but imho they’re the most familiar bits (bad woman, last piece)
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 17 July 2018 05:22 (five years ago) link
I'm starting to come around to this album. I keep getting the chorus to Jaguars In The Air stuck in my head.
― kitchen person, Saturday, 21 July 2018 14:58 (five years ago) link
the 'u got it bad' cover is decent
https://open.spotify.com/track/4Dg5moVCTqxAb7Wr8Dq2T5?si=Wr6xOHL6RWSldgf4TvY6Tg
― maura, Friday, 10 August 2018 14:57 (five years ago) link
No comment as yet it seems on her most recent album EYEYE - it's extremely doleful, maybe even more so than I Never Learn. I wasn't wild about the last album but this one seems like a big improvement to me.
― monotony, Friday, 3 June 2022 06:19 (one year ago) link