23 (Blonde Redhead album)

23 was self-produced by Blonde Redhead.^[9] The members of the band stated that while working on 23, they aimed to be more "spontaneous" in their songwriting; "for simplicity and clarity"; and to avoid overanalyzing their compositions.^[9] Drummer Simone Pace said that he found it "nerve-wracking" to begin recording the album with only loose ideas for songs.^[9] Mitchell Froom collaborated with Blonde Redhead for several days in the middle of the album's recording period, assisting the band on two tracks, "Silently" and "Top Ranking".^[9]

Lead vocalist Kazu Makino admitted that making 23 "wasn't an entirely enjoyable experience", adding: "Without a producer, a referee, we could really get on each other's cases. It got intense."^[9] Guitarist Amedeo Pace stated that the band was unsure of the album's direction until the mixing stage.^[9]

Artist Alex Gross designed the album's cover art.^[10]

23 was released by the label 4AD on April 10, 2007, in the United States.^[11] It debuted at number 63 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart, selling roughly 11,000 copies in its first week of release.^[12] In the United Kingdom, the album was released on April 16, 2007.^[11]

The track "23" was released on April 2, 2007, as a one-track 7-inch vinyl single.^[13] "Silently" was released on May 28, 2007, as a digital EP featuring the additional tracks "(We Are a Real Team) Harry and I" and "Signs Along the Path",^[14] and as a 7-inch vinyl single featuring an alternate version of "(We Are a Real Team) Harry and I" on the B-side.^[15]

Melodie McDaniel directed the first official music video for "23".^[16] Mike Mills directed music videos for five of the album's tracks: "23", "My Impure Hair", "Silently", "The Dress" and "Top Ranking".^[17] The "Top Ranking" video stars actress Miranda July.^[18]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	83/100[19]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	A−[20]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[6]
The Guardian	[21]
Mojo	[22]
Pitchfork	7.0/10[23]
Q	[24]
Spin	[8]
Uncut	8/10[25]
Urb	[26]

Close

23 was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 83, based on 30 reviews.^[19] Heather Phares of AllMusic noted that on 23, Blonde Redhead "trades the cloistered chamber rock" of their previous album Misery Is a Butterfly (2004) "for tone-bending dream pop and subtle electronics".^[2] She found that "while the wide open spaces sound a little bare at first, this streamlined approach ends up making this Blonde Redhead's loveliest and most accessible work yet."^[2] The A.V. Club's Michaelangelo Matos said that the band's stylistic shift toward a "softer" sound "fits them exceptionally well."^[20] Entertainment Weekly critic Simon Vozick-Levinson praised 23 as "an enthralling listen, proving once and for all that they deserve the wide success of fellow travelers like Radiohead and Sonic Youth."^[6]

Pitchfork's D. Shawn Bosler was more reserved in his praise, finding the songs on 23 to be "well-written" but overproduced.^[23] Dave Simpson of The Guardian felt that the album is marred by "muddy, unfocused production", despite having "more than most seventh albums' share of otherworldly pop delights."^[21] Joe Gross of Spin stated that the band lapses into "overheated ambience", and was particularly critical of Amedeo Pace's "wailing, overemotive" vocals.^[8]

At the end of 2007, American webzine Somewherecold listed 23 as one of the year's best albums.^[27] In 2016, Pitchfork ranked 23 as the 30th best shoegaze album of all time.^[5]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[10]