Live Forever (Bartees Strange album)
2020 studio album by Bartees Strange
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Live Forever is the debut studio album by English-born American musician Bartees Strange. It was released on October 2, 2020, by Memory Music.[10]
| Live Forever | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 2, 2020 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, hip hop, jazz[1] | |||
| Length | 35:24 | |||
| Label | Memory Music | |||
| Bartees Strange chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Live Forever | ||||
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| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.7/10[2] |
| Metacritic | 83/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Beats Per Minute | 81%[4] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10[5] |
| Flood Magazine | 8/10[6] |
| Paste | 7.7/10[7] |
| Pitchfork | 8.2/10[8] |
| Under the Radar | 8/10[9] |
Production
The album was recorded in a barn studio in Wassaic, New York, and mastered by American producer Will Yip.[10]
Release
On July 23, 2020, Strange released the first single from the album "Mustang".[11] The single has been described as "something of an indie rock anthem wrapped up in mesmerizing synths, catchy riffs and bombastic vocals."[11] The music video was shot at Bartees Strange's apartment in Washington DC, with director Drew Horen.[12] It was also featured as the Top 8 Best Song of the week by Paste on July 24, 2020.[13] and Top 9 Songs of the Week by Under the Radar.[14]
On August 12, 2020, Strange announced the release of his debut album, along with the second single "Boomer".[15] The single has been described "a tight indie rock track driven by jangly guitars" while the music video shows Strange performing all the song's instruments from his home studio.[15]
The third single "Kelly Rowland" was released on September 18, 2020.[16] Along with the deluxe edition, Strange released the new version of the song titled "Free Kelly Rowland" with hip hop group Armand Hammer on October 1, 2021.[17]
Composition
The songs on Live Forever weave in sundry sounds and styles.
"Mustang" works in "infectious" guitar-pop, "sweltering" punk and "hooky" synth-rock.[5][7] "Boomer" digs into "giddy" blues rock and hip hop verses.[7] "Flagey God" channels experimental rock and witch house while working in "propulsive" dance-pop with a R&B chorus.[4][7]
Critical reception
Live Forever was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 83 based on 6 reviews.[3] At AnyDecentMusic?, which collates album reviews from websites, magazines and newspapers, they gave the release a 7.7 out of 10, based on a critical consensus of 7 reviews.[2]
Gareth O'Malley of Beats Per Minute wrote: "There’s so much ground covered on Live Forever that its easy to forget that it’s 35 minutes long. Strange’s genreless approach to making music means that its eventual follow-up could explore any of the sonic avenues the album heads down – or something else entirely"[4] Writing for Exclaim!, Adam Feibel explained: "As intriguing as Strange's music already is, Live Forever demonstrates that there's still tremendous potential left to unlock." He went on to say that the release "is itself not quite a masterpiece, but it's a clear picture of someone who's destined for greatness. Bartees Strange is a visionary artist worth watching closely."[5]
Accolades
| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Consequence of Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 42[18] |
| Crack Magazine | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 46[19] |
| NPR Music | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 32[20] |
| Paste | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 36[21] |
| Pitchfork | The 50 Best Albums of 2020 | 30[22] |
| Pitchfork | The 35 Best Rock Albums of 2020 | Unranked[23] |
| PopMatters | Top 10 Indie Rock Albums of 2020 | 6[24] |
| Rolling Stone | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 50[25] |
| Stereogum | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 16[26] |
| Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2020 | 15[27] |
| Uproxx | Top 50 Albums of 2020 | 25[28] |
| Vectis Radio | Top 10 Albums of 2020 | 2[29] |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jealousy" | 2:41 |
| 2. | "Mustang" | 3:54 |
| 3. | "Boomer" | 3:18 |
| 4. | "Kelly Rowland" | 1:57 |
| 5. | "In a Cab" | 2:17 |
| 6. | "Stone Meadows" | 3:51 |
| 7. | "Flagey God" | 3:42 |
| 8. | "Mossblerd" | 1:28 |
| 9. | "Far" | 4:10 |
| 10. | "Fallen for You" | 4:09 |
| 11. | "Ghostly" | 3:57 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Free Kelly Rowland" (featuring Armand Hammer) | 3:20 |
| 12. | "Weights" | 2:36 |
| 13. | "Flagey God Redux" | 2:39 |