Modus Vivendi (070 Shake album)

In 2018, Shake released her debut EP, Glitter. In 2018, the New Jersey artist contributed vocals to Kanye West's Ye, Nas's Nasir, Pusha-T's Daytona, and Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E. In 2019, she contributed to West's Jesus Is King, though her vocals are not present on the final album.^[7]

Shake announced her debut album on June 24, 2019. The press release stated that Modus Vivendi is "coming soon" on GOOD Music/Def Jam and that it would feature the previously released singles "Morrow" and "Nice to Have". Shake also announced a new tour behind the new record.^[7]

In an interview with Billboard, she stated that she retreated to a Los Angeles studio and recorded a hundred songs in just over a month with producers Dave Hamelin and Mike Dean.^[8]

The cover art was created by Sam Spratt, a New York-based illustrator.^[9]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10[10]
Metacritic	80/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	8/10[12]
Consequence of Sound	B+[13]
Exclaim!	8/10[14]
The Guardian	[15]
HipHopDX	4/5[16]
NME	[17]
The Observer	[18]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[19]
Rolling Stone	[20]

Modus Vivendi received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, Modus Vivendi received a weighted average score of 80 based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[11] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 7.4 out of 10 based on their assessment of the critical consensus.^[10]

Dhruva Balram of NME praised 070 Shake's lyricism and emotion, writing: "Shedding collaborations entirely, the album consists solely of 070 Shake's hypnotising hooks and shape-shifting vocals. It cements the 22-year-old as a unique artist, proving to everyone – and perhaps even herself – that she doesn't need anyone but her voice to vault herself to success. On Modus Vivendi, she manages to craft a sound that's anthemic, and built for festivals and clubs; but within the grooves, she's precise. Nothing feels out of place. This is project sculpted away from current trends."^[17] Reed Jackson of Pitchfork described the album as "intensely sincere, with the New Jersey native proudly serving her soul raw atop bullish, beautiful production", while stating that "it is the most compelling and complete release under G.O.O.D. Music since Pusha T's Daytona."^[19]

Credits are adapted from Tidal.^[6] On January 29, 2020, the stereo version of the album was re-uploaded with changes in track sequencing and mixing.^[25][26]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer

Sample credits

• "The Pines" contains an interpolation of "In the Pines", a traditional folk song.
• "It's Forever" contains samples of "It's Forever", written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff and performed by the Ebonys.
• "Rocketship" contains samples of "Snowflakes Are Dancing", written by Claude Debussy and performed by Isao Tomita.
• "Guilty Conscience" contains samples of "Stand by Me", written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stoller and performed by Ben E. King.

Musicians

• Dave Hamelin – bass guitar (10, 11), guitar (8–11, 13), keyboards (8, 9, 11), synthesizer (2, 6), tambourine (11)
• dom$olo – keyboards (12)
• Francis and the Lights – programmer (13)
• Gitai Vinshtock – guitar (10)
• Isaiah Gage – cello (1, 13)
• Joel Shearer – guitar (1, 13)
• Juan Brito – keyboards (1, 8)
• Justus West – guitar (6)
• Mike Dean – bass guitar (6), drums (4), guitar (4), keyboards (8), piano (6), synthesizer (6, 9, 11, 12)
• Sarah Schachner – cello (4), string arranger (4), strings (4), viola (4), violin (4)
• Sean Solymar – guitar (3, 12), keyboards (11, 12), piano (3, 13)
• Stephen Feigenbaum – string arranger (13)
• Timmy Manson Jr. – keyboards (13)
• William Moraites – bass guitar (5)
• Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi – strings (1), violin (10, 13)

Technical

• Adrián Meléndez – recording engineer (5)
• Brian Chirlo – recording engineer (5)
• Dave Hamelin – recording engineer (1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14)
• Jenna Felsenthal – recording engineer (1–3, 6, 8–14)
• Joe Tarsia – recording engineer (7)
• Juan Brito – recording engineer (5)
• Mike Dean – mastering engineer (1–6, 8–14), mixer (1–6, 8–14), recording engineer (4)
• Pat Rosario – recording engineer (5)
• Sean Solymar – assistant mixer (1–6, 8–14)

On June 26, 2020, an instrumental version of the album, called Modus Vivendi: Instrumental Selections, was released through digital retailers.^[27] The instrumental album contains the instrumental versions of ten songs from the original album.