Only Dust Remains

In October 2024, Backxwash announced that she would be releasing a new album, with a release date set for February 2025.^[1] The album was to include the single "Wake Up", which she had released earlier that year, on April 17, 2024.^[2] Only Dust Remains was officially announced on January 28, 2025.^[3] On February 27, she released the single "9th Heaven" from the album.^[4][5] Backxwash released Only Dust Remains on March 28, 2025, through her label Ugly Hag Records.^[6]

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Only Dust Remains ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	86/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Beats Per Minute	76/100[8]
Cult MTL	9/10[9]
Kerrang!	[10]
The Needle Drop	9/10[a]
Paste	9.3/10[12]
Sputnikmusic	4.4/5[13]

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According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Only Dust Remains received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 from 5 critic scores.^[7] Mischa Pearlman of Kerrang! called it "a morbid, bleak and brilliant post-trilogy album" and further described it as "a dark album. A very dark album," yet highlighted its global awareness, with tracks like "History of Violence" mixing personal pain with political trauma. Pearlman concluded Only Dust Remains as a "brave, powerful and uncompromising album that holds nothing back".^[10] Anthony Fantano praised Backxwash's creative evolution, noting that the album features "more of those different sides of her that we caught just a tiny, teensy-weensy bit of on the last record".^[11] John Amen of Beats Per Minute wrote, "Mutinta isn’t retracting her take on the world; she’s unapologetic in her condemnation of our institutions and the way they impact our sense of worth (and/or lack of it). At the same time, she’s researching new sonic directions as well as a somewhat more paradoxical take on human life". He concluded, "Dust is ultimately a 'between' project; we’ll see where it leads".^[14]

The album was longlisted for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize.^[15]