Slow Focus
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| Slow Focus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 22 July 2013 | |||
| Length | 52:05 | |||
| Label | ATP Recordings | |||
| Producer | Fuck Buttons | |||
| Fuck Buttons chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Slow Focus | ||||
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Slow Focus is the third and final studio album by Fuck Buttons, released on 22 July 2013. It peaked at number 36 on the UK Albums Chart.[1] It was the first album released by ATP Recordings to reach the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart.[2]
Year-end rankings
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.8/10[3] |
| Metacritic | 81/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The A.V. Club | B+[6] |
| The Guardian | [7] |
| The Independent | [8] |
| NME | 8/10[9] |
| Pitchfork | 8.7/10[10] |
| Q | [11] |
| Rolling Stone | [12] |
| Spin | 8/10[13] |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | [14] |
| Uncut | 8/10[15] |
Upon its release, Slow Focus received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 81, based on 39 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[4]
AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares noted that Fuck Buttons' self production work was a measure of "how much they've come into their own" and that "Slow Focus delivers some of their most masterful and seemingly effortless music yet."[5] Mike Madden, writing for Consequence of Sound, described it as "a seven-track ride at turns gloopy and glassy, invigorating and dark," noting that "all told, this is pretty epic stuff."[16] Drowned in Sound critic Andrzej Lukowski observed that Slow Focus displayed "a strange, alien detachment" with an "undercurrent of menace", but stated that the album "isn't alienating, it's other, and it's a pleasure to take a wander around its unfamiliar landscapes".[17] In his review for The Guardian where he commented that Slow Focus "seems slightly more commercial than its predecessor, although such things are obviously relative," Alexis Petridis concluded that "the only real response is to listen and gawp."[7] NME reviewer Noel Gardner opined that it was "all-consuming and consistently impressive from the off" and stated that the band "can be proud of what they continue to achieve."[9]
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| The A.V. Club | The 23 Best Albums of 2013[18] | 12 | [19] |
| Bleep | Top Albums of the Year 2013 | 9 | [20][21] |
| Clash | Clash's Top Albums of 2013 | 19 | [22] |
| Crack Magazine | Top 100 Albums of 2013 | 44 | [23] |
| musicOMH | Top 100 Albums of 2013 | 36 | [24] |
| NME | NME's 50 Best Albums of 2013 | 40 | [25] |
| Pitchfork | Top 50 Best Albums of 2013 | 46 | [26] |
| Rolling Stone | 50 Best Albums of 2013 | 48 | [27] |
| Slant Magazine | The 25 Best Albums of 2013 | 19 | [28] |
| Under the Radar | Top 125 Albums of 2013 | 91 | [29] |
"N/A" indicates that the publication did not rank the works included in their year-end list.
Track Accolades
| Track | Publication | List | Rank | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Hidden Xs" | Bleep | Top 100 Tracks of 2013 | N/A | [30] |
"N/A" indicates that the publication did not rank the works included in their year-end list.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Fuck Buttons.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Brainfreeze" | 8:33 |
| 2. | "Year of the Dog" | 4:38 |
| 3. | "The Red Wing" | 7:48 |
| 4. | "Sentients" | 6:24 |
| 5. | "Prince's Prize" | 4:22 |
| 6. | "Stalker" | 10:08 |
| 7. | "Hidden Xs" | 10:12 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
- Fuck Buttons – music, production, recording, mixing
- Mat Rowlands – initial track recording
- Nina Walsh – initial track recording
- Jimmy Robertson – mix engineering
- Bob Weston – mastering
- Benjamin John Power – artwork
- Alex de Mora – photography
