Songs for Pierre Chuvin
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| Songs for Pierre Chuvin | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 10, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | March 2020 | |||
| Genre | Lo-fi | |||
| Length | 27:17 | |||
| Label | Merge Records | |||
| Producer | John Darnielle | |||
| The Mountain Goats chronology | ||||
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Songs for Pierre Chuvin is the eighteenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 10, 2020.[1] It is the first album since 2002's All Hail West Texas to feature only the band's frontman, John Darnielle, as well as the first since then to be recorded entirely on a boombox.[2][3][4][5] The album was first released on cassette and digital, with CD and vinyl releases following in 2021.[6]
Songs for Pierre Chuvin was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to help the band and some of their crew make ends meet in lieu of a postponed tour in the United States.[2] Inspiration for the songs, as well as the album's title, largely came from French historian Pierre Chuvin's book A Chronicle of the Last Pagans.[1][3][4][5] Darnielle recorded the tracks over a 10-day period in March 2020, releasing the songs "Exegetic Chains", "Until Olympius Returns", and "For the Snakes" on the band's YouTube channel prior to the full release.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Pitchfork | 8.1/10[7] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10[8] |
| Tom Hull | B+ ( )[9] |
The online magazine Pitchfork rated Songs for Pierre Chuvin 8.1 out of 10, calling the album "a brief but thoughtful collection marked by old-school production".[7] The album has a score of 80 on Metacritic, indicating 'generally favorable reviews' but on the cusp of 'universal acclaim'.[10]
Track listing
All tracks are written by John Darnielle.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aulon Raid" | 2:13 |
| 2. | "Until Olympius Returns" | 2:12 |
| 3. | "Last Gasp at Calama" | 1:58 |
| 4. | "For the Snakes" | 2:09 |
| 5. | "The Wooded Hills Along the Black Sea" | 2:57 |
| 6. | "January 31, 438" | 2:22 |
| 7. | "Hopeful Assassins of Zeno" | 3:15 |
| 8. | "Their Gods Do Not Have Surgeons" | 3:34 |
| 9. | "Going to Lebanon 2" | 2:26 |
| 10. | "Exegetic Chains" | 4:11 |
| Total length: | 27:17 | |