The Main Thing (Real Estate album)
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| The Main Thing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 28, 2020 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 52:26 | |||
| Label | Domino Records | |||
| Producer |
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| Real Estate chronology | ||||
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| Singles from In Mind | ||||
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| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 77/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Clash | 7/10[3] |
| DIY | [4] |
| Exclaim! | 8/10[5] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 7/10[6] |
| NME | [7] |
| The Observer | [8] |
| Paste | 8/10[9] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10[10] |
The Main Thing is the fifth studio album by the American indie rock band Real Estate, released on February 28, 2020 on Domino Records. The album was produced by Kevin McMahon, who had previously worked with the band on their second album, Days (2011).
The album's release was preceded by the singles, "Paper Cup" and "The Main Thing".
Primary songwriter Martin Courtney began writing The Main Thing while touring in support of the band's previous album, In Mind, in 2017. During the process, Courtney initially had anxieties about whether Real Estate should continue: "My wife was pregnant through a lot of the process of writing this record. So, just on the level of, is this a responsible thing to do, to be a guy in an indie-rock band. I was really struggling with that, and also feeling like, the world is kind of in a bad state." Courtney's love of being a member of the band ultimately led him to continue working on new material: "Maybe it’s better to set an example to do what you love for those around you. That was something that I found kind of inspiring."[11]
As a result, the band entered the studio with a renewed sense of focus: "We knew we’d been a band for ten years, and this is our fifth record, and it kind of felt almost like do or die."[11]
Recording
To record the album, the band worked with Producer Kevin McMahon, who they had previously worked with on their second studio album, Days (2011): "We were in this old barn that was covered with old musical gear—old, broken things in states of disrepair. [...] He’s just got all kinds of stuff like that. There are wires everywhere and pictures torn out of magazines. I feel like it’s a little bit of a glimpse into Kevin. There’s a method to his madness."[12]
McMahon pushed the band to make meaningful artistic decisions in the studio: "He would come up to you and be like, 'Why are you doing that?' Whatever it was, guitar part or examining a line in the lyrics or something, and just being like, 'Is there a reason for this? I’m not making a judgment call on whether I like it or not, but as long as you’re thinking about it and you’re not just falling into old habits.'"[11]
