''A Way Forward'' is the second studio album by American

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

band,

Nation of Language Nation of Language is an American indie pop band that formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2016. The group consists of Ian Richard Devaney (lead vocals, guitar, synthesizer, percussion), Aidan Noell (synthesizer, backing vocals), and Alex MacKay (ba ...

. The album was released on November 5, 2021.

Background

The album was announced on June 3, 2021, with the release of the first single "Across That Fine Line". Three variations of the vinyl record were made available: a standard black color, a red and blue blend sold from

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

, and a coke-bottle-clear color sold through the band's webstore. Rough Trade also offered a bonus CD which features alternate versions of the tracks "A Word & A Wave", "In Manhattan" and "Miranda", plus a remix of the band's 2020 single "A Different Kind of Life" by producer Nick Millhiser.

Reception

The album received a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

score of 76 out of 100, which indicates generally favorable reviews. Austin Brown of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' said, "The band’s decision to expand their swagger and invest in more complex synth work pushes them to new territory, and the most remarkable digressions from their comfort zone point towards a future beyond pastiche." Similarly,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Marcy Donelson writes how, "the detailing and variable arrangements here, combined with engaging songs, lift A Way Forward above the level of genre exercise, occasionally into something more compositional".

Track listing

*Tracks 1, 4, 7, 9 and 10 were produced and mixed by Nick Millhiser. *Tracks 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 were produced and mixed by Abe Seiferth.

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Way Forward 2021 albums Nation of Language albums PIAS Recordings albums