''Are You Alone?'' is the fourth and final studio album from Canadian

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

duo Majical Cloudz, released on October 16, 2015, on

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

. The album was nominated for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

in 2016.

Critical reception

''Are You Alone?'' received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At

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, which assigns a

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rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

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score of 80, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Mike Powell of ''

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'' gave the album a positive review, stating, "Like ''

Impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Living history: After close study of some historical figure, a performer may dress and speak "as" that ...

'', ''Alone'' is a sad album, but its sadness is a kind of tall tale, the details of which are overblown for dramatic effect. At times its lyrics sound less like expressions of personal darkness than advertisements for darkness in general, written in lettering so big you could read it from the highway." Powell continues, "''Alone'' is less stripped-down than ''Impersonator'', but it feels less confrontational, too. The band recently went on tour opening for

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

, and seem to have figured out how to broaden their sound while softening it at the same time, all without losing the detonating high that made ''Impersonator'' so remarkable. Songs like "So Blue" and "Downtown"—both standouts—are easy to imagine as more fully fleshed out pieces of music, conveying size without occupying space. Like photographic negatives, you can still see the image but the inversion of blacks and whites lends it a kind of alien melancholy."
Ben Kopel
o
Flood Magazine
wrote of the album: "With this, their sophomore LP about the shaky realities surrounding real love, the co-conspirators have delivered one of 2015’s most honest and moving albums. Lyrically, Welsh explores the doubts and fears that crawl in anytime we open our hearts and lives to anyone—be they family, friend, or partner—with a vulnerability that’s completely comfortable with sounding courageous and unsure in the same baritone breath."

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

;Main personnel * Devon Welsh – composer * Matthew Otto – composer, mixing * Fady Hanna - keyboards, synths *

Owen Pallett Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright (born September 7, 1979), known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music P ...

– cello, drums, violin (4) * Austin Milne – saxophone (1) *

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Clifford Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian actor, who made over 300 stage, film, and television appearances over a nearly 60-year career. Educated at the National Theatre School, he was a member of the Stratford S ...

– flute (5, 7) ;Additional personnel * Tyler Crawford – mixing * Tyler Fitzmaurice – mixing * Ryan Morey – mastering

References

{{Authority control 2015 albums Matador Records albums Majical Cloudz albums