''Bend Beyond'' is the seventh album by the American band
Woods, released in September 2012 by
Woodsist
Woodsist is an American independent record label founded in 2006 by Jeremy Earl of the band Woods and based in Stone Ridge, New York.
Artists
* Alex Bleeker and the Freaks
* Art Museums
* The Babies
* Blank Dogs
* Blues Control
* The Chri ...
and
Remote Control Records
Remote Control Records was established in 2001 by Steve Cross and Harvey Saward. It provides publicity, label management, distribution and marketing services to international and local artists and labels.
Remote Control's roster of internatio ...
.
The album is the last to feature the band's bassist,
Kevin Morby
Kevin Robert Morby (born April 2, 1988) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. A former member of Woods and the Babies, Morby has released seven solo studio albums: ''Harlem River'' (2013), '' Still Life'' (2014), ''Singing Saw'' (20 ...
.
Critical reception
''Bend Beyond'' received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At
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 ...
, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 78, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Steven Hyden of
Pitchfork Media
''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog.
Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
gave the album a positive review, stating, "Fans of Woods' "spontaneous energy" might lament the relative straight-forwardness of ''Bend Beyond''. But Woods' greatest strength has always been songwriting, and sharpening the focus and cleaning up the production has only enhanced the band's welcoming melodies. Besides, it's about time this chronically undervalued group broadened its audience a bit. After ''Bend Beyond'', there are plenty of other great Woods records that await neophytes."
Philip Cosores of
Paste praised the album, stating, "Where ''Bend Beyond'' is most successful is revealed in the album’s final two numbers. You can take away Woods’ undeniable chops and the trademark textures created by tape-effects wizard G. Lucas Crane, and Earl could still effectively elate listeners with the immediate infectiousness of a song like “Impossible Sky.” And, quickly moving from images of technicolor sunsets and evocations of the possibilities of youth, Earl closes on the haunting “Something Surreal,” where his unwavering, wordless falsetto brings the listener back to earth; the songs together run the gamut of human emotion in about five minutes. It's a brief culmination of practice making perfect, with Earl and his band showing why they make a new album every year—because more and more often they are getting it right."
Billy Hamilton of
Drowned in Sound
''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
History
''D ...
was more critical of the album and its cohesiveness, stating, "In hindsight, front-loading the record with ''Bend Beyond'' probably wasn’t the smartest of steps for a band refashioning its image. Its formidable peak was always going to dominate handclapping toe-tappers like 'Lily'. Yet, there’s still a lot to admire here. As a whole, ''Bend Beyond'' is as full and broad as Woods have ever sounded. Sure, it lacks the adventure promised by its opening gambit, but this is a band shaping its ambitions at a gradual pace. As Jeremy Earl puts it: “It ain’t easy looking for different ways to make things stay the same”."
Track listing
Charts
References
2012 albums
Woods (band) albums
Woodsist albums
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