''Blank Project'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...

, released by Smalltown Supersound on 25 February 2014. The record is Cherry's first album of solo music in 18 years. It was recorded and mixed over a 5-day period in Woodstock, NY. It was produced by Four Tet's Kieran Hebden and features a guest appearance by Robyn. The record also includes work with prior collaborators, synth/drum duo RocketNumberNine. Critical reviews of the album were very positive.

Description

Cherry wrote the material as a way to mourn for her mother, who died in 2009. The record is a departure from her previous work, consisting of a more sparse sound, with loose drums and a few synthesizers as the only accompaniment to her voice. RocketNumberNine provides industrial beats.

Critical reception

''Blank Project'' received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 82, based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". NPR calls the work "stark and urgent, almost entirely percussive. Her lyrics are less rebel treatises than koans or ruminations." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' says it is "a stark, bracing, and emotionally vulnerable album that straddles the jazz, pop, and electronic worlds rather brilliantly." '' The Guardian'' calls it "a bold and adventurous album". ''

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of tradition ...

'' describes the record: "High on rhythms and percussion and low on conventional melodies, it certainly isn’t easy listening but is frequently bold and challenging, with harsh electronica providing the only accompaniment to Neneh’s warm vocals." '' The Skinny'' calls ''Blank Project'' a "triumph." '' Electronic Beats'' says: "''Blank Project'' is an upturned bag on a table, pouring out its contents for anyone to sort through: chewed up emotions, snotty little insecurities and the kind of anxiety that’ll etch red marks into the skin if you carry it around too long." In '' Vice'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave the album a one-star honorable mention, naming "Out of the Black" and "Spit Three Times" as highlights, while writing, "long-ago hipster-funk ingénue reclaims her avant-garde roots".

Track listing

Bonus tracks

Rough Trade

** CD version: Bonus CD ** LP version: Double LP with CD of album and bonus CD

Bonus CD

''The Blank Project - Bonus Remix Disc'' (available via

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 Piccadilly Records # "Everything" (Radio Edit) # "Out of the Black" (featuring Robyn) (Joe Goddard Extended Version) # "Everything" (Villalobos & Loderbauer: Vilod Low Blood Pressure Mix) # "Out of the Black" (featuring Robyn) (Bouvet Remix)

Personnel

- vocals * Robyn - vocals on "Out of the Black" * RocketNumberNine - music * Producer – Four Tet

Charts

References

External links

NenehCherry.com
(official site) {{Authority control 2014 albums Neneh Cherry albums Albums produced by Kieran Hebden Smalltown Supersound albums