''Cheater'' is the second

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 ...

by Norwegian

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

Pom Poko Pom or POM may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Pom (comics) (1919–2014), a Belgian comic strip writer and artist * Baby Pom, a fictional character in the British television programme ''Fimbles'' * Pom, a character in the video game ''Them's F ...

. The album was originally scheduled for release on 6 November 2020, but was moved to 15 January 2021.

Release

On 18 August 2020, Pom Poko announced the release of their second studio album, originally scheduled for release on 6 November 2020. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the album's release date was moved to 15 January 2021.

Singles

Pom Poko released the first single from the album, "Andrew" on 18 August 2020. On 15 September 2020, Pom Poko released the second single "My Candidacy". In a press release, the band explained the meaning of the song: "The song itself is about the wish to be able to believe in unconditional love, even though you know that there probably is no such thing. We, at least, believe in unconditional love for riffy tunes with sing-song choruses." The third single "Like a Lady" was released on 11 November 2020.

Critical reception

''Cheater'' was met with "generally favorable" reviews from 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 weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release 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 77 based on 8 reviews. At

AnyDecentMusic? AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...

, the release was given a 7.3 out of 10 based on 10 reviews. In a review for

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 ...

, Heather Phares noted how the release sounds "looser and more cohesive", going on to say "It's not every day when a band makes a second album that's more thrilling than their debut, but Pom Poko aren't an everyday band." Tom Dibb of ''

Gigwise ''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site that features music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England. History Gigwise was launched in 2001 ...

'' rated the album an 8 out of 10, explaining it was "packed full of angelic voices, funky bass tones and heavy guitar riffs, Cheater is a brilliantly mish-mashed blending of genres." Drew Litowitz 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 ...

'' stated: "The Norwegian quartet’s second album effortlessly waltzes between technical art-rock, dissonant post-punk, and pop’s irresponsible sugar high. Over the course of 33 minutes, Pom Poko capture the feeling of adorable debauchery. Though their second album, Cheater, may sound unserious at first, angst and snark bubble up through cutting riffs and heart-shaped chaos."

Track listing

Personnel

Pom Poko * Ragnhild Fangel – vocals,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Martin Tonne – guitar, percussion, synthesizer, vocals, production * Jonas Krøvel – bass, synthesizer, production * Ola Djupvik – drums, percussion, synthesizer, production Additional personnel * Marcus Forsgren – production, mixing,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* George Tanderø – mastering * Erlend Peder Kvam – cover art, design

References

External links

* * {{MusicBrainz release, mbid=2b3e4447-7663-4790-ae5d-aabf31b3d439, name=Cheater 2021 albums Bella Union albums