''Fading Frontier'' is the seventh studio album by the American
indie rock
Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...
band
Deerhunter, released on October 16, 2015 on
4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD a ...
.
Produced by Ben H. Allen, who had previously worked with the band on ''
Halcyon Digest'' (2010), and the band itself, the album was preceded by the singles "Snakeskin", "Breaker" and "Living My Life".
Background
In December 2014, Bradford Cox was involved in a car crash which left him "seriously injured, but also provided a perspective-giving jolt". Prior to the release of ''Fading Frontier'', Cox stated that the accident "erased all illusions" and admitted that it was a definite turning point for him. ''Fading Frontier'' is Deerhunter's and Cox's first release since the accident.
This album saw the departure of Frankie Broyles, who left the band in 2015 to focus on his solo career. The song "Ad Astra" contains a sample from
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a Folklore studies, folklorist, performer of Appalachian music, traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel ...
's "
I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground."
[Joffe, Justin]
A Totally Batshit Conversation With Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox
Observer.com. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
Release and promotion
''Fading Frontier'' was announced via a countdown timer on Deerhunter's website, which ended on 16 August 2015.
The first single released was "Snakeskin" on August 17, followed up with "Breaker" on September 15, of which the video was directed by Cox himself.
The cover art for the album is a photograph titled "Zuma" by the artist
John Divola.
Critical reception
At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 81, based on 27 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
critic Sheldon Pearce wrote that the album is "one more gem from a well-traveled band that’s still finding new territory to explore."
''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' critic Barry Nicholson praised the record and gave it a perfect score, describing it as "a remarkable album, one that only grows more awesome with each listen."
Ian Cohen 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 ...
'' awarded the album with a "Best New Music" tag and wrote: "If there isn't a Deerhunter sound, there's a Deerhunter perspective that runs through their work, best summed up in 'All the Same'—'take your handicaps/ Channel them and feed them back/ Until they become your strengths.'
The weird era continues."
In ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Alex Petridis noted the album's more mainstream sound: "there are so many straightforwardly commercial-sounding songs here," he observed, "that Fading Frontier could conceivably be an album that turns Deerhunter from cult concern into mainstream success."
Citing a lack of angst and urgency in comparison to previous efforts, ''
Exclaim!s Anna Alger wrote that "On Fading Frontier, Deerhunter focus on their ability as a band to hypnotize and confound, which make the explosive moments here stand out that much more."
In a less favorable review, ''
Clash'' critic Sam Walker-Smart wrote that the record "is by no means a poor album, and truth be told really doesn't possess a bad number on it." Nevertheless, he added: "When the oddities on this album ride so high they should have let complete weirdness take over."
Accolades
Track listing
* The last thirty seconds of Ad Astra is Bradford Cox performing the traditional folk song
I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground.
Personnel
Credits for the album were adapted from a press release by ''4AD''.
Deerhunter
*
Bradford Cox
Bradford James Cox (born May 15, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Deerhunter. He also pursues a solo career under the moniker Atlas Sound.
Cox formed Deerh ...
– lead vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboards, electronics
*
Lockett Pundt – guitar, co-lead vocals
(''3''), lead vocals
(''8''), keyboards
*
Moses Archuleta – drums, percussion, electronics
*
Josh McKay – bass guitar, organ
Additional musicians
*
Tim Gane
Timothy John Gane (born 12 July 1964) is an English songwriter and guitarist who co-founded Stereolab with his then-partner Lætitia Sadier.Gregory, Andy (ed.) (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music, 2002'', Europa Publications Limite ...
– electronic harpsichord
(''4'')
* James Cargill – synthesizers, tapes
(''5'')
* Zumi Rosow – treated alto saxophone
(''7'')
Charts
References
External links
"Deerhunter" on 4AD Records
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Deerhunter albums
4AD albums
Albums produced by Ben H. Allen