''Forget'' (stylised as ''FORGET'') is the tenth studio album by

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

band

Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of Stewart (the only constant member since formation) and Angela Seo. The band's name co ...

, released on February 24, 2017. Produced by

John Congleton John Congleton is an American Grammy Award-winning record producer, engineer, mixer, writer and musician. In addition to his production work, Congleton has fronted the alternative rock band the Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project e ...

Greg Saunier Greg Saunier (born 18 May 1969) is a musician, producer, and composer best known as the drummer and founding member of Deerhoof. ''Rolling Stone'' included Saunier alongside Brian Chippendale (of Lightning Bolt) and Zach Hill (of Hella, late ...

, and

Angela Seo Hyunhye Seo, professionally known as Angela Seo, is a South Korean multi-instrumentalist and vocalist best known for her role in American experimental band Xiu Xiu. Seo joined Xiu Xiu in 2009, and has contributed to every studio project by the ba ...

, it features contributions from

Charlemagne Palestine Chaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine (born 1947), known professionally as Charlemagne Palestine, is an American visual artist and musician. He has been described as being one of the founders of New York school of minimalist music, first initiated by La ...

Kristof Hahn Kristof Hahn (also known as Christoph Hahn) (born 6 February 1959) is a German guitarist., composer and translator. Hahn is best known for his lap-steel guitar playing in the New York experimental rock band Swans. He joined the band in 1989 for ...

Vaginal Davis Vaginal Davis (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, filmmaker and writer. Born intersex and raised in South Central, Los Angeles, Davis gained notoriety in New York during the ...

, and Enyce Smith.

Background

The album cover bears Arabic calligraphy that translates to "we forget". Xiu Xiu leader Jamie Stewart has stated that the album cover has no meaning besides that "it looks beautiful" and is not meant as a political statement: "in hoping to depoliticize it, I suppose that it becomes political." "Petite" and "Faith, Torn Apart" are about women used in

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. The title was further explained by Stewart: “To forget uncontrollably embraces the duality of human frailty. It is a rebirth in blanked out renewal but it also drowns and mutilates our attempt to hold on to what is dear.” In a press release, the album was marketed as the band's "most direct engagement with pop music"

Critical reception

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 score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77% based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Andrew Paschal of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' gave the album 8 stars out of 10, calling it "one of Xiu Xiu's poppiest and most accessible works to date".

Track listing

Personnel

;Xiu Xiu * Jamie Stewart – vocals, guitar, modular synthesizer, organ, programming *

– synthesizer, organ, percussion ;Additional personnel *

– vocals * Kristof Hahn – guitar * Tanisha Hall – vocals *

Devin Hoff Devin Hoff is an American bassist, composer and arranger. Hoff has collaborated with Julia Holter, Nels Cline, Sharon Van Etten, Shannon Lay, Cibo Matto, Kira Roessler, Good For Cows, Xiu Xiu, and others. Hoff has also released three albums of ...

– double bass * Chiara Lee – vocals *

– carillon *

– bass guitar, percussion, guitar, synthesizer, vocals, organ * Enyce Smith – commentary * Federico Zanatta – vocals

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2017 albums Xiu Xiu albums Polyvinyl Record Co. albums Albums produced by John Congleton