''Moment Bends'' is the fourth studio album by Australian

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki were an Australian indie pop band which consisted of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland. The band released five studio albums before going on hiatus: ''Fingers Crossed'' (2003), ...

. It was released in Australia on 8 April 2011 and in the United States on 3 May 2011. The album was recorded in a rented studio in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, nicknamed "Buckingham Palace" after a photo mural of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

the band hung on the wall. The project had previously been given the working title ''Vision Revision''. The first single released from the album was "Contact High", although " That Beep", which is included on the album, was released as an EP in 2008. At the

J Awards of 2011 The J Award of 2011 is the seventh annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). For the fourth year, three a ...

, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.

Critical reception

''Moment Bends'' received mixed to positive reviews from critics. At

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, which assigns a

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rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Heather Phares of

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 ...

labelled the album a "return to form" and more focused than its predecessor. Eric Grandy 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 score of 6.5, noting its indebtedness to "lite-FM 80s", while praising "Contact High" as a "terrific pop song", though he felt the rest of the record was uneven.

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

's Kevin Liedel expressed confusion with the album, asserting it was a "good bet that after only one track of ''Moment Bends'', most longtime fans will have their brows furrowed." He added that "it's difficult to gauge whether or not the album is intentionally bad." ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' magazine dismissed it as "the kind of glossily produced 'perfect pop' you can spin a dozen times without ever remembering a single tune." In December 2011, it was announced that ''Moment Bends'' was voted number eight in triple j's 2011 Album Poll.

Track listing

Personnel

* Architecture in Helsinki – production * Max Doyle – band portrait * Haima Marriott – engineer, mastering, mixing, production * Metz + Racine – cover image * Greg Moore – mastering * People Collective – cover design *

François Tétaz François "Franc" Tétaz (born 22 December 1970) is an Australian film composer, music producer and mixer, who won the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) / Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the ...

– co-production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Architecture in Helsinki albums Modular Recordings albums