''Patch the Sky'' is the 12th solo album from former

Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist/vocalist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notabili ...

and

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

frontman

Bob Mould Robert Arthur Mould (born October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s. Early years Born in Malone, ...

Background

''Patch the Sky'' is described by Mould as the third album in a trilogy, the other two albums being 2012's '' Silver Age'' and 2014's '' Beauty & Ruin''. This trilogy of albums began with Mould's signing to

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

and recruiting bassist

Jason Narducy Jason V. Narducy is an American musician from Evanston, Illinois, United States. After receiving his first guitar at the age of nine Narducy started his music career, playing guitar and writing songs for his punk rock band, Verboten. Verboten i ...

and drummer

Jon Wurster Jonathan Patrick Wurster (born October 31, 1966) is an American drummer and comedy writer. As a musician, he is best known for his work with Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, and Bob Mould. He is also known for appearing on '' The Best Show'' with ...

into his recording and touring band. Bob Mould initially considered making a primarily-acoustic album, much like his 1989 solo debut

Workbook Workbooks are paperback textbooks A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational i ...

. The song "Hold On" dates back to this time, having been written as a "downtempo acoustic song" in 2013. After the release of ''Beauty & Ruin'', Mould's mother died. This, combined with other circumstances in Mould's life like "relationships ending", led to the darker tone of the album.

Recording

Recording for the album occurred at

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

's Chicago studio

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording studio, recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refuses ...

, with Bob Mould serving as producer and

Beau Sorenson Beau Sorenson (born 1980) is an American record producer and engineer. He has worked with Death Cab For Cutie, Bob Mould, Superchunk, Sparklehorse, Jars of Clay, Yellow Ostrich, The Lonely Forest, Field Report, Someone Still Loves You Boris Ye ...

serving as engineer.

Title

The title of the album arose out of a vision Mould had, "of when people leave or things end, of something shooting through the 'fabric of the sky' and disappearing. 'Sometimes you think you want to chase it,' he says, meditating on the people or elements you lose along the way in life. 'Sometimes you get right to the edge of it, and sew it back shut and stay on the other side. Does that make sense?' You decide to patch the sky and keep going, instead of shooting through yourself."

Track listing

Personnel

- guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion *

- bass, backing vocals *

- drums, percussion

Critical reception

''Patch the Sky'' received widespread acclaim from music 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 ...

, the album received an average score of 83, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 16 reviews.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Bob Mould albums Albums produced by Bob Mould Merge Records albums