''Smother'' is the third studio album by British

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 ...

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

band

Wild Beasts Wild Beasts were an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in Kendal. They released their first single, "Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants", on Bad Sneakers Records in November 2006, and subsequently signed to Domino Records. They have rele ...

released on 9 May 2011 by Domino Records. It reached #17 in the

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. According to the band, it represents a more synthesiser-based sound than previous efforts, influenced by "moving to

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas includ ...

", Brazilian writer

Clarice Lispector Clarice Lispector (born Chaya Pinkhasivna Lispector ( uk, Хая Пінкасівна Ліспектор); December 10, 1920December 9, 1977) was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her innovative, idiosyncratic works exp ...

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

composer Steve Reich,

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoega ...

duo

Fuck Buttons Fuck Buttons was an electronic music duo formed in Bristol in 2004 by Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power. Biography Origins (2004–2008) Hung and Power grew up in Worcester.

, and

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

's book, ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

''.

Background

The band moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to make the record and that, according to

Hayden Thorpe Hayden Norman Thorpe (born 18 January 1986) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, originally from Kendal, Cumbria and currently based in Walthamstow, London. Career From 2002 to 2018, Thorpe was the frontman of the indie po ...

, drew them "back to the Lake District, the soundscape of that place." "''Smother'' refers to the pillow we were resting our heads - the album really was the place where our heads, thoughts and dreams were at the time... The duality of the word 'smother' is important to us as well - that mad human dynamic of doing the right things for all the wrong reasons or doing the wrong things for all the right reasons", the singer said.

Critical reception

''Smother'' received widespread acclaim from contemporary music critics. 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 received an

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score of 85, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Reviewing the album for

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

, Mike Diver wrote, " ild Beastsare, right now, the most inspirational, intriguing, effortlessly enrapturing band at work

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And ''Smother'' might well prove to be the album of 2011." Jon Pareles of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said, "In songs suffused with need and vulnerability, the music leaves itself open, waiting to be approached." ''

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 ...

'' placed the album at number 8 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011". while ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...

'' placed the album at number 10. As of January 2012 UK sales stand at 30,000 copies according to The Guardian.

Track listing

Personnel

* Hayden Thorpe – lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10), backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, production * Tom Fleming – lead vocals (1, 3, 6, 8, 9), backing vocals, keyboards, guitar, production * Ben Little – lead guitar, keyboards, production * Chris Talbot – drums, production * Richard Formby – production, additional arrangements * Lexxx – mixing * Dave Pye – engineering * Jason Evans – photography, art direction, design * Matthew Cooper – design

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Albums produced by Richard Formby Domino Recording Company albums Wild Beasts albums