''Warpaint'' is the second
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by the American
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, 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 mu ...
band
Warpaint, released on January 17, 2014 on
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...
. Produced by
Flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
and the band itself, the album was preceded by the single, "Love Is to Die". It has been characterized as
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 ...
.
Composition
In an interview with ''
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 ...
'' in September 2011, drummer Stella Mozgawa affirmed that Warpaint planned to "experiment and write with one another" to develop the songs on ''Warpaint'' as their current lineup had never composed songs "from the ground up" together. Bassist
Jenny Lee Lindberg
Jennifer Lee Lindberg (born July 30, 1981) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as the bassist of the indie rock band Warpaint. In 2015, Lindberg released her first solo album, '' Right On!'', under the name ...
elaborated on the composition of new material, explaining most songs were written by "just
jam
Jam is a type of fruit preserve.
Jam or Jammed may also refer to:
Other common meanings
* A firearm malfunction
* Block signals
** Radio jamming
** Radar jamming and deception
** Mobile phone jammer
** Echolocation jamming
Arts and entertai ...
ing
Ing, ING or ing may refer to:
Art and media
* '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film
* i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group
* The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes''
* "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
and free-flow
ngonstage". Guitarist
Theresa Wayman
Theresa Becker Wayman (born June 23, 1980), also known by the stage name TT, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and occasional actress, best known as guitarist and vocalist of the indie rock band Warpaint.
Early and personal life
The ...
confirmed that the band intended to create a minimalist sound on ''Warpaint'', revealing that the band developed songs at soundchecks, and experimented more with acoustic guitars and percussion instruments on the album. Lead vocalist Emily Kokal noted that
R&B and
rap music
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
was an influence on ''Warpaint'' and stated that on the album there are "things that have drum machines and ambience, music that's more than standard rock." Kokal added that the album is largely
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
-based, which contributed to the overall sound being "definitely different" from the band's previous album ''
The Fool'' (2010).
Release
''Warpaint'' was released in Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Switzerland on January 17, 2014; January 20 in Denmark, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom; and January 21 in Spain and the United States on Rough Trade. It was released in Japan on January 22 on
Hostess Entertainment
, DBA Unlimited, is a Japanese independent music company that represents Western alternative artists and labels in Japan, such as the Beggars Group ( 4AD/ XL/Matador/ Rough Trade), Domino Records, V2 Records, Brassland, Virgin Music Label & A ...
, with two bonus tracks featured on the
CD release.
''Warpaint'' was released on a number of formats, including CD, colored double
LP and as a
digital download. Autographed posters and stencils were issued free with the first 1,000 LP and CD pre-orders from the band's online store.
A snippet of the album's lead
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
, "Love Is to Die", was featured in an advertisement for
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
on September 25, 2013 and later as part of a teaser for an upcoming documentary of the same name about the recording of ''Warpaint''. The single was released on October 28 with
pre-order
A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...
ed digital versions of the album. The song was also featured on a
season 7
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
episode, also named "Love Is to Die", of
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series ''
True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.
The serie ...
'', which aired on August 17, 2014.
In 2014, it was awarded a double silver certification from the
Independent Music Companies Association
The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...
, which indicated sales of at least 40,000 copies throughout Europe.
Tour
In support of the album, Warpaint commenced a 23-date, three-leg international tour. The first leg, a European tour, began on October 28, 2013 at
O2 ABC in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Scotland and concluded on November 16 at the
Crossing Border Festival Crossing Border Festival is an annual festival in The Hague, Netherlands focusing on new pop music acts and literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, Netherlands. A five-date set of performances at
Laneway Festival
The St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, commonly referred to as Laneway, began in Caledonian Lane, Melbourne, Australia, in 2005. Beginning as predominantly an indie music event, the festival grew in popularity and expanded to five Australian citie ...
in Australia began on January 31, 2014 and concluded on February 8, with Warpaint performing in various cities including
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
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 ...
,
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
and
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
. The third and final leg began on February 19 at the
O2 Academy in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, England and concluded on March 1 at Aula Magna in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, Portugal.
During the tour preceding ''Warpaint''s release, the band debuted several of the album's songs, including "Keep It Healthy", "Hi" and "Love Is to Die".
Reception
Upon its release, ''Warpaint'' received generally positive reviews. 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 ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 40 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
''
Alternative Press
Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'' reviewer Brian Shultz stated that "''Warpaint'' still yields an enjoyable, haunting outpouring of whispered emotional damage and spatial exploration".
Writing for ''
Clash'', Daisy Jones referred to the album as "devastatingly brooding as ever", noting that "Warpaint have always managed to make music to totally submerge yourself in, like an oil painting mixed with blood, and this album is no exception".
Jazz Monroe of ''
Drowned in Sound
''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
History
''D ...
'' called the material "virtuosic and exquisite" while describing the lyrical content as "romantic but unglamorous …
nd the bandtake their time to reflect love's ambiguity". Monroe summarized: "While a gentler, more complex thing,
'Warpaint''leans hard on atmosphere and collapses, elegantly".
''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quiet ...
'' writer Mof Gimmers referred to ''Warpaint'' as "a record spun with a rich synthetic ambience, resulting in a curious mixture of the pleasant and uneasy" and said that the songs "exude an intense, intoxicated arousal, with lip-fattening blood rushes, grotty cinematic witching-hour horniness and
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
ian daydream fucks" in his positive review.
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 ...
writer Heather Phares wrote that there was a "undeniably darker cast" to the album's songs in contrast to the band's previous releases. Referring to ''Warpaint'' as "expansive and envelopin", Phares selected "Love Is to Die", "Teese" and "Feeling Alright" as highlights of the album.
In her review for ''
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 ...
'', Eve Barlow noted that "if ''The Fool'' presented them as ethereal hippies with musical nous, ''Warpaint'' drives them forward as masters of their talent", describing the material as having a "crisper, more direct sound."
In ''
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
''s review of ''Warpaint'', El Hunt stated that "''
The Fool'' was wonderfully muddied and submerged, while ''Warpaint'' zooms for the stratosphere", further praising
Flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
s production on the album as well as referring to Warpaint's "subtle handle of tone" as "magical."
Writing for ''
FACT
A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...
'', John Cavert considered ''Warpaint'' as "richer in atmosphere, sharper
ndartistically decisive" than the band's debut album and drew comparisons between ''Warpaint''s material and
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
s ''
Kid A
''Kid A'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and their hometown of Oxford.
After th ...
'' (2000),
The Raincoats
The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London.
Signed to the label Rough Trade, the ...
and
Delta 5
Delta 5 was an English post-punk band from Leeds.
Career
Delta 5 was formed from the same art school scene at Leeds University as Gang of Four and The Mekons. The original members of Delta 5, Julz Sale (vocals/guitar), Ros Allen (bass) and Bet ...
.
In his review for ''
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 ...
'',
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...
was initially critical, saying that ''Warpaint'' had an "overall atmosphere so subdued it makes Love Is to Die sound like the
Vengaboys
Vengaboys () are a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam. The group was the creation of Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen (known as Danski and Delmundo). It consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone, female vo ...
' cover of '
Hot Hot Hot'". He later stated that "patience and time reveal that to be a false first impression, at least in part" and summarized that "there's something impressively brave about releasing an album that demands time and concentration … ''Warpaint'' slowly pulls you into its own, quietly captivating world".
Chase Woodruff of ''
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 ...
'' commended its "complex, operatic highs" and "subdued, ethereal sound" but concluded that "its experiments in minimalism and tranquility make for some awfully low lows".
Track listing
Personnel
All personnel credits adapted from ''Warpaint''s album notes.
Warpaint
*
Emily Kokal
Emily Camille Kokal (born September 30, 1980) is an American musician from Chico, California. She is best known as the singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Warpaint. Kokal is one of the founding members of the band.
Early life
Kokal was b ...
- Guitar, Vocals (2, 3, 5, 6-8, 11)
*
Jenny Lee Lindberg
Jennifer Lee Lindberg (born July 30, 1981) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as the bassist of the indie rock band Warpaint. In 2015, Lindberg released her first solo album, '' Right On!'', under the name ...
- Bass, Vocals (7, 11)
*
Stella Mozgawa
Stella Mozgawa is an Australian drummer, best known as a member of the indie rock band Warpaint, with whom she has recorded four studio albums. Alongside her work with Warpaint, Mozgawa has contributed to recordings by musicians Kurt Vile, Ada ...
- Drums
*
Theresa Wayman
Theresa Becker Wayman (born June 23, 1980), also known by the stage name TT, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and occasional actress, best known as guitarist and vocalist of the indie rock band Warpaint.
Early and personal life
The ...
- Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals (2-4, 6-9, 12)
Technical personnel
*John Catlin – mixing
*Cecil – recording, mixing
*
Flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
–
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
,
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, ...
,
mixing
*
Nigel Godrich
Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He is known for his work with the English rock band Radiohead, having produced all their studio albums since '' OK Computer'' (1997). H ...
– mixing (3, 9)
*
Stephen Marcussen
Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979.
Biography
Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...
–
mastering
*Sam Petts-Davies – mixing assistant (3, 9)
*Drew Smith – recording
*Justin Smith – recording
*Warpaint – production, recording, mixing
Design personnel
*
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham (born 15 October 1970) is a British video artist and music video director, best known for his music videos for electronic musicians such as Autechre, Squarepusher, and most notably Aphex Twin on videos for "Windowlicker" and " ...
– photography, artwork
*Ravi Dhar – additional photography
*Mia Kirby – additional photography, artwork
Chart positions
Release history
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2014 albums
Warpaint (band) albums
Rough Trade Records albums
Albums produced by Flood (producer)