''Be Up a Hello'' is the fifteenth studio album by British

electronic musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

Tom Jenkinson, under the alias of

Squarepusher Thomas Russell Jenkinson (born 17 January 1975), known professionally as Squarepusher, is an English electronic musician, record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. His music spans several genres including drum and bass, IDM, a ...

. It was released through

Warp Records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

on 31 January 2020. It is Jenkinson's first album under the Squarepusher alias in five years, following ''

Damogen Furies ''Damogen Furies'' is the fourteenth studio album by British electronic musician Squarepusher. It was announced on 18 February 2015 and released on 20 April 2015. Along with the announcement of the album, the third track, "Rayc Fire 2", was releas ...

'' (2015). The first single, "Vortrack", was released on 6 December 2019. The second single, "Nervelevers", was released on 8 January 2020. A release party was held at the Five Miles nightclub in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 1 February 2020.

Background

After the release of ''

'', Jenkinson took a 5 year hiatus from releasing music under the Squarepusher alias. In 2018, he contributed music to ''Daydream'', a 1 hour long programme meant to help children fall asleep. On 20 November 2019, Jenkinson released the single "Vortrack" onto streaming services. This included a "Fracture Remix". On 8 January 2020, Jenkinson released another single, titled "Nervelevers".

Release

''Be Up a Hello'' was officially released on 31 January 2020 by Warp. It was released on CD and LP. On the album, Jenkinson decided to reuse

analogue synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of vacuum-tube (t ...

s that he used in the early 1990s rather than his own technology that he developed and used on albums like '' Ufabulum'' (2012) and ''

'' (2015). Jenkinson also made use of vintage

effects unit An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion (music), distortion/overdrive, ...

s and a

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore International, Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commod ...

Reception

''Be Up a Hello'' received generally favourable reviews from critics. At ''

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

'', which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 14 reviews, indicating 'generally favourable reviews'. Reviewing the album for ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'', Fred Thomas said that "After several records of heady composition and high-concept music, ''Be Up a Hello'' is refreshingly direct." Shawn Reynaldo of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' commented that "For years, Squarepusher fans have been clamoring for Jenkinson to get back to his roots, and ''Be Up the Hello'' is the closest he’s come to his ’90s self in quite some time." Writing for ''

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 Quietu ...

'', Nick Roseblade said that "''Be Up a Hello'' is Jenkinson’s strongest album for a decade and is easily up there with his best work." Kyle Cochrun from ''

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, ...

'' stated that "Jenkinson consistently delivers electronic albums jam-packed with ideas and vibrant tone color, of which ''Be Up a Hello'' slots in as yet another example of the creative colossus that is Squarepusher." Writing for ''Inverted Audio'', Damien Cummings said that "In the end, ''Be Up a Hello'' is a fantastic addition to an already stellar canon of work, and while this album may remind you of his earlier work, it doesn’t feel retro in the slightest."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Squarepusher albums Warp Records albums