Kill for Love

Kill for Love
Studio album by Chromatics
Released March 26, 2012
Genre Synthpop, post-punk revival, dream pop
Length 77:35
Label Italians Do It Better
Producer Chromatics
Chromatics chronology

In the City
(2010)		 Kill for Love
(2012)

Kill for Love is the fourth studio album by American electronic music band Chromatics, released on March 26, 2012 by Italians Do It Better. On May 7, 2012, a drumless version of the album, containing eleven songs with no percussion, was made available by the band for free download.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 80/100[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]
The A.V. Club C+[4]
Drowned in Sound 9/10[5]
Now 4/5[6]
The Phoenix [7]
Pitchfork Media 8.7/10[8]
PopMatters 8/10[9]
Slant Magazine [10]
Tiny Mix Tapes [11]
Under the Radar [12]

Kill for Love received general acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[2] Allmusic critic K. Ross Hoffman wrote the album "maintains an impressively high level of quality and emotional resonance throughout", adding that "just about everything" on the album is "inarguably effective, and starkly beautiful in its simplicity".[3] Sean Adams of Drowned in Sound opined that, compared to the Drive soundtrack, Kill for Love is "oh-so much more than that, both in terms of scale and ambition, as well as how it plays with time and rich textures. This is a modern masterpiece, it's as simple as that."[5] Andrew Graham of The Phoenix stated that "Ruth Radelet's detached, lethargic vocals ache with implicit longing [...] Adam Miller's guitars still echo—without imitating—Joy Division and New Order, and Johnny Jewel's trademark retro-futuro-electro production sound underpins this 16-track set with a dreamy, after-the-afterparty atmosphere that feels like it could go on all night long."[7]

Pitchfork Media's Marc Hogan commented that the album "boasts some of the most engrossing synth-pop songs so far this year", noting that "[i]t's not just a collection of hits; it's an album, one that gives the project's familiar nocturnal foreboding a new sense of grandeur."[8] Benjamin Boles of Now called the album "strikingly epic" and wrote, "At 16 tracks, it's verging on sprawling, but it doesn't drag, even during the long, minimalist instrumental passages. Sure, as a more condensed pop album it could also be a strong statement, but the languid pacing and excess of empty space make the perfect frame for the singalongs."[6] In a review for Slant Magazine, Jesse Cataldo viewed Kill for Love as "a great tribute to the grueling power of fatigue, an album that turns a dearth of ideas into a virtue."[10] Under the Radar‍ '​s Austin Trunick expressed that "[t]he track sequencing is meticulously well thought-out [...] and gives the album a weave and flow that makes incredible sense. With a clear opening and finale, upbeat moments and downbeat ones, romance, tragedy, and plot twists, Kill for Love feels less like an album and more like a feature film."[12]

BBC Music's Alex Denney praised the album as "little short of breathtaking", naming it "one of the finest records to surface this year".[13] Rowan Savage of Tiny Mix Tapes described Kill for Love as a "sexy album" and stated, "In birthing a sensibility that encompasses the transition from classic disco to italo, minimal wave and synthpop, Chromatics avoid the slavish pastiche all too common in our retromaniac era and create something entirely novel yet instantly recognizable."[11] Matt James of PopMatters referred to the album as "a heavy-hearted but eternally romantic midnight road movie for the mind that'll haunt you long after those taillights fade. Unapologetically ambitious and true it carries the independent spirit and 'Our game, our rules' maverick attitude that's made Jewel and the gang so revered."[9] In a mixed review, The A.V. Club‍ '​s Erik Harvey dubbed the album an "ambitious work", but felt that "the tracks blend together into a flat, echo-drenched concoction of Radelet's blank Nico croon", concluding that "it's probably worth just waiting for the movie [Drive]."[4]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Into the Black"  Neil Young 5:23
2. "Kill for Love"  Adam Miller, John David V 3:58
3. "Back from the Grave"  V 3:43
4. "The Page"  Miller, Ruth Radelet, V 3:36
5. "Lady"  V 5:08
6. "These Streets Will Never Look the Same"  Miller, V 8:37
7. "Broken Mirrors"  Nat Walker, V 7:04
8. "Candy"  Miller, V 2:30
9. "The Eleventh Hour"  V 3:28
10. "Running from the Sun"  Miller, V 7:07
11. "Dust to Dust"  Miller, V 2:41
12. "Birds of Paradise"  Miller, Radelet, V 4:26
13. "A Matter of Time"  V 5:06
14. "At Your Door"  Miller, V 3:53
15. "There's a Light Out on the Horizon"  Walker, V 4:45
16. "The River"  Miller, V 6:10
Total length:
 77:35

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Minsker, Evan (May 7, 2012). "Chromatics Share Drumless Version of Kill for Love, Tour With Hot Chip". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Kill For Love – Chromatics". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hoffman, K. Ross. "Kill for Love – Chromatics". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Harvey, Erik (April 17, 2012). "Chromatics: Kill For Love". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Adams, Sean (April 20, 2012). "Chromatics – Kill for Love". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Boles, Benjamin (May 3–10, 2012). "Chromatics – Kill For Love". Now 31 (36). Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Graham, Andrew (April 24, 2012). "Chromatics | Kill For Love". The Phoenix. Phoenix Media/Communications Group. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hogan, Marc (April 3, 2012). "Chromatics: Kill for Love". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 James, Matt (April 20, 2012). "Chromatics : Kill for Love". PopMatters. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cataldo, Jesse (April 30, 2012). "Chromatics: Kill for Love". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Savage, Rowan. "Chromatics – Kill For Love". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Trunick, Austin (April 24, 2012). "Chromatics: Kill for Love (Italians Do It Better)". Under the Radar. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  13. ↑ Denney, Alex (June 7, 2012). "Review of Chromatics – Kill for Love". BBC Music. BBC Online. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Kill for Love by Chromatics". iTunes Store US. Apple Inc. Retrieved May 17, 2012.