Our Love (Caribou album)

Our Love
Studio album by Caribou
Released October 6, 2014
Genre Electronic
Length 41:53
Label City Slang, Merge
Producer Dan Snaith
Caribou chronology

Swim
(2010)		 Our Love
(2014)
Singles from Our Love
  1. "Can't Do Without You"
    Released: June 3, 2014

Our Love is the sixth studio album by Canadian musician Caribou, released on October 6, 2014 via City Slang worldwide (excluding the Americas), and October 7, 2014 through Merge Records in North and South America.[1] The album reached #46 on the Billboard 200.

Production

The album's title was a reflection of the success Snaith received after the release of Swim.[2] Describing the inspiration for Our Love, Snaith said "[T]he primary impulse on this record was to make something that was generous in the sense that it was for everybody, not just for me locked in a studio by myself."[3] The album features contributions from Jessy Lanza and Owen Pallett.[4]

Our Love contains R&B and hip hop influences. Snaith described the lyrics as being more personal compared to previous Caribou releases, saying "Part of it’s just getting older and being more reflective, thinking, 'What is it that I want to have in my music when I look back on it? What are the things that matter to me?' And they are clichéd things: the love in my life, whether that be my family or my friends."[4] Snaith cited the birth of his daughter as a major reason for the more personal lyrics.[3]

Release

The album's first single, "Can't Do Without You", was made available for free online on June 3, followed by "Our Love" on August 18, 2014.[1][5] A music video for "Our Love," directed by Ryan Staake, was released on October 7, 2014.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 84/100[7]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [8]
Consequence of Sound B+[9]
Drowned in Sound 8/10[10]
The Guardian [11]
Resident Advisor 3/5 [12]
NME 9/10 [13]
Pitchfork Media (8.6/10)[14]
Slant Magazine [15]

Our Love has received acclaim from critics. On Metacritic, the album has a score of 84 out of 100 (based on 33 reviews), indicating "universal acclaim."[7]

Alexis Petridis of the Guardian praised the album, writing "This is rich, strange, endlessly fascinating music: a subtle, beautiful triumph."[11] Pitchfork Media's Jamieson Cox gave the album a Best New Music designation, writing "Our Love is a very assured record, from its unconventional, austere arrangements to its unrelenting focus and thematic consistency."[14] Fred Thomas of Allmusic also gave the album a positive review, writing "All told, Our Love stands as the most straightforwardly danceable Caribou album to date, but holds on to both the experimental bent and composition-minded musicality that helped build the project's one-of-a-kind sound world."[8] Drowned in Sound's Alex Baker said that while the album "lacks the element of surprise that Swim had," Our Love "still holds in abundance all the hallmarks of a master: so rich, so textured and despite being predominantly electronic, so human"[10]

In a mixed review Andrew Ryce of Resident Advisor called the album "a grower," writing "over the last few months I've come to appreciate its nuanced production, even on songs that initially fell flat. But I still can't help but feel underwhelmed."[12] In another mixed review, Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo criticized the album's dreary sound, writing that the album lacked "the nervous energy and addictive grooves of 2010's Swim or the sample-based bounciness of Snaith's recent side project, Daphni."[15]

Accolades

Our Love appeared on numerous end-of-year charts.[16] Consequence of Sound ranked the album #5 on their list of the top 50 albums of 2014, writing "As the world goes electronic, artists must work even harder to maintain the humanity that brings so many people together through music. Our Love is proof that artists can adopt timeless dance floor tactics without losing themselves in the hysteria."[17] The Guardian also ranked the album #5 on their end-of-year list, writing "Our Love ran far deeper than most dance records, exploring the complexities of adult relationships: new fatherhood, friends’ divorces and even death."[18]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Can't Do Without You"   3:56
2. "Silver"   5:16
3. "All I Ever Need"   3:52
4. "Our Love"   5:34
5. "Dive"   2:06
6. "Second Chance"   4:00
7. "Julia Brightly"   2:03
8. "Mars"   5:45
9. "Back Home"   3:33
10. "Your Love Will Set You Free"   5:47
Total length:
 41:53

Personnel

The following people contributed to Our Love:[19]

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[20] 46
US Alternative Albums[20] 8
US Electronic Albums[20] 2
US Independent Albums[20] 9
UK Albums Chart[20] 8
Canadian Albums Chart[20] 19

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Caribou Announces New Album Our Love, Shares "Can't Do Without You", Tours". Pitchfork Media. June 3, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  2. ↑ Yoshida, Emily. . Grantland. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lindsay, Cam. Dan Snaith of Caribou Wants to Minimize the Distance Between Him and the Listener. Vice.com. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Bulut, Selim. Caribou interview: “The love in my life.”. dummymag.com. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Minsker, Evan. Caribou Shares "Our Love". Pitchfork Media. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Phillips, Amy. Caribou Shares "Our Love" Video. Pitchfork Media. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Our Love by Caribou". Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Thomas, Fred (October 7, 2014). "Our Love - Caribou". Allmusic. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  9. ↑ Corcoran, Nina (October 7, 2014). Consequence of Sound http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/10/album-review-caribou-our-love/. Retrieved October 7, 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Baker, Alex. Album Review: Caribou - Our Love. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Petridis, Alexis. Caribou – Our Love review: spellbindingly ambiguous, endlessly fascinating electronica. The Guardian. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ryce, Andrew. Caribou - Our Love. Resident Advisor. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Sheffield, Hazel. Caribou - 'Our Love'. NME. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Cox, Jamieson (October 7, 2014). "Caribou: Our Love". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cataldo, Jesse. Caribou: Our Love. Slant Magazine. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  16. ↑ Best of 2014: Music Critic Top Ten Lists. Metacritic. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  17. ↑ Top 50 Albums of 2014. Consequence of Sound. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  18. ↑ Hutchinson, Kate. Best albums of 2014: No 5 - Our Love by Caribou. The Guardian. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  19. ↑ Our Love - Caribou | Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 Our Love - Caribou | Awards. Allmusic. Retrieved 23 October 2014.