Present Tense (Wild Beasts album)

Present Tense
Studio album by Wild Beasts
Released 24 February 2014
Recorded Konk Studios in London and at The Distillery in Bath, Somerset
Genre Indie rock, dream pop, synthpop, electronica
Length 40:55
Label Domino
Producer Lexxx, Leo Abrahams, Wild Beasts
Wild Beasts chronology

Smother
(2011)		 Present Tense
(2014)
Singles from Present Tense
  1. "Wanderlust"
    Released: 24 February 2014
  2. "A Simple Beautiful Truth"
    Released: 19 May 2014
  3. "Mecca"
    Released: 4 August 2014
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 86/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Clash (8/10) [3]
Consequence of Sound B-[4]
The Fly [5]
Line of Best Fit (10/10) [6]
MOJO [7]
NME (9/10)[8]
Q [9]
Slant Magazine [10]
Uncut (9/10)[11]

Present Tense is the fourth studio album by Wild Beasts, released 24 February 2014 on Domino Records. It was preceded by the single "Wanderlust" released on the same day.[12]

Background

Following a two-year-long world tour in promotion of their third album Smother, the band admitted to feelings of burn out by the experience and in late 2012 announced that they would take a year off from touring to concentrate on writing and recording the follow-up. Seeking a fresh approach, the band chose not to work with long-time producer Richard Formby, who had helmed the recording of Two Dancers and Smother, though they have not ruled out collaborating with him again in the future. Producers Leo Abrahams and Alex 'Lexxx' Dromgoole (who was also involved in the mixing of both records) were brought in to sharpen the band's focus and help them craft songs that continued to pursue the band's shift into electronic and synthesized sounds, yet with a more direct and aggressive feel in comparison to Smother. The album received acclaim from critics, but was mostly ignored on most best album of the year lists.[1]

Track listing

All songs written by Wild Beasts.

No. Title Length
1. "Wanderlust"   4:55
2. "Nature Boy"   3:33
3. "Mecca"   3:45
4. "Sweet Spot"   3:59
5. "Daughters"   4:47
6. "Pregnant Pause"   3:09
7. "A Simple Beautiful Truth"   2:36
8. "A Dog's Life"   3:21
9. "Past Perfect"   2:57
10. "New Life"   4:37
11. "Palace"   3:20

Chart positions

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 77
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 146
French Albums (SNEP)[15] 172
Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] 13
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA)[17] 2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 10
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[20] 3
US Current Albums (Billboard)[21] 177
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[22] 5
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[22] 44

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Present Tense Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
  2. ↑ Phares, Heather (February 24, 2014). "Present Tense - Wild Beasts : Songs, Revews, Credits, Awards :". Allmusic. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  3. ↑ Clash Magazine Review
  4. ↑ Kitching, Bryant. "Album Review: Wild Beasts – Present Tense". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved Feb 26, 2014.
  5. ↑ The Fly review
  6. ↑ Line of Best Fit Review
  7. ↑ Sheppard, David. MOJO magazine. March 2014. Filter Albums. Wild Beasts. Present Tense. p.89.
  8. ↑ NME. 19 February 2014. Wild Beasts. Present Tense.
  9. ↑ Harrison, Ian. Q magazine. March 2014. Brute Force. Wild Beasts. Present Tense. p.116.
  10. ↑ "Slant review".
  11. ↑ Richards, Sam. Uncut magazine. March 2014. New Albums review. Wild Beasts. Present Tense. p.70.
  12. ↑ "Wild Beasts, Present Tense". Domino Records. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Wild Beasts – Present Tense" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Wild Beasts – Present Tense" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Wild Beasts – Present Tense". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  16. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 9, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Independent Artists Album". Chart-Track.co.uk. GFK Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  18. ↑ "08-03-2014 Top 40 Scottish Albums Archive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Wild Beasts | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  20. ↑ "08-03-2014 Top 40 Independent Albums Archive | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Top Current Albums : Mar 15, 2014". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Present Tense - Wild Beasts Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 15, 2014.