New Glow
| New Glow | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Matt & Kim | ||||
| Released | April 7, 2015 | |||
| Genre | Indie pop, electronic | |||
| Length | 27:47 | |||
| Label | Harvest (US), Virgin EMI (International) | |||
| Producer | Lars Stalfors, Jesse Shatkin | |||
| Matt & Kim chronology | ||||
| ||||
New Glow is the fifth studio album by Matt and Kim, released on April 7, 2015. Critical reception of the album was mixed upon release.
Composition
New Glow embraces much more elements of mainstream styles such as hip hop and electronic dance music than Matt and Kim's previous punk-influenced works,[1][2][3] through there are still components punk featured on the record.[2] It opens with "Hey Now", containing a pounding drum beat, handclaps, low-octave brass instruments, group chants and an air horn in its instrumentation.[4][2]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 52/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Alternative Press | [6] |
| The A.V. Club | C-[7] |
| Consequence of Sound | C-[2] |
| Exclaim! | 6/10[4] |
| musicOMH | [8] |
| Now | NN[9] |
| Pitchfork Media | 4.6/10[10] |
| Rolling Stone | [11] |
| Under the Radar | [12] |
New Glow garnered mixed reviews from critics upon release, garnering an aggregate 52 out of 100 from Metacritic based on nine reviews.[5] Calling it the act's least enjoyable record so far, Allmusic journalist Tim Sendra felt that the album's departure from a less punk-influenced style to a more polished and mainstream sound caused it to lose the crazy energy and spirit that heavily contributed to the quality of their past releases.[1] Jon Dolan, a critic for Rolling Stone, gave it a similar rating, writing "their all-smiles assault can be adorable, at least in moderate doses. But unless you're the kind of person who throws your hands in the air to a salvo like, "We're riding bikes through red lights/We're bulletproof," the cuteness starts to wear thin pretty fast."[11]
Corey Henderson of Exclaim! praised New Glow as a fun album. However, he felt that the album should've had more of a hip hop sound which he called its best aspect than a bit of a tiresome clean casual sound that fits with some of the tracks but render uninteresting on others.[4]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hey Now" | 2:50 |
| 2. | "Stirred Up" | 2:41 |
| 3. | "Can You Blame Me" | 2:32 |
| 4. | "Hoodie On" | 2:24 |
| 5. | "Make A Mess" | 2:11 |
| 6. | "Killin' Me" | 3:09 |
| 7. | "World Is Ending" | 3:15 |
| 8. | "Get It" | 3:02 |
| 9. | "Not Alone" | 3:02 |
| 10. | "I See Ya" | 2:41 |
Charts
| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200[13] | 33 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] | 3 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[15] | 5 |
References
- 1 2 3 Sendra, Tim. "New Glow – Matt and Kim". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Flynn, Katherine (April 2, 2015). "Matt and Kim – New Glow". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- ↑ Sorendino, Anthony. "Matt and Kim – New Glow". AbsolutePunk. SpinMedia. Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
- 1 2 3 Henderson, Corey (April 8, 2015). "Matt & Kim New Glow". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- 1 2 "New Glow – Matt and Kim". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
- ↑ Alternative Press. May 2015, p.98
- ↑ Mincher, Chris (April 7, 2015). "On their fifth LP, Matt And Kim are vibrant but vapid". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ↑ Murphy, John (April 11, 2015). "Matt & Kim – New Glow". musicOMH. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ↑ Edwards, Samantha (April 22, 2015). "Matt and Kim". Now. Now Communications. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ↑ Rytlewski, Evan (April 14, 2015). "Matt & Kim: New Glow". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
- 1 2 Dolan, Jon (April 7, 2015). "Matt & Kim's New Album: New Glow". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ↑ Davis, Hays (April 9, 2015). "Matt and Kim: New Glow (Harvest)". Under the Radar. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Matt & Kim – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Matt & Kim. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Matt & Kim – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Matt & Kim. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Matt & Kim – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Matt & Kim. Retrieved April 16, 2015.