Agora (Fennesz album)

Last updated

Agora
Agora (Fennesz album).jpg
Studio album by
Fennesz
Released29 March 2019 (2019-03-29)
RecordedAugust–September 2018 [1]
StudioKaiserstudios (Vienna) [1]
Length47:06
Label Touch
Fennesz chronology
Bécs
(2014)		Agora
(2019)		 Mosaic
(2024)

Agora is a solo studio album by Austrian musician Christian Fennesz under the mononym Fennesz. [2] It was released on 29 March 2019 through Touch. [3] It received universal acclaim from critics. [4]

Contents

Background

Agora is Fennsz's first solo studio album since Bécs (2014). [5] It was recorded after he had temporarily lost a proper studio space and moved his gear back to a bedroom in his flat. [6] He created the album on headphones, using minimal equipment. [7] The album's title comes from an ancient Greek marketplace. [8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 81/100 [4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Exclaim! 7/10 [10]
The Line of Best Fit 8/10 [11]
Pitchfork 8.5/10 [12]
Resident Advisor 4.1/5 [13]
Spectrum Culture3.75/5 [14]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Agora received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 from 10 critic scores. [4]

Paul Simpson of AllMusic stated, "The unpolished feel of Agora is a bit striking for a Fennesz release, but it's clearly just as carefully considered as his other albums, and makes a welcome addition to his catalog." [9] Jack Bray of The Line of Best Fit commented that "Agora is hypnotic, transient and valuable and a rarity which although oppressive at times ultimately delivers on a promise as tangible as it is striking." [11] Mark Richardson of Pitchfork stated, "Each of the four tracks has its own dramatic arc, some subtle and some utterly titanic, and the record as a whole has a cumulative force only possible when those are stacked one atop the other." [12] He added, "there's something special about Agora in how it integrates the immediate pleasure of his pop influences with the patience of his extended works." [12]

Accolades

Year-end lists for Agora
PublicationListRankRef.
BrooklynVegan BrooklynVegan's Top 50 Albums of 2019
34
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2019
8

Track listing

Agora track listing
No.TitleLength
1."In My Room"12:28
2."Rainfall"11:57
3."Agora"12:09
4."We Trigger the Sun"10:28
Total length:47:06

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fennesz (2019). Agora (CD booklet). Touch.
  2. ↑ Breihan, Tom (8 March 2019). "Fennesz – "In My Room"". Stereogum . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  3. ↑ Yoo, Noah (8 March 2019). "Fennesz Announces First New Album in 5 Years, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Agora by Fennesz". Metacritic . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  5. ↑ Bloom, Madison; Blais-Billie, Braudie (29 March 2019). "7 Albums Out Today You Should Listen to Now: Fennesz, Quelle Chris, K Á R Y Y N, and More". Pitchfork . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  6. ↑ Pearl, Max (17 January 2019). "Fennesz to release Agora, his first solo album in five years". Resident Advisor . Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  7. ↑ Bruce-Jones, Henry (17 January 2019). "Fennesz to release stripped-back album Agora on Touch". Fact . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  8. ↑ Cush, Andy (30 April 2019). "Left Field: Fennesz on Making His Most Ambitious Album Yet, Plus Blissful Ambient, Loopy Math Rock, and More". Spin . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  9. 1 2 Simpson, Paul. "Agora - Fennesz". AllMusic . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  10. ↑ Press, Kevin (26 March 2019). "Fennesz". Exclaim! . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  11. 1 2 Bray, Jack (5 April 2019). "Fennesz flourishes over adversity on new LP Agora". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 Richardson, Mark (2 April 2019). "Fennesz: Agora". Pitchfork . Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  13. ↑ Williger, Jonathan (4 April 2019). "Fennesz - Agora". Resident Advisor . Archived from the original on 29 April 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  14. ↑ Bromfield, Daniel (1 April 2019). "Fennesz: Agora". Spectrum Culture. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  15. ↑ "BrooklynVegan's Top 50 Albums of 2019". BrooklynVegan . 23 December 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
  16. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Pitchfork . 10 December 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2025.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.