| Collections from the Whiteout | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 26 March 2021 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Indie rock, folktronica [1] | |||
| Length | 54:01 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer |
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| Ben Howard chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Collections from the Whiteout | ||||
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Collections from the Whiteout is the fourth studio album by the English singer-songwriter Ben Howard, released on 26 March 2021. [3] [4]
The lead single from the album, "What a Day", premiered on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show on 26 January 2021. [2] A second single "Crowhurst's Meme" was released 2 February 2021. [5] The third and fourth singles, "Far Out" and "Follies Fixture" were released on 26 February 2021. [6] The fifth single, "Sorry Kid" premiered on Annie Mac’s show on 22 March 2021. [7]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.2/10 [8] |
| Metacritic | 69/100 [9] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The AU Review |   [10] |
| DIY | [11] |
| The Independent | [12] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 7/10 [13] |
| Mojo | [14] |
| NME | [15] |
| Pitchfork | 6.9/10 [16] |
| Uncut | 5/10 [17] |
The album was met with positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100, the album was scored a 69, which indicates generally favourable reviews. [9] Ben Lynch of DIY Magazine gave the album 4 stars, calling the album "Melancholy, meticulous and achingly grand", elaborating that "His dialling down the traditional guitar/vocal folk and diving deeper into a range of electronics, whether the harsh distortion of ‘Sage That She Was Burning’ or the bright, tactile ‘Metaphysical Cantations’, is a primary deviation here. ‘Follies Fixture’, the opener and a highlight, expresses this newfound path from the onset, its entrancing swirl likely to divide fans while potentially turning a few new heads his way. Make no mistake though, Collections From The Whiteout remains in the truest sense a Ben Howard release." [18] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor and Rachel Brodsky say that "instead of a too-many-cooks situation, which this easily could’ve been, [producer Aaron Dessner] and Howard find cozy nooks for everyone. The singer’s reedy voice is the drawstring that ties it all together." [19] Hannah Jocelyn of Pitchfork gave the album 6.9 out of 10, saying that "Whiteout doesn’t always sound like a revelation, but it allows Howard to open up, letting in new lyrical and musical ideas that complement his own without overwhelming them." [20]
Other reviews were less positive. John Murphy of musicOMH.com gave the album 3 stars, explaining that "there’s certainly a lot to take in on Ben Howard’s fourth album – not all the ideas work in fairness, and there’s a few too many moments which feel like half-sketched ideas. Yet Dessner makes a decent foil for him and for those who have joined Howard on his career journey to date will be more than happy to continue travelling with him." [21] PopMatters' Brice Ezell gave the album 6 out of 10, saying that "if Whiteout is an imperfect album, it is one that also evinces Howard’s refusal to stay in a single musical lane." [22]
Collections from the Whiteout spent its first week of release at number one on the UK Albums Chart (with first-week sales of 15,621 copies, including 1,759 from sales-equivalent streams). [23] Unusually for a number one album, it recorded no other weeks in the chart.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Follies Fixture" | Ben Howard | 3:59 |
| 2. | "What a Day" |
| 5:15 |
| 3. | "Crowhurst's Meme" |
| 3:44 |
| 4. | "Finders Keepers" |
| 2:49 |
| 5. | "Far Out" |
| 4:18 |
| 6. | "Rookery" | Howard | 2:31 |
| 7. | "You Have Your Way" | Howard | 4:25 |
| 8. | "Sage That She Was Burning" |
| 4:17 |
| 9. | "Sorry Kid" |
| 4:59 |
| 10. | "Unfurling" |
| 3:40 |
| 11. | "Metaphysical Cantations" |
| 4:21 |
| 12. | "Make Arrangements" |
| 4:25 |
| 13. | "The Strange Last Flight of Richard Russell" |
| 4:23 |
| 14. | "Buzzard" | Howard | 0:55 |
| Total length: | 54:01 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 15. | "Rumble Strip" | 3:00 |
| 16. | "London Portrait" | 2:29 |
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Musicians
| Production
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| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [24] | 14 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [25] | 78 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [26] | 9 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [27] | 19 |
| Irish Albums (OCC) [28] | 17 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [29] | 1 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [30] | 81 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [31] | 1 |
