Dark Matter (Randy Newman album)

Dark Matter
Studio album by Randy Newman
Released	August 4, 2017
Studio	University High (Los Angeles, CA) Sony Scoring Stage (Culver City, CA) Sunset Sound (Los Angeles, CA)
Length	39:34
Label	Nonesuch
Producer	Mitchell Froom Lenny Waronker David Boucher
Randy Newman chronology
The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 3 (2016) Dark Matter (2017) The Meyerowitz Stories (2017)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Exclaim!	6/10 [3]
Paste	8.7/10 [4]
Pitchfork	8.0/10 [5]
Vice (Expert Witness)	A [6]

Dark Matter is the fifteenth studio album of original material and first of such in nine years by Randy Newman, released on August 4, 2017, by Nonesuch Records. NPR.org released an advance stream of the album on July 27, 2017. ^[7] Music critic Robert Christgau ranked it as the sixth-best album of the 2010s. ^[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Great Debate"	8:08
2.	"Brothers"	4:54
3.	"Putin"	3:44
4.	"Lost Without You"	3:54
5.	"Sonny Boy"	4:42
6.	"It's a Jungle Out There"	3:20
7.	"She Chose Me"	3:12
8.	"On the Beach"	4:30
9.	"Wandering Boy"	3:00

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Flood Magazine	Top 25 Albums of 2017	23	[9]
Mojo	Top 50 Albums of 2017	33	[10]
Rolling Stone	Top 50 Albums of 2017	13	[11]
Spin	Top 50 Albums of 2017	43	[12]

Personnel

• Randy Newman – piano, vocals
• Matt Chamberlain – drums
• David Piltch – bass
• Blake Mills – guitar
• Mitchell Froom – additional keyboards

Background vocals

"The Great Debate" and "Putin":

• Sandie Hall
• Teresa James
• Kala Balch
• Clydene Jackson (solo on "The Great Debate")
• Alva Copeland
• Donna Medine
• Randy Crenshaw
• John West
• Michael Geiger
• Alvin Chea

"Brothers":

• Randy Crenshaw
• John West
• Alvin Chea

Production

• Mitchell Froom – producer
• Lenny Waronker – producer
• David Boucher – producer, recording, mixing
• Robert C. Ludwig – mastering
• Robert Hurwitz – executive producer

Visual

• Michael Carney – art direction & design
• Pamela Springsteen – photograph

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2017) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [13] 35 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [14] 13 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [15] 129 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [16] 8 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [17] 48 Irish Albums (IRMA) [18] 25 New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ) [19] 3 Scottish Albums (OCC) [20] 20 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [21] 20 UK Albums (OCC) [22] 61 US Folk Albums (Billboard) [23] 3 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [24] 21

Year-end charts Chart (2017) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [25] 190

References

1. "Dark Matter by Randy Newman". Metacritic. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
2. Allmusic review
3. Keast, James (August 3, 2017). "Randy Newman: Dark Matter Review". exclaim.ca. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
4. Prado, Ryan (August 4, 2017). "Randy Newman: Dark Matter Review". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
5. Powell, Mike (August 7, 2017). "Randy Newman: Dark Matter". Pitchfork . Retrieved March 17, 2019.
6. Christgau, Robert (August 4, 2017). "Robert Christgau on Randy Newman's Album of the Year Contender". Noisey . Retrieved August 4, 2017.
7. Moon, Tom (July 27, 2017). "First Listen: Randy Newman, 'Dark Matter'". NPR.org. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
8. Christgau, Robert (December 20, 2019). "Dean's List: The 2010s". And It Don't Stop. Substack . Retrieved December 21, 2019.
9. "The Best Albums of 2017". Floodmagazine.com. December 13, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
10. Andrew Sacher (November 22, 2017). "MOJO's Top 50 Albums of 2017". BrooklynVegan . Retrieved May 2, 2021.
11. Weingarten, Christopher (November 27, 2017). "59 Best Albums of 2017". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
12. "50 Best Albums of 2017". Spin.com. December 18, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
13. "Austriancharts.at – Randy Newman – Dark Matter" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
14. "Ultratop.be – Randy Newman – Dark Matter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
15. "Ultratop.be – Randy Newman – Dark Matter" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Randy Newman – Dark Matter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Randy Newman – Dark Matter" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
18. "Irish Albums Chart: 11 August 2017". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
19. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
20. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
21. "Swisscharts.com – Randy Newman – Dark Matter". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
22. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
23. "Randy Newman Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
24. "Randy Newman Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
25. "Jaaroverzichten 2017". Ultratop. Retrieved September 30, 2020.