Dirty Projectors (album)

Dirty Projectors
Studio album by Dirty Projectors
Released	February 21, 2017
Recorded	2016
Studio	Various Ivo Shandor (Los Angeles, California) The Norman Ave Bunker (Brooklyn, New York) The Magic Mix (Miami, Florida) Profit House 1 (New York City, New York) Sunset Sound (Los Angeles) The Nash Room (Brooklyn) The House (Hudson, New York) Brown Sugar Studios (New York City) Dberg Studios (Burbank, California) Studio City Sound (Studio City, California)
Genre	Art pop electronica alternative R&B experimental pop
Length	48:14
Label	Domino
Producer	David Longstreth Tyondai Braxton [a]
Dirty Projectors chronology
About to Die EP (2012) Dirty Projectors (2017) Lamp Lit Prose (2018)
Singles from Dirty Projectors
"Keep Your Name" Released: September 22, 2016 "Little Bubble" Released: January 5, 2017 "Up in Hudson" Released: January 18, 2017 "Cool Your Heart" Released: February 7, 2017

Dirty Projectors is the seventh studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors, which was released on Domino Records on February 21, 2017.

The album deals with themes of break-up, depression, and reconciliation, following the breakup of Longstreth and Coffman and the ensuing 4-year hiatus in the band's activities. It makes use of more DAW-inspired techniques than the previous 3 albums, similar to their 4th album glitch opera The Getty Address, this time including wholly synthesised sounds in a clear stylistic departure from earlier recordings, Longstreth having previously stated 'I don't like synthesisers'. ^[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.4/10 [2]
Metacritic	77/100 [3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
The A.V. Club	B+ [5]
Entertainment Weekly	A− [6]
The Guardian	[7]
The Independent	[8]
The Observer	[9]
Pitchfork	7.8/10 [10]
Q	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Uncut	9/10 [13]

Dirty Projectors received positive reviews from music critics, holding a rating of 77 out of 100 on the review aggregator website Metacritic. ^[3]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Keep Your Name"	David Longstreth	Longstreth Tyondai Braxton	4:30
2.	"Death Spiral"	Longstreth	Longstreth Braxton Bernard Hermann	5:08
3.	"Up in Hudson"	Longstreth Ewan MacColl	Longstreth MacColl David Ginyard Braxton	7:31
4.	"Work Together"	Longstreth	Longstreth	4:24
5.	"Little Bubble"	Longstreth Teresa Eggers	Longstreth	5:05
6.	"Winner Take Nothing"	Longstreth	Longstreth	4:49
7.	"Ascent Through Clouds"	Longstreth	Longstreth Braxton Ryan Beppel	6:56
8.	"Cool Your Heart" (featuring Dawn Richard)	Longstreth Solange Knowles	Longstreth Knowles Braxton	3:49
9.	"I See You"	Longstreth	Longstreth Elon Rutberg	6:05
Total length:				48:14

iTunes bonus track ^[14]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
10.	"Little Bubble" (edit)	Longstreth Eggers	Longstreth	3:28

Samples

• "Keep Your Name" contains a sample of "Sheathed Wings" by Dan Deacon
• "Death Spiral" contains a sample of "Scene d'Amour", written by Bernard Hermann from the album Vertigo - Original Motion Picture Score

Personnel

Dirty Projectors

• David Longstreth – vocals (all tracks), beat (all tracks), guitar (tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 9), rhodes (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7), synths (tracks 1, 2, 6–9), piano (track 1, 2, 4, 8), string arrangement (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9), bass (tracks 2, 5, 7), wurlitzer (tracks 2, 4), organ (tracks 6, 8), horn arrangement (track 3), arp (track 4)

Additional musicians

• Ryan Beppel – string arrangement (track 7)
• Tyondai Braxton – modular synth (tracks 1–3, 7, 8)
• Lamar "Mars" Edwards – Hammond organ (track 9)
• David Ginyard – bass (track 3)
• Juliane Gralle – trombone (3 and 7), bass trombone (track 3), tuba (track 3)
• Clarice Jensen – cello (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9)
• Mike Daniel Johnson – drums (tracks 2, 3, 5)
• Elizabeth Lea – trombone (track 5)
• Daniel Luna – guira (track 8)
• Rob Moose – violin (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9)
• Francisco Javier Paredes – bongos (track 8)
• Mauro Refosco – percussion (tracks 1–4, 6, 8, 9), marimba (track 6)
• Dawn Richard – vocals (track 8)
• Ben Russell – violin (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9)
• Todd Simon – trumpet (tracks 3, 8), euphonium (track 3), flugelhorn (track 8)
• Nadia Sirota – viola (tracks 4, 5, 7, 9)
• Tracy Wannomae – tenor sax (track 3), alto sax (track 3), clarinet (track 3), bass clarinet (track 3), flute (track 3), baritone sax (track 8)

Recording

• Chris Athens – mastering
• Derek Bergheimer – vocal engineering (track 8)
• Mikaelin "Blue" Bluespruce – engineering (track 8)
• Tyondai Braxton – additional production (tracks 1–3, 7, 8)
• Sonny DiPerri – drum and percussion engineering (tracks 1–7), mixing (track 8), additional engineering (track 9)
• Jimmy Douglass – mixing, additional engineering (vocals) (track 4)
• David Longstreth – producer, mixing
• David Tolomei – additional mixing (tracks 1, 2, 7, 8)
• Ryan Tuttle – engineering
• Jamie Walters – string quartet engineering (tracks 4, 5, 7)

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [15]	84
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [16]	122
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [17]	24
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [18]	18

Notes

1. Additional production on tracks 1–3, 7 and 8

References

1. 6:44 Q with Tom Power (2011-01-05). Dirty Projectors on Q TV . Retrieved 2024-06-07– via YouTube.
2. "Dirty Projectors by Dirty Projectors reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
3. "Reviews for Dirty Projectors by Dirty Projectors". Metacritic . Retrieved January 4, 2018.
4. Deming, Mark. "Dirty Projectors – Dirty Projectors". AllMusic . Retrieved February 23, 2017.
5. Cosores, Philip (February 24, 2017). "Breakups are exhausting and inspiring on Dirty Projectors". The A.V. Club . Retrieved July 8, 2017.
6. Brown, Eric Renner (February 24, 2017). "Dirty Projectors' Dirty Projectors: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
7. Mumford, Gwilym (February 23, 2017). "Dirty Projectors: Dirty Projectors review – deliciously caustic breakup album". The Guardian . Retrieved July 8, 2017.
8. Gill, Andy (February 22, 2017). "Album reviews: Sleaford Mods – English Tapas, Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer, Thundercat – Drunk, and more". The Independent . Retrieved July 8, 2017.
9. Empire, Kitty (February 19, 2017). "Dirty Projectors: Dirty Projectors review – spectacular sonic fallout". The Observer . Retrieved February 21, 2017.
10. Sodomsky, Sam (February 24, 2017). "Dirty Projectors: Dirty Projectors". Pitchfork . Retrieved February 24, 2017.
11. Segal, Victoria (April 2017). "Dirty Projectors: Dirty Projectors". Q (370): 111.
12. Hermes, Will (February 24, 2017). "Review: Dirty Projectors Turn Heartbreak Into Arty Bliss on Self-Titled LP". Rolling Stone . Retrieved July 8, 2017.
13. Thomson, Graeme (February 27, 2017). "Dirty Projectors – Dirty Projectors". Uncut . Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
14. "Dirty Projectors by Dirty Projectors". iTunes. 21 February 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
15. "Ultratop.be – Dirty Projectors – Dirty Projectors" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Dirty Projectors – Dirty Projectors" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
17. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
18. "Dirty Projectors Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 8, 2018.