| Electrophonic Chronic | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 27, 2023 | |||
| Studio |
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| Length | 38:45 | |||
| Label | Easy Eye Sound | |||
| Producer | ||||
| The Arcs chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Electrophonic Chronic | ||||
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Electrophonic Chronic is the second studio album by the Arcs, a side project of Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. It was released on January 27, 2023, under Auerbach's label Easy Eye Sound.
A second album was initially conceived by the Arcs following the release of their debut album Yours, Dreamily, (2015); however, this did not materialize. [1] Electrophonic Chronic features the original lineup of the band and was recorded primarily prior to Richard Swift's death in 2018. Recording took place at Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound studios in Nashville, Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan, and Leon Michels' Diamond Mine Studio in Queens, New York. It was co-produced by Auerbach and Michels. The album was announced by the band on October 13, 2022, coinciding with the release of the lead single "Keep on Dreamin'". [2]
The album's first single "Keep on Dreamin'" was released simultaneously with the album announcement on October 13, 2022. [3] A second single, "Heaven Is a Place", was released on November 10, 2022, along with a visualizer directed by Roboshobo that pays tribute to Swift. [4] A third single, "Eyez", was released on December 8, 2022, along with a visualizer for it directed by Roboshobo. [5] A fourth and final single, "Sunshine", was released on January 12, 2023. [6] A music video for "Sunshine" directed by Roboshobo followed on January 23, 2023.
The band has no plans to tour in support of Electrophonic Chronic or to record new music. Commenting on the band's period of creativity with Swift and David Berman, Leon Michels said, "It was almost like this insane manic creative energy that was unsustainable. That's why we recorded so much music. We were trying to basically capture this feeling that can’t sustain itself." [7]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 [8] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [9] |
| American Songwriter | [10] |
| Clash | 8/10 [11] |
| Far Out | [12] |
| Hot Press | 8/10 [13] |
| Mojo | [14] |
| The Observer | [15] |
| Uncut | 8/10 [16] |
Electrophonic Chronic received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on 7 reviews. [8]
Bud Scoppa of Uncut gave the album an 8 out of 10 rating, writing, "Auerbach's stoic, close-mic'd vocals and gnarled tendrils of distorted guitar bring a devastating immediacy to an album that contemplates the death of love and, by extension, mortality itself, seeking closure." [16] Christopher Connor of Clash wrote, "Worth the wait for fans. The record balances its psychedelia with more mediative moments offering plenty of variety. This record again shows Auerbach's musical influences and projects beyond The Black Keys." [11] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "Electrophonic Chronic plays like an old-fashioned long-player instead of a stack of 45s, a heady experience that nevertheless is anchored in R&B. Maybe the thrills aren't as immediate as they are on Yours, Dreamily, yet the free-floating psychedelic soul is alluring, as well as a worthy tribute to Swift." [9]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Keep on Dreamin'" | 4:26 | |
| 2. | "Eyez" |
| 3:40 |
| 3. | "Heaven Is a Place" |
| 4:49 |
| 4. | "Califone Interlude" |
| 1:16 |
| 5. | "River" |
| 3:27 |
| 6. | "Sunshine" |
| 2:56 |
| 7. | "A Man Will Do Wrong" | 4:17 | |
| 8. | "Behind the Eyes" |
| 4:09 |
| 9. | "Backstage Mess" |
| 1:47 |
| 10. | "Sporting Girls Interlude" | 0:17 | |
| 11. | "Love Doesn't Live Here Anymore" |
| 3:45 |
| 12. | "Only One for Me" |
| 3:56 |
| Total length: | 38:45 | ||
The Arcs
Additional musicians
| Technical
Packaging
|
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [18] | 90 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [19] | 57 |
| UK Album Downloads (OCC) [20] | 49 |
"California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in December 1965. The lyrics express the narrator's longing for the warmth of Los Angeles during a cold winter in New York City. It is recorded in the key of C-sharp minor.
The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their records, before they eventually emerged as one of the most popular garage rock artists during a second wave of the genre's revival in the 2000s. The band's raw blues rock sound draws heavily from Auerbach's blues influences, including Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Howlin' Wolf, and Robert Johnson.
Daniel Quine Auerbach is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has recorded and co-produced eleven studio albums with his bandmate Patrick Carney. Auerbach has also released two solo albums, Keep It Hid (2009) and Waiting on a Song (2017), and formed a side project, the Arcs, which released the albums Yours, Dreamily, (2015) and Electrophonic Chronic (2023).
Arc is an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, recorded early 1991 and released in October 1991.
Nicholas Anthony Movshon is a bass guitarist, drummer and songwriter best known for his considerable contributions to the New York funk and soul revival. A frequent contributor to the recorded output of Brooklyn-based labels Daptone Records and Truth & Soul, he has spent the past two decades playing with Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and as a member of groups including Antibalas, Menahan Street Band, and El Michels Affair. He is also a founding member of The Arcs and has toured with The Black Keys.
Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their single "It's Time", followed by their debut album Night Visions (2012), which resulted in the chart-topping singles "Radioactive" and "Demons". Rolling Stone named "Radioactive", which held the record for most weeks charted on the Billboard Hot 100, the "biggest rock hit of the year". MTV called them "the year's biggest breakout band", and Billboard named them their "Breakthrough Band of 2013" and "Biggest Band of 2017", and placed them at the top of their "Year in Rock" rankings for 2013, 2017, and 2018. Imagine Dragons topped the Billboard Year-End "Top Artists – Duo/Group" category in 2018.
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Turn Blue is the eighth studio album by American rock duo the Black Keys. It was released through Nonesuch Records on May 12, 2014, and co-produced by Danger Mouse and the duo. The record was their fourth collaboration with Danger Mouse, following their previous studio album, El Camino (2011), which was their biggest commercial and critical success to that point. For Turn Blue, Danger Mouse reprised his role from El Camino as an equal songwriting partner alongside guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.
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The Arcs are an American garage rock band formed by Dan Auerbach, the guitarist and vocalist of the Black Keys. The band consists of Auerbach, Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss, and formerly Richard Swift, who died in 2018. They released their debut album Yours, Dreamily, in 2015. Their second album, Electrophonic Chronic, was released in January 2023.
Yours, Dreamily, is the debut album by the Arcs, a side-project by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. The album was released on September 4, 2015.
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Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was is the tenth studio album by American band Bright Eyes. The album marked the band's first release in nearly a decade, following The People's Key in 2011. It was released by Dead Oceans on August 21, 2020, and it was their first album not released by Saddle Creek Records. The album was recorded at Electro-Vox and Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and ARC Studios in Omaha, Nebraska.
The following is a list of events and releases that happened in 2023 in music in the United States.
