Kill for Love

Last updated
Kill for Love
Chromatics - Kill for Love.png
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 26, 2012 (2012-03-26)
RecordedMay 2007 – August 2011 (Houston), (Portland), (Montreal)
Genre
Length77:33
Label Italians Do It Better
Producer Johnny Jewel
Chromatics chronology
Night Drive
(2007)
Kill for Love
(2012)
Closer to Grey
(2019)
Singles from Kill for Love
  1. "These Streets Will Never Look the Same"
    Released: June 23, 2013 [5]

Kill for Love is the fourth studio album by American electronic music band Chromatics. It was released on March 26, 2012, by Italians Do It Better. On May 7, 2012, a drumless version of the album, containing 11 songs with no percussion, was made available by the band for free download. [6]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic? 8.2/10 [7]
Metacritic 80/100 [8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [9]
The A.V. Club C+ [10]
The Boston Phoenix Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [11]
Consequence of Sound Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [12]
Drowned in Sound 9/10 [13]
NME 7/10 [14]
Pitchfork 8.7/10 [1]
PopMatters 8/10 [15]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Spin 8/10 [17]

Kill for Love received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 18 reviews. [8] AllMusic critic K. Ross Hoffman wrote that the album "maintains an impressively high level of quality and emotional resonance throughout", adding that "just about everything" on the album is "inarguably effective, and starkly beautiful in its simplicity". [9] Drowned in Sound 's Sean Adams praised its "scale and ambition" and dubbed it "a modern masterpiece", [13] while BBC Music's Alex Denney named it "one of the finest records to surface this year". [18] Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine viewed Kill for Love as "a great tribute to the grueling power of fatigue, an album that turns a dearth of ideas into a virtue." [16]

Marc Hogan of Pitchfork commented that the album "boasts some of the most engrossing synth-pop songs so far this year", adding that "[i]t's not just a collection of hits; it's an album, one that gives the project's familiar nocturnal foreboding a new sense of grandeur." [1] Austin Trunick of Under the Radar noted its "meticulously well thought-out" sequencing and remarked that it "feels less like an album and more like a feature film." [19] Now 's Benjamin Boles called the album "strikingly epic" and concluded that "as a more condensed pop album it could also be a strong statement, but the languid pacing and excess of empty space make the perfect frame for the singalongs." [20] In a mixed review, Eric Harvey of The A.V. Club dubbed Kill for Love an "ambitious work", but felt that "the tracks blend together into a flat, echo-drenched concoction of Radelet's blank Nico croon", concluding that "it's probably worth just waiting for the movie [ Drive ]." [10]

Accolades

PublicationAccoladeRankRef.
The 405 Albums of the Year22 [21]
AllMusic Best of 201228 [22]
Decade in ReviewUnranked [23]
BBC Music Top 25 Albums of 201218 [24]
Beats Per Minute The Top 50 Albums of 20122 [25]
Clash The Top 40 Albums of 201229 [26]
The Top 100 Albums of Clash's Lifetime81 [27]
Cokemachineglow Top 50 Albums 201217 [28]
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 201221 [2]
Top 100 Albums of the 2010s60 [29]
Crack Magazine The Top 100 Albums of 201227 [30]
DIY Albums of 201214 [31]
Drowned in Sound Favourite Albums of 20123 [32]
Exclaim! Best Albums of 201221 [33]
Filter Top 10 of 201216 [34]
Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of 20121 [35]
Albums of the Decade (2010–2019)8 [36]
The Guardian Best Albums of 201213 [37]
The 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century85 [38]
The Line of Best Fit The Best Fit Fifty: Albums of 201247 [39]
musicOMH Top 100 Albums of 20124 [40]
No RipcordTop 50 Albums Of 201228 [41]
Obscure Sound Best Albums of 201217 [42]
Pitchfork The Top 50 Albums of 20128 [43]
The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–2014)44 [44]
The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums13 [3]
The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s101 [45]
PopMatters The 75 Best Albums of 201210 [46]
The Best Indie Rock of 20121 [4]
Pretty Much AmazingBest Albums of 20127 [47]
The Quietus Albums of the Year 201241 [48]
Slant Magazine The 25 Best Albums of 20126 [49]
The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s16 [50]
Stereogum Top 50 Albums of 201214 [51]
TrebleTop 50 Albums of 20122 [52]
Under the Radar Top 100 Albums of 201212 [53]
Uproxx All The Best Albums of the 2010s40 [54]
The Village Voice Pazz & Jop 28 [55]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Into the Black" (Neil Young cover) Neil Young 5:23
2."Kill for Love"
3:58
3."Back from the Grave"V3:43
4."The Page"
3:36
5."Lady"V5:08
6."These Streets Will Never Look the Same"
  • Miller
  • V
8:37
7."Broken Mirrors"
  • Nat Walker
  • V
7:03
8."Candy"
  • Miller
  • V
2:30
9."The Eleventh Hour"V3:28
10."Running from the Sun"
  • Miller
  • V
7:07
11."Dust to Dust"
  • Miller
  • V
2:41
12."Birds of Paradise"
  • Miller
  • Radelet
  • V
4:26
13."A Matter of Time"V5:06
14."At Your Door"
  • Miller
  • V
3:53
15."There's a Light Out on the Horizon"
  • Walker
  • V
4:44
16."The River"
  • Miller
  • V
6:10
Total length:77:33
Digital edition and limited-edition vinyl bonus track [56] [57]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
17."No Escape"V14:00
Total length:91:33
2017 digital deluxe edition bonus instrumentals [58]
No.TitleLength
18."Into the Black"5:27
19."Kill for Love"3:57
20."Back from the Grave"3:48
21."The Page"3:40
22."Lady"5:08
23."These Streets Will Never Look the Same"8:43
24."Candy"2:29
25."A Matter of Time"5:07
26."At Your Door"3:53
27."There's a Light Out on the Horizon"4:44
28."The River"6:07
Total length:144:36
Drumless version [6]
No.TitleLength
1."The Page"3:32
2."These Streets Will Never Look the Same"8:37
3."Lady"5:08
4."Kill for Love"3:57
5."At Your Door"3:53
6."Back from the Grave"3:43
7."A Matter of Time"4:33
8."Candy"2:31
9."The River"5:37
10."There's a Light Out on the Horizon"4:47
11."Into the Black"5:22
Total length:51:40

Charts

Chart (2012)Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [59] 67
Belgian Alternative Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [59] 32
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [60] 93
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [61] 27
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [62] 4
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [63] 42
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [64] 11

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