Nabuma Rubberband | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 9 May 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2013–2014 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 42:50 | |||
Label | Because | |||
Producer |
| |||
Little Dragon chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Nabuma Rubberband | ||||
|
Nabuma Rubberband is the fourth studio album by Swedish electronic music band Little Dragon, released on 9 May 2014 by Because Music. It features collaborations with Dave from De La Soul and Robin Hannibal. The album spawned three singles: "Klapp Klapp", "Paris" and "Let Go". Nabuma Rubberband was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. [2]
Little Dragon started working on their fourth studio album in early 2013 in their hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, after extensively touring in support of their 2011 album Ritual Union . "I think when we started we had no vision whatsoever", singer Yukimi Nagano said. "We just wanted to make the ball start rolling and just brainstorm ideas and see what comes up and then make plans thereafter. I think a lot of visions came through. Our sound is wide—it's not just one particular style—so we dove into different worlds. New worlds, new spaces we haven't been to before. There definitely are elements of sonically romantic tracks. It feels like there are different moods and we're exploring ourselves a bit." By October 2013, the band had finished most of the work on the album. [3]
String players from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra are featured on a few songs from the album, marking the first time Little Dragon have collaborated with outside musicians. "It's nice to see your music reflected on another musician", drummer Erik Bodin said. "Especially when they come from the outside and you can see how they interpret it. It's an honor." [3] Other collaborators include Dave of De La Soul, who co-wrote the songs "Mirror" and "Killing Me", and Robin Hannibal, who co-produced "Killing Me" and "Let Go". [4]
Nagano cited Janet Jackson as an influence on Nabuma Rubberband, particularly her song "Any Time, Any Place" (1993). [5] "When you put some of Janet's really slow stuff on you feel like you're floating", Nagano said. "That feeling really influenced me and maybe that's why there are quite a lot of slow jams on the record. In the past we've been a bit self-conscious about making slow jams after 'Twice.' Then we wanted to make dance music which we did with Machine Dreams and then Ritual Union still had a dance vibe, but with this album it wasn't about that. The intention was about whatever we felt strongly about." [6]
The album's title was revealed to be Nabuma Rubberband on 28 January 2014, when a 28-second trailer for the album containing the title track premiered online. [7] [8] According to Nagano, Nabuma is a river in the Congo, as well as the name of the sister of Ugandan reggae artist Madoxx, with whom the other three members of Little Dragon toured in Uganda around 2003, while performing as a reggae group. [9] [10] Her name came up while the band were working on the beat for the album's title track, on which Nagano sings about being "blinded by a rubberband". [11] "We have a track on the album called 'Nabuma Rubberband' and on the cover there's a picture of a girl jumping so I liked the idea of it being her name. It seems quite awkward to have a little Chinese girl with a Ugandan name and Rubberband as a last name", Nagano added. [12]
The cover art, release date and track listing were unveiled on 13 February 2014. [13] Following the album's announcement, Little Dragon played a six-date European tour from 20 February to 5 March, including shows in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin, London, Stockholm and Paris. [8] On 27 March 2014, the band announced a North American spring tour, which kicked off at the Soul'd Out Music Festival in Portland, Oregon, on 10 April. [14] Additional dates in Europe, North America and Japan were announced on 27 May, beginning at the We Love Green festival in Paris on 31 May, and wrapping up the tour with a string of eight shows across the United Kingdom in November. [15] On 9 May 2014, the album was exclusively streamed on The Guardian 's website. [16]
A remix version of the album by OG Ron C and DJ Candlestick of The Chopstars, titled Nabuma Purple Rubberband, was made available for download and streaming via Adult Swim's website on 27 January 2015. [17] "Pink Cloud" was released on 18 April 2015 as a limited-edition pink marbled 12-inch vinyl for Record Store Day. [18]
"Klapp Klapp" was released on 14 February 2014 as the album's lead single. [19] The accompanying music video was directed by Taylor Cohen and debuted on the same day. [20] On 19 February, Little Dragon performed "Klapp Klapp" on Late Show with David Letterman . [21] The band also performed the single on Later... with Jools Holland on 6 May. [22]
The album's second single, "Paris", was released on 10 April 2014, [23] followed by its Trevor Kane-directed video, which premiered on 2 May. [24] Little Dragon performed "Paris" on The Queen Latifah Show on 23 April, [25] and on 22 May, the band performed "Klapp Klapp" and "Killing Me" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! [26] "Let Go" was released on 22 April 2014 as the third single from the album. [27]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.0/10 [28] |
Metacritic | 77/100 [29] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
Financial Times | [30] |
The Irish Times | [31] |
Mojo | [32] |
NME | 7/10 [33] |
The Observer | [34] |
Pitchfork | 6.8/10 [35] |
Q | [36] |
Slant Magazine | [37] |
Uncut | 7/10 [38] |
Nabuma Rubberband received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 77, based on 21 reviews. [29] Will Salmon of Clash wrote that "[t]he production is shimmering and spacious, Yukimi Nagano's vocals the centre of a cat's cradle of glittering synths and down-tempo beats." He added that the album is "altogether more assured" and "match[es] the brilliance" of the band's live sets". [39] Regarding the contributions from Dave of De La Soul and Robin Hannibal ("Mirror", "Killing Me" and "Let Go"), Andy Kellman of AllMusic stated, "Subtract those contributions and [Nabuma Rubberband] would still be the group's most accomplished work." [4] Nathan Stevens of PopMatters expressed that "Nagano has plenty of stunning moments on Nabuma Rubberband, but it's clear this is a full band enterprise", noting that "[t]he dynamic chemistry between [Fredrik Källgren Wallin and Erik Bodin] drives a majority of these songs along." [1] Huw Oliver of DIY commented that on Nabuma Rubberband, the band's "drum-and-synths minimalism is more refined, the bass-lines more prominent, the hooks almost embarrassingly memorable", and that Nagano's "effortless vocal is staggering." [40] Slant Magazine 's Kevin Liedel opined that "Nabuma Rubberband's triumph doesn't stem merely from its creators' newfound confidence. Rather, the album often serves as a paradigm of expertly managed complexity, each track balancing dozens of moving parts and teeming with melodic percolation." [37]
John Murphy of musicOMH concluded, "While Nabuma Rubberband may not be the commercial breakthrough that some may have expected, it's still a largely enjoyable record and, together with fellow Swede Lykke Li's new album, proves once again that nobody does swooningly melancholic pop quite like the Scandanavians[ sic ]." [41] Alex Denney of NME felt that the album "isn't quite the home run it should have been, chiefly because the songwriting can't always keep pace with the band's vaulting ambition", but wrote that "when they get it right—'Let Go' is precisely the sort of arthouse R&B blockbuster they could've done with more of—they flirt with perfection." [33] Zander Porter of Consequence of Sound described Nabuma Rubberband as "Little Dragon's selfish record, and splendidly so. Some of the sweet moments in its strongest tracks, however, are lost in others, as is the nature of an album with standout tracks. Even yet, Little Dragon ended Nabuma on a note of tastefulness that shows their confidence has been a positive development." [42] Pitchfork 's Harley Brown found that the album's "slow jams are perfectly sexy, but they lack originality", while remarking, "It's great the band was able to find a throughline between the comfortable and the experimental this time around, but on Nabuma Rubberband they let go of a little too much of themselves in the process." [35] Uncut 's Sam Richards commented that "the likes of 'Mirror' and 'Paris' are melodically and emotionally direct but with plenty going on beneath the surface, while the restrained tempos serve to show off Nagano's nicely maturing voice." Richards continued, "There's nothing here that is likely to offend or amaze but it's a classy affair from start to finish." [38] Kitty Empire of The Observer viewed the album as "another fine entry into [the band's] parallel universe", but felt that "[i]t's not the break-out record that they might have gone for". [34]
Nabuma Rubberband debuted at number 14 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 4,203 copies, becoming Little Dragon's highest-peaking album on the chart to date. [43]
All tracks are written by Little Dragon, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Mirror" | Little Dragon, Dave Jolicoeur | 3:25 |
2. | "Klapp Klapp" | 3:37 | |
3. | "Pretty Girls" | 3:43 | |
4. | "Underbart" | 4:05 | |
5. | "Cat Rider" | 4:33 | |
6. | "Paris" | 3:24 | |
7. | "Lurad" | 0:08 | |
8. | "Nabuma Rubberband" | 3:15 | |
9. | "Only One" | 4:06 | |
10. | "Killing Me" | Little Dragon, Jolicoeur | 3:44 |
11. | "Pink Cloud" | 4:46 | |
12. | "Let Go" | 4:04 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
13. | "Winners" | 3:33 |
14. | "Klapp Klapp" (Girl Unit Remix) | 4:27 |
15. | "Paris" (The Flexican Remix) | 4:23 |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Nabuma Rubberband. [45]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 9 May 2014 | Warner | [62] [63] | |
Germany | [64] [65] | |||
France | 12 May 2014 |
| Because | [66] [67] [68] |
Sweden | Digital download | [69] | ||
United Kingdom |
| [70] [71] [72] | ||
United States | 13 May 2014 |
| [73] [74] | |
Digital download |
| [75] | ||
Germany | 20 May 2014 | LP | Warner | [76] |
Sweden | 28 May 2014 | CD | Because | [77] |
Australia | 6 June 2014 | LP | Warner | [78] |
Sweden | 11 June 2014 | Because | [79] | |
Japan | 23 July 2014 |
| Warner | [44] [80] |
The Odd Couple is the second studio album by Gnarls Barkley, released digitally on March 18 and physically on March 25, 2008. Due to an early leak of the album over the Internet in early March 2008, the duo decided to push up the release from April 8. The album was released to the iTunes Store and Amazon MP3 on March 18.
Yukimi Eleanora Nagano is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She is the vocalist for the Swedish electronic group Little Dragon.
Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic music band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1996. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano, Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards).
It's Blitz! is the third studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on March 6, 2009, by Interscope Records. It was originally set for release on April 13, 2009. However, after being leaked to the Internet on February 22, the release date was pushed forward to March 9 for the digital version and March 31 for the physical version.
Ritual Union is the third studio album by Swedish electronic music band Little Dragon. It was released on 25 July 2011 by Peacefrog Records. The album reached number 47 in the band's native Sweden, as well as number 28 on the UK Albums Chart and number 78 on the US Billboard 200. The album's second single, "Ritual Union", peaked at number 76 on the UK Singles Chart. Ritual Union received generally positive reviews from music critics.
The Ultimate Collection is the second greatest hits album by English band Sade, released on 29 April 2011 by RCA Records. The album includes several singles from the band's career, including "Your Love Is King", "Smooth Operator", "By Your Side", "No Ordinary Love" and "Soldier of Love". It also contains four previously unreleased tracks—a cover of Thin Lizzy's 1974 song "Still in Love with You", a remix of "The Moon and the Sky" featuring Jay-Z, and the songs "I Would Never Have Guessed" and "Love Is Found". The band promoted the album with their first concert tour in 10 years, Sade Live. In March 2014, the album was re-released as The Essential Sade under the Sony Legacy umbrella.
A Joyful Noise is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Gossip, released on May 11, 2012, by Columbia Records. The album was produced by Xenomania founder Brian Higgins.
Mosquito is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on April 12, 2013, by Interscope Records. The lead single "Sacrilege" was released on February 26, 2013. "Despair" was released as the second single on July 19, 2013.
Settle is the debut studio album by English electronic music duo Disclosure, released on June 3, 2013, by PMR Records and Island Records. Accompanied by the success of its lead single, "Latch", featuring Sam Smith, the album features collaborations with AlunaGeorge, Ed Macfarlane of Friendly Fires, Sasha Keable, Eliza Doolittle, Jamie Woon, Jessie Ware, and London Grammar. A deluxe edition of the album contains four bonus tracks, including Disclosure's remix of Ware's song "Running".
Shulamith is the second studio album by American indie pop band Poliça, released on October 18, 2013 by Mom + Pop Music.
The Bones of What You Believe is the debut studio album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches, released on 20 September 2013 by Virgin Records and Goodbye Records. Recorded between 2011 and 2013 in Glasgow, the album was written, composed, and produced by the band as a collaborative effort. It was made available as both a 12-track standard edition and an 18-track special version, the latter including two extra songs, two remixes and two live videos. The album was debuted with a launch party broadcast live on music streaming platform Boiler Room.
If You Wait is the debut studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar, released on 6 September 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings and Ministry of Sound. Seven singles were released from the album: "Metal & Dust", "Wasting My Young Years", "Strong", "Nightcall", "Hey Now", "Sights" and "If You Wait". The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 33,130 copies.
White Women is the fourth studio album by Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo, released on May 12, 2014, by Last Gang Records. The album features contributions from Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Toro y Moi, Solange Knowles, LCD Soundsystem's Pat Mahoney, and Fool's Gold duo Oliver.
After the Disco is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Broken Bells. Recorded with the seventeen-piece Angel City String Orchestra and a four-piece choir, the album was released by Columbia Records on January 31, 2014. The album follows the band's 2013 single, "Holding On for Life", which features as the third track on the album. After the Disco was written by band members James Mercer and Brian Burton, and produced by Burton.
Do It Again is an extended play (EP) by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp and Swedish singer Robyn, released on 23 May 2014 by Dog Triumph. The EP coincides with Röyksopp and Robyn's joint tour, the Röyksopp & Robyn Do It Again Tour 2014, featuring shows in Europe and North America. Following her Body Talk Tour, Robyn travelled to Bergen, Norway, where she began working on new music with Röyksopp in early 2013, having previously collaborated with the duo on the songs "The Girl and the Robot" (2009) and "None of Dem" (2010).
The Inevitable End is the fifth studio album by Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp, released on 7 November 2014 by Dog Triumph. Svein Berge stated the album has a "dark energy", while Robyn described the album as "sad, but it's not cold. It's very warm." Four singles were released from the album: "Monument", "Skulls", "Sordid Affair" and "I Had This Thing".
Return to Forever is the eighteenth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in Europe on 20 February 2015. The album marks the final release of the band to feature the Unbreakable-era lineup with longtime drummer James Kottak leaving the band in September 2016, being replaced by former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee.
In Colour is the debut studio album by English producer Jamie xx, released on 29 May 2015 by Young Turks. The album was composed during a five-year period while a member of the indie pop band the xx, starting with his production on xx in 2009. After starting his solo career with the remix album We're New Here (2011) and singles like "All Under One Roof Raving" (2014), he was intent on making the album something of a departure from his previous work and genre. The album features guest vocals from fellow the xx members Romy and Oliver Sim, as well as from Young Thug and Popcaan. The album produced five singles: "Girl" and "Sleep Sound" as a double-single on 5 May 2014, "Loud Places" on 27 March 2015, "Gosh" on 4 May, and "I Know There's Gonna Be " on 22 May.
Mercury – Act 1 is the first half of the fifth studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, released on September 3, 2021, by Kidinakorner and Interscope Records in the United States. Imagine Dragons recorded the album in 2018 after their previous album, Origins. It was later modified in early 2022 to include "Enemy", from the Arcane League of Legends soundtrack. The album was executive produced by Rick Rubin, who also executive produced its successor Mercury – Acts 1 & 2, released on July 1, 2022, which Act 1 was included as part of.
Slugs of Love is the seventh studio album by Swedish band Little Dragon, released through Ninja Tune on 7 July 2023. It includes collaborations with JID and Damon Albarn, and was preceded by the singles "Slugs of Love", "Kenneth", "Gold" and "Tumbling Dice". The band will tour North America and Europe in late 2023 in support of the album.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)