New Gods (album)

Last updated

New Gods
New Gods album cover.jpg
Studio album by
Released10 March 2014 (2014-03-10)
Recorded Castle of Doom Studios
Genre Indie rock, folk rock
Length44:16
Label Fortuna Pop!, Slumberland Records
Producer Tony Doogan [1]
Withered Hand chronology
Good News
(2011)
New Gods
(2014)
Singles from New Gods
  1. "Horseshoe"
    Released: 10 February 2014 [2]

New Gods is the second album by indie rock musician Withered Hand, released on 10 March 2014. It features appearances from Pam Berry of Black Tambourine, as well as Eugene Kelly, Scott Hutchison and members of Belle and Sebastian and King Creosote. [3] It was funded in part by Creative Scotland. [4]

Contents

In 2022, a remastered version of the album was released digitally on Reveal Records, with two bonus demo tracks. It replaced the original version on Bandcamp.

Reception

On the website Metacritic, which aggregates scores from reviews by well-known critics, the album has a score of 71%, indicating generally favourable reviews. [5] The Quietus ' Nicola Meighan described it as "wise, but never preaching" and wrote that while Withered Hand's debut album Good News discussed mainly Christianity-related topics, New Gods focuses more on "more fiery celestial deities – namely the sun and the stars in the sky". [6]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (71/100) [5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Cuepoint (Expert Witness)A [8]
Drowned in Sound 8/10 [9]
Exclaim! 8/10 [10]
Filter 83% [11]
God is in the TV Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [12]
The List Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [14]
The Quietus (positive) [6]
SputnikmusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [15]

Accolades

New Gods was nominated for the Association of Independent Music's "Best Difficult Second Album" Award, but lost to Ben Watt's album Hendra . [16] [17] Robert Christgau named it the third best album of 2014 in his year-end list for The Barnes & Noble Review . [18]

Track listing

  1. Horseshoe
  2. Black Tambourine
  3. Love Over Desire
  4. King of Hollywood
  5. California
  6. Fall Apart
  7. Between True Love and Ruin
  8. Life of Doubt
  9. New Gods
  10. Heart Heart
  11. Not Alone
  12. Horseshoe Demo (2022 Remaster)
  13. California Demo (2022 Remaster)

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References

  1. Pollock, David (2 March 2014). "Album review: Withered Hand, New Gods". The Scotsman . Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  2. "- / from Piccadilly Records".
  3. Fitzmaurice, Larry (20 November 2013). "Withered Hand "Black Tambourine"". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  4. Dingwall, John (17 March 2014). "SXSW Festival: Withered Hand reach out to new audience in Texas". Daily Record . Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Reviews for New Gods by Withered Hand - Metacritic". Metacritic.
  6. 1 2 Meighan, Nicola (24 March 2014). "Withered Hand: New Gods". The Quietus. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  7. "New Gods". AllMusic.
  8. Robert Christgau (12 December 2014). "Expert Witness". Cuepoint . Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  9. Slaughter, Matthew (7 March 2014). "Album Review: Withered Hand - New Gods". Drowned In Sound. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  10. Edwards, Michael (24 March 2014). "Withered Hand". Exclaim!.
  11. Brown, Jeffrey (28 March 2014). "New Gods Review". Filter. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  12. Jupp, Ed (7 March 2014). "Withered Hand – New Gods (FortunaPOP!)". God is in the TV . Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  13. Keane, Mark (21 February 2014). "New Gods". The List. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  14. Mackay, Emily (7 March 2014). "Withered Hand - 'New Gods'". NME . Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  15. Ali (13 March 2014). "New Gods Review". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  16. "Full Nominees Shortlist Announced for 2014 AIM Independent Music Awards".
  17. "AIM Independent Music Awards".
  18. Christgau, Robert (10 March 2015). "Excuses, Excuses: The 2014 Dean's List". The Barnes & Noble Review . Retrieved 13 April 2015.