| Perfect Vision | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 27, 2021 | |||
| Recorded | Late 2020 to January 6, 2021 | |||
| Studio | Machines with Magnets, Pawtucket, Rhode Island | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, Blues rock, Indie rock | |||
| Length | 46:21 | |||
| Label | Thrill Jockey | |||
| Producer | Seth Manchester | |||
| Thalia Zedek chronology | ||||
| ||||
Perfect Vision is the eighth solo album by Thalia Zedek, released on August 27, 2021, three years after Fighting Season .
Released by Thrill Jockey on August 27, 2021, three years after her previous solo album Fighting Season , Perfect Vision was recorded in late 2020 to early 2021 at Machines with Magnets, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Zedek's fifth solo album to be credited to the Thalia Zedek Band, Perfect Vision was recorded and mixed by producer Seth Manchester and mastered by Sarah Register.
Whilst the material in Zedek's previous album Fighting Season "was written leading up to and following the 2016 U.S. elections", which contributed to the political themes of many of its songs, [1] [2] Zedek and Manchester finished working on Perfect Vision on January 6, 2021, as the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. was being violently attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump, resulting again in an album that is at points not only overtly political but one that, as Jared Dix reviewing it for Echoes and Dust states, "may even be angrier than the last album, Fighting Season". [3]
"Tolls" features fellow Thrill Jockey artist Alison Chesley, also known as Helen Money, on cello and piano.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 71/100 [4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
| Dusted Magazine | Positive [6] |
| Echoes and Dust | Positive [3] |
| Mojo | [7] |
| Spectrum Culture | 71% [2] |
| Uncut | 7/10 [8] |
On Metacritic, the album has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [4]
Jennifer Kelly, in her review of the album for Dusted magazine, declared that Perfect Vision, "[l]ike all [of Zedek's] works, [...] exudes a brute, persistent strength that will not yield, no matter what happens". Kelly then went on to state that "[the] album presents an artist who has had all the time life affords to figure out how she wants to sound and all the support that long-time collaborators can bring to realizing her ideas. Every sound fits, without sounding in the least bit fussed over or premeditated." [6] AllMusic's review of the album, penned by Mark Deming, suggested that "[e]ven more than Fighting Season, Perfect Vision is art that offers a hard but honest look at the world and the times that gave it life, and its evocative power will still speak clearly long after other crises have replaced those keeping Zedek awake in 2021." [5]
All tracks are written by Thalia Zedek
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cranes" | 4:41 |
| 2. | "Smoked" | 5:08 |
| 3. | "Binoculars" | 5:19 |
| 4. | "Overblown" | 4:10 |
| 5. | "Queasy" | 3:56 |
| 6. | "From the Fire" | 3:22 |
| 7. | "The Plan" | 5:20 |
| 8. | "Revelation Time" | 4:45 |
| 9. | "Remain" | 3:47 |
| 10. | "Tolls" | 5:51 |
Thalia Zedek Band
Additional musicians
Production
The Raven is the nineteenth solo studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released on January 28, 2003 by Sire Records. It is a concept album, recounting the short stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe through word and song, and was based on his 2000 opera co-written with Robert Wilson, POEtry.
Come is an American alternative rock band, formed in Boston by Thalia Zedek, Chris Brokaw, Arthur Johnson (drums), and Sean O'Brien (bass).
Chris Brokaw is an American musician, best known for his work with the bands Come and Codeine.
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Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago.
Thalia Zedek is an American singer and guitarist. Active since the early 1980s, she has been a member of several notable alternative rock groups, including Live Skull and Uzi both of which, according to Spin magazine, "made big noise in the underground", and Come. Critic Heather Phares writes that Zedek's music can be defined by "the permanent, aching rasp in her voice, her guitar's bluesy bite, the startlingly clear-eyed lyrics about life and loss."
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Alison Chesley, known also by her stage name Helen Money, is a Chicago-based cellist and composer.
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Uzi was an American alternative rock band, formed in 1984 in Boston, Massachusetts and disbanded in 1987. The band featured Thalia Zedek, Danny Lee (drums), Randy Barnwell, Bob Young (guitar) and Phil Milstein. Never achieving commercial success during their short period of activity, the band gained a cult following, becoming a part of Boston's underground rock scene.
I Have Fought Against It, but I Can't Any Longer. is the sixth full-length studio album by the American experimental metal band the Body. The album was released on May 11, 2018, through Thrill Jockey. The band have described the album as their most ambitious to date, featuring samples of their own past recordings. The album's title is an excerpt from Virginia Woolf's suicide letter.
Been Here and Gone is Thalia Zedek's debut solo album, following the demise of Come, her previous band.
Trust Not Those in Whom Without Some Touch of Madness is Thalia Zedek's third solo album, released under two months after Hell is in Hello.
Liars and Prayers is Thalia Zedek's fourth solo album, released four years after Trust Not Those in Whom Without Some Touch of Madness.
Via is Thalia Zedek's fifth solo album, released five years after Liars and Prayers.
Eve is Thalia Zedek's sixth solo album, released three years after Via.
Fighting Season is Thalia Zedek's seventh solo album, released two years after Eve.
I've Seen All I Need to See is the eighth full-length studio album by the American experimental metal band the Body. The album was released on January 29, 2021, through Thrill Jockey.
