Platform (album)

Last updated
Platform
Platform by Holly Herndon - album artwork.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 19, 2015 (2015-05-19)
Genre
Length49:36
Label 4AD
Producer Holly Herndon, Amnesia Scanner, Mat Dryhurst
Holly Herndon chronology
Chorus EP
(2014)
Platform
(2015)
Proto
(2019)

Platform is the second studio album by American electronic producer Holly Herndon, released on May 19, 2015, via 4AD. The album received wide critical acclaim upon its release. [1] It is the first commercially released album to include a track intended to trigger autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), "Lonely at the Top". [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.9/10 [7]
Metacritic 81/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Irish Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
NME 8/10 [11]
Pitchfork 8.7/10 [12]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Resident Advisor 4.0/5 [14]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Spin 7/10 [16]
Uncut 9/10 [17]

Winston Cook-Wilson of Pitchfork wrote that "Platform may turn out to be the most thought-provoking experimental electronic music release of the year." [12] Laurie Tuffrey of The Quietus wrote that "in so solidly refuting musical clichés, it can genuinely lay claim to the oft-used description forward-facing." [18] The Guardian 's Tshepo Mokoena wrote that "[Herndon] turns cold, lifeless synthetic beats into disconcerting, disjointed rhythms that glitch and collapse on each other", describing the album as "gloriously avant garde and fiercely inventive." [9] Drowned in Sound wrote that "at once Herndon’s most accessible and most adventurous record, this is digital age avant-garde sound art put through a pop prism, and it’s all the more exciting as a result." [19] Heather Phares of AllMusic described the album as "nuanced in how it combines political, technological and structural and ideological concepts." [8] In naming Platform among 2015's best experimental albums, PopMatters wrote: "It’s fair to say if you're unfamiliar with [Herndon's] work, you've never heard anything like it: EDM-streaked sound collage, at once robotic and deeply personal." [20]

Accolades

PublicationAccoladeYearRank
The Guardian The Best Albums of 20152015
24 [21]
NME NME's Albums of the Year 20152015
26 [22]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 20152015
39 [23]
PopMatters The 10 Best Experimental Albums of 20152015
6 [20]
The Wire Top 50 Releases of 20152015
6 [24]

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Holly Herndon; except where noted

Platform [25]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Interference"  Holly Herndon, Mat Dryhurst4:41
2."Chorus" Herndon, Dryhurst5:55
3."Unequal"Herndon, Colin Self  5:11
4."Morning Sun" Herndon, Dryhurst5:21
5."Locker Leak"Herndon, Spencer Longo 4:15
6."An Exit"Herndon, Amnesia Scanner Herndon, Amnesia Scanner 4:58
7."Lonely at the Top"Herndon, Claire Tolan 4:31
8."DAO"  4:13
9."Home" Herndon, Dryhurst5:53
10."New Ways to Love" Herndon, Dryhurst4:38

Charts

Charts (2015)Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [26] 183
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [27] 20
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [28] 13

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References

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