Rebound | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 4, 2018 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:05 | |||
Label | Frenchkiss | |||
Producer | Eleanor Friedberger, Clemens Knieper [2] | |||
Eleanor Friedberger chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Rebound | ||||
|
Rebound is the fourth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Eleanor Friedberger. It was released on May 4, 2018, by Frenchkiss Records. Friedberger had been inspired to write the album following a 2017 trip to Athens, Greece, where she visited a nightclub called Rebound. The album marked a stylistic departure for Friedberger, with synthesizers and drum machines replacing the live bands on her previous albums. Two singles — lead single "In Between Stars" and "Everything" — were released prior to the album, in addition to one promotional song, "Make Me a Song".
Upon its release, the album drew acclaim from music critics, who praised both its production and songwriting. It also became Friedberger's fourth solo studio album to peak within the top 20 of the US Heatseekers Albums chart.
In 2016, Friedberger released her third solo studio album, New View . In January 2017, following the album's release and the results of the 2016 United States presidential election, Friedberger travelled to Greece to "reconnect with her heritage", being half-Greek, and experience the Greek music world. [1] [3] Friedberger told the Phoenix New Times that one reason she was drawn to Athens was that she regretted having moved to New York City in 2000 and not experiencing an earlier incarnation of the city; she felt that Athens had retained a pre-2000 New York feeling. [4]
While in Athens, on the advice of Σtella, a Greek musician, Friedberger visited a goth nightclub named Rebound, which ultimately became the namesake for her fourth studio album. [1] [5] An acquaintance had described the club to her as "an '80s goth disco where everyone does the chicken dance;" the music played at the club was compared to Joy Division and the Cure. [6] Ultimately, Friedberger would make the club the setting of her song "It's Hard". [7] In a press release announcing the album's release date, Friedberger further noted that the club was open only on Saturdays after 3 AM, and described the club as both "alienating and exhilarating". [3]
Rebound has been noted for being more pop-oriented and less rock-oriented than Friedberger's previous work. [1] [8] Whereas Friedberger's previous albums employed a live band, much of Rebound is built on a keyboard, drawing comparisons to 1980s pop. [9] [8] [5] However, Pitchfork writer Jonah Bromwich argued that the stylistic "shift on Rebound isn't seismic". [6] The Chicago Tribune observed that "guitars play a critical role" in many of the album's compositions, [8] while The Independent concluded that "Rebound isn't a guitar-driven album". [10] The album drew stylistic comparisons to Julia Holter, Carly Simon, [11] Laurie Anderson, Yellow Magic Orchestra, [12] and Stereolab. [13] The Guardian compared Friedberger's vocals to those of Sparks's Russell Mael. [12]
"My Jesus Phase" employs synthesizers and a rhythm guitar. [6] Both "My Jesus Phase" and "Make Me a Song" have been described as having "bubbling bass lines". [8] "Everything" was described by Bromwich as "one of the danciest songs she's ever recorded", [6] while the Chicago Tribune deemed it to be an outright pop song. [8] The A.V. Club noted that the song employs keyboards to serve as "de facto backup vocals". [14] MusicOMH compared the song's style to that of Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night . [15] Both "Everything" and "Make Me a Song" were classified as electro-pop. [12] "In Between Stars," which includes synthesizer chords and "a central sing-song refrain", has been described as initially sounding like a "pop anthem", but ultimately showing itself to be one of the album's "stranger compositions", eventually incorporating a distorted guitar and hand-claps. [9] Friedberger called the song her "homage to dark '80s pop", with The Guardian singling out the Eurythmics and Berlin as possible influences. [12] MusicOMH compared the song's guitars to those of Lindsey Buckingham. [15] The song also drew comparison to Texas. [16] "Make Me a Song" was described by Stereogum as "rockabilly-esque". [17] "It's Hard" employs "a creaky rhythm" and "seesaw synths." [6] An album review by PopMatters compared its lead guitar to those of Mike Oldfield and Robert Fripp. [18]
The first lines of "My Jesus Phase", the album's opening track, are "Let me forget the words/Let me forget the time". [6] In the song, Friedberger compares her difficulty in following the plot of Iris Murdoch's novel The Nice and the Good to the disorientation "of our collective moral compass after the 2016 election". [6] Pitchfork deemed its lyric to be akin to a Rachel Cusk novel, likening it to "a mosaic of fragments". [6] In "The Letter", Friedberger expresses regret over an unsuccessful relationship carried out by mail. [6] [12] In it, Friedberger recounts an episode in which she found some pills on the roadside, took them, and ended up "lying prone on a wharf". [6] It includes the lyric "When the pain ended I won a prize"; Bromwich argued that the line could be interpreted either literally or figuratively. [6] "Everything" has been described as both defiant and containing ennui, and describes a woman who wants both "a man in Greece, a girlfriend in Italy". [6] It examines a number of topics, and includes a spoken-word portion when Friedberger wryly says "I mean two houses, please." [5] Friedberger told Consequence of Sound that the song, in particular the line about the boyfriend and girlfriend, was inspired by an Athenian friend who was "really struggling" to decide whether she wanted to have children and lead a conventional life, or to continue her work as an experimental actress. [19] She also said that the song is about "wanting to have it all, and how that's ridiculous". [19]
"In Between Stars" was described as "forlorn-sounding" and suggesting "clouded judgment" on the part of Friedberger, with the lines "I don't know how I've come to see the world/Exclusively through your eyes/Everything I buy and eat and do with you in mind" being singled out by numerous critics as notable. [9] [20] [21] [22] The song's lyric has also been described as describing Friedberger's "transformation among the blinding lights of an Athenian dancefloor". [11] Friedberger told Consequence of Sound that the song's lyrics were inspired partly by a book of Greek mythology she'd received as a gift. [19]
In "Make Me a Song", Friedberger sings that music is a way to "open up the ground". [8] Friedberger wrote the song after a conversation with a born-again Christian in Greece who told her that he was inspired by his love of Jesus to write songs. [4] Friedberger was inspired to write a song in which she examined music as if it were a religion; she at first attempted to write a hymn, but later decided instead to write what the New Times described as "a song that everyone could enjoy." [23] Its refrain is the line "I could love you more", while its hook includes the lyric "It takes the ear/ To hear the waves/ And the heart/ To know you feel some feeling." [5]
The song "It's Hard" is set at Rebound, the Athenian club. [1] [6] In that song, she describes the club as a place "where time stands still". [9] Friedberger describes the club's music with the lyric "sound familiar, but it's not the Cure". [7] She stated that she had initially planned to write the song as if it were for a fake television show akin to Twin Peaks or Black Mirror , but that she also wanted to include details specific to Rebound. [19] The song includes a line about a telephone number that got torn up in a washing machine; Friedberger noted that that line was inspired by the line "Please don't lose my number" in a song by Huw Evans, and her revelation that "now it's impossible to lose someone's phone number". [19]
For the lyrics of "Are We Good", Friedberger transcribed the text messages of three people with whom she'd had relationships, then set them to song; she also noted that many of the text messages included in the lyrics had been written by her. [19] Friedberger describes accidentally killing snakes while mowing her lawn and a dog who "isn't even barking in the right language". [7] Friedberger told Consequence of Sound that the line "I'll go to ZZ Top and lose my mind" was taken from an exchange with a friend in Texas who was a big fan of the group. [19] The song also includes the lyric "I proposed to a woman for a man last night", [9] [6] which Bromwich considered to be a continuation of the Grecian boyfriend and Italian girlfriend theme examined in "Everything". [6] The song's lyrics were regarded as reminiscent of those of Friedberger's former group, the Fiery Furnaces. [23] The chorus of the song consists of Friedberger repeating the title, as if taken from a text message. [9]
Friedberger wrote the lyrics of "Showy Early Spring" for a friend; she noted that, unusually, she cried while she was writing it. [19] Greg Kot, writing for the Chicago Tribune, described the song as attempting to answer the question "Is that all there is?" [8] Friedberger concludes that everything that people could want or need is "here for the taking". [8]
On May 3, 2018, one day before the album's official release, Friedberger premiered the full album on Consequence of Sound's website, and provided commentary on each song on the album. [19] The following day, the album received its official release by Frenchkiss Records; it was made available as both a CD and an LP. [24]
Friedberger released Rebound Redux, a collection of demos from the Rebound sessions, on May 1, 2020, via Bandcamp. [25]
"In Between Stars" was released as the album's first single on February 14, 2018, to coincide with an announcement of the May 4, 2018, release of Rebound and a list of upcoming tour dates, some solo and others with the Decemberists. [3] [11] [20] On March 7, 2018, Friedberger premiered the official music video for the single; she had filmed it herself, and enlisted videographer Danny Perez to edit it. [26] The video depicts Friedberger driving and walking through a desert, and employs analog feedback effects. [26]
On April 3, 2018, Friedberger released "Make Me a Song" with an accompanying music video. [27] The video, which was shot in black-and-white and directed by Scott Jacobson, depicts Friedberger engaging in "self-care rituals," including going for a morning jog, climbing a mountain, swimming, and receiving a visit from a "no-touch" spiritual healer. [27] [28]
"Everything" was released as the second official single from the album on April 20, 2018. [29] On May 10, 2018, Friedberger released the song's official music video; it was directed by Jonah Freud and shows Friedberger in an "eclectically decorated studio" having her hair cut, "mixing paint, and playing with food." [30] Freud cited ASMR videos and the "absurdity of tutorial culture" as influences for the video. [30] Accompanying the video was a list of further tour dates. [30]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 84/100 [31] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The A.V. Club | B+ [14] |
Chicago Tribune | [8] |
The Guardian | [12] |
The Independent | [10] |
Mojo | [32] |
Pitchfork | 8.1/10 [6] |
PopMatters | [18] |
Under the Radar | [33] |
Upon its release, the album drew acclaim from contemporary music critics. On the review aggregator Metacritic, the album holds a score of 84 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim". [31]
The Skinny awarded the album four out of five stars; critic Chris Ogden singled out "Everything", "Make Me a Song" and "Nice to Be Nowhere" as highlights, praised her "quirky songwriting", and concluded that Friedberger "remains one of indie rock's masters". [34]
In July 2018, Metacritic ranked Rebound at number 23 on their list of "The 25 Best Albums of 2018 so far", deeming it her best solo album to date and commending her for "ditching the full-band sound of her prior album". [35] At the end of 2018, AllMusic featured the album on their list of "Favorite Singer/Songwriter Albums", praising the album as including "some of her most surprising and engaging songs". [36]
In the United States, on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart dated May 19, 2018, Rebound debuted and peaked at number 20, becoming Friedberger's fourth solo album to peak within that chart's top 20. [37]
All songs written by Eleanor Friedberger. [1]
Chart (2018) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Heatseekers Albums [37] | 20 |
The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The siblings are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago. They are known for their ambitious, highly conceptual releases, which have frequently divided critical opinion.
"Army of Me" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk for her second studio album, Post (1995). It was released on 24 April 1995 by One Little Indian as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Björk and Graham Massey, who helped her in producing and writing the majority of her third album. Lyrically, the song was inspired by the damaging behavior of Björk's brother, and in the lyrics she tells him to stand up to regain control of his life. It was well received by music critics, who noted its darkness compared to her other material. "Army of Me" was a commercial success her first single Björk to enter the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart.
Eleanor Friedberger is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as one half of the indie rock duo The Fiery Furnaces, alongside her older brother Matthew Friedberger. In the band she contributes the majority of the vocals both on record and during their live performances.
"What Do I Have to Do" is a song performed by Australian singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue from her third studio album, Rhythm of Love (1990). The song was written and produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman. Originally, the song was planned to be released after the single "Better the Devil You Know", but instead "Step Back in Time" was released and this was released as the third single on 21 January 1991. The song received positive reviews from most music critics, who thought the song was an instant rave classic.
Cate Le Bon is a Welsh musician and record producer. She sings in both English and Welsh. She has released six solo studio albums, to date, and is one half of the experimental music duo DRINKS with her partner Tim Presley. Her stage name is a tribute to English musician Simon Le Bon.
Claire Elise Boucher, known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has incorporated influences from electronic music, hip hop, and rock. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. She has released five studio albums.
Last Summer is the first solo album released by American indie pop musician Eleanor Friedberger, most notable for being the vocalist in the band The Fiery Furnaces with her brother Matthew Friedberger. The album was released on 12 July 2011 on the Merge Records record label.
"Happy Pills" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Norah Jones. It is the lead single from her fifth studio album, Little Broken Hearts, and was released digitally on March 6, 2012. Written by Jones and co-written and produced by Brian Burton, it tells the story of Jones emancipating herself from a relationship and finding that she is better off alone. Musically, it is a gritty, bluesy song with a playful pop sound. It received mostly positive reviews, with many critics complimenting its style and the chemistry between Jones and Burton.
Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally by her stage name SZA, is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition through her self-released extended plays (EPs), See.SZA.Run (2012) and S (2013), which helped her become the first female artist to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment. Her third EP, Z (2014), was her first project to be released to digital retailers and reached the top-ten on the US Independent Albums chart.
"Love Me Harder" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande and Canadian singer the Weeknd from Grande's second studio album, My Everything (2014). It was written by the Weeknd, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Ali Payami and Belly. The song was produced by Payami and Peter Carlsson, with Svensson serving as a vocal producer. It was released by Republic Records on September 30, 2014, as the fourth single from the album. "Love Me Harder" is a pop, synthwave, synth-pop, R&B ballad with a "throbbing, electro-heavy chorus", a guitar riff and "big vacuum-esque synths". Lyrically, the song features double entendres about rough sex.
New View is the third studio album by American indie rock musician Eleanor Friedberger, released on January 22, 2016 on Frenchkiss Records. It was Friedberger’s first release on the label, and was also regarded as a departure for her, with a more minimalistic and folk-influenced sound.
Alessia Caracciolo, known professionally as Alessia Cara, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She began posting covers of songs on YouTube at age 13. After uploading acoustic covers of songs such as "Love Yourself" and "Sweater Weather" online, she signed with EP Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings in 2014 and released her debut single, "Here", the following year. It peaked at number 19 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and was a sleeper hit in the US, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Mitski Miyawaki is an American singer and songwriter. She self-released her first two albums, Lush (2012), and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), while studying studio composition at Purchase College's Conservatory of Music. The albums were originally made as her senior project. Her third studio album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek, was released in 2014 on the label Double Double Whammy.
Japanese Breakfast is an American indie pop band headed by musician Michelle Zauner. Zauner started the band as a side project in 2013, when she was leading the Philadelphia-based emo group Little Big League. She has said that she named the band after seeing a GIF of Japanese breakfast and deciding that the term would be considered "exotic" to Americans; she also thought it would make others wonder what a Japanese breakfast consists of.
"Almost Love" is a song recorded by American singer Sabrina Carpenter from her third studio album Singular: Act I (2018), served as the opening track of the album. Described as a dance-pop song, it was written by Sabrina Carpenter, Steph Jones, Nate Campany and Mikkel Eriksen and the production was handled by Stargate. It was released by Hollywood Records as the lead single from Singular: Act I on June 6, 2018.
Faouzia Ouihya, known mononymously as Faouzia, is a Moroccan-Canadian singer-songwriter and musician best known for her track "Tears Of Gold". Born in Morocco, she moved with her family to Canada at a young age. During that time she learned how to play various instruments, and began composing her first songs. She released several singles and collaborated with many musicians on vocals and songwriting prior to releasing her debut extended play (EP), Stripped, in August 2020. In 2023, she was nominated and was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards.
"Glad He's Gone" is a song recorded by Swedish singer Tove Lo for her fourth studio album Sunshine Kitty (2019). It was released worldwide on 31 May 2019 and serviced to American contemporary hit radio stations on 18 June 2019 by Republic Records as the album's lead single. The song was written by Lo and its producers the Struts and Shellback. "Glad He's Gone" is an electropop, pop and ambient pop song with lyrics featuring Lo looking out for and talking to a friend who has a demanding boyfriend.
Miss Anthropocene is the fifth studio album by Canadian musician Grimes, released on February 21, 2020. It marked her first album in over four years, after the release of 2015's Art Angels. The album was officially announced on March 19, 2019. The name of the album is a pun on the feminine title "Miss", and the words "misanthrope" and "Anthropocene", a neologism popularised in the year 2000 by Paul J. Crutzen that was proposed to denote the current geological age the Earth is in. The album is a loose concept album about an "anthropomorphic goddess of climate change" inspired by Roman mythology and villainy. Miss Anthropocene is Grimes' final album on record label 4AD, to which she has been signed since 2012. The album is darker in style than Grimes' 2015 album Art Angels, containing inspiration from the sounds of industrial music.
"In Between Stars" is a song by American singer-songwriter Eleanor Friedberger. It was released on February 14, 2018, as the lead single from her fourth studio album, Rebound.
"My Mistakes" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Eleanor Friedberger. Released in 2011, it marked Friedberger's debut solo single, following her work as one-half of the musical duo The Fiery Furnaces. It served as the lead single and opening track from her first studio album, Last Summer. The song's lyrics move back and forth in time, as Friedberger reflects on emotional and physical pains past and present, while the production features a two-chord guitar, keyboards, and a saxophone solo.