Reflection | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1 January 2017 | |||
Genre | Ambient | |||
Length |
| |||
Label | Warp | |||
Producer | Brian Eno | |||
Brian Eno chronology | ||||
|
Reflection is the twenty-seventh studio album by Brian Eno, released on 1 January 2017 on Warp Records. [1] [2] It is a piece of generative ambient music produced by Eno, which plays indefinitely via an app, modulating its output at different times of the day. A pre-recorded version of the album is available on CD and vinyl, which runs for 54 minutes. Digital streaming versions of the album update on a seasonal basis. [3] It was nominated for the 2017 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album and was released to a positive acclaim by critics.
Reflection was released as part of Eno's series of ambient albums. Its structure is similar to that of Thursday Afternoon (1985), an earlier album of his that consists of a single track that runs for 60 minutes in length. Reflection has a length of 54 minutes. [2] Eno decided on its title as the piece "makes [him] think back. It makes me think things over. It seems to create a psychological space that encourages internal conversation. And external ones actually—people seem to enjoy it as the background to their conversations". He considers the work the most sophisticated of all his ambient releases, and that the physical editions are a mere static excerpt of the "full" piece contained in the iOS app. [4]
On 1 January 2017, an album listening event was held at several Rough Trade shops worldwide. During the event, an edition of Reflection limited to 500 copies was available on CD, where each disc contained a "uniquely generated, one-of-a-kind" version of the piece inside of an autographed case sleeve. [5]
Subsequently, 1 April, 1 July, and 9 October saw Eno release a new excerpt of the generative piece to streaming services Apple Music and Spotify, with varying lengths (the "autumn" iteration being 65:24 in length.) Each of these seasonal excerpts took the place of the previous version to represent the album. The generative iOS app also received updates on these same days.
Written, recorded, and produced by Brian Eno. [6] [7]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Reflection" | 54:00 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Reflection" | 1:05:24 |
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.3/10 [9] |
Metacritic | 75/100 [10] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [11] |
The A.V. Club | B [12] |
Consequence of Sound | B [13] |
Drowned in Sound | 9/10 [14] |
Financial Times | [15] |
The Guardian | [16] |
The Line of Best Fit | 9/10 [17] |
Pitchfork | 7.7/10 [18] |
Slant | [19] |
Uncut | [20] |
Upon release, Reflection received positive reviews from critics. Writing for The Guardian, Kitty Empire wrote, "The overall effect is deeply, magnificently peaceful, meditative, even; ambient certainly monopolises certain sections of the thesaurus." [16]
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. [6]
Additional personnel
Production
Chart (2017) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [21] | 46 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [22] | 153 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [23] | 92 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [24] | 107 |
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ) [25] | 7 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [26] | 60 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [27] | 97 |
UK Albums (OCC) [28] | 78 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [29] | 9 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [30] | 17 |
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [31] | 2 |
Ambient 1: Music for Airports is the sixth studio album by Brian Eno, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. It is the first of Eno's albums released under the label of ambient music, a genre of music intended to "induce calm and a space to think" while remaining "as ignorable as it is interesting". While not Eno's earliest entry in the style, it is credited with coining the term.
Songs from the Last Century is the fourth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 6 December 1999 by Aegean Records and Virgin Records. Produced by Phil Ramone and George Michael, it was his only album of cover versions. It consists mainly of old jazz standards plus new interpretations of more recent popular songs, such as "Roxanne" by the Police and "Miss Sarajevo" by U2 and Brian Eno with Luciano Pavarotti. "Roxanne" was released as a single in other countries except the United Kingdom.
Discreet Music is the fourth studio album by Brian Eno, and the first released under his full name. The album is a minimalist work, with the titular A-side consisting of one 30-minute piece featuring synthesizer and tape delay. The B-side features three variations on Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel, performed by the Cockpit Ensemble and conducted by Gavin Bryars.
Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks is a studio album by the British musician and producer Brian Eno, the Canadian producer Daniel Lanois, and Brian Eno's brother, composer Roger Eno. It was released on 29 July 1983 by EG Records. The music was originally written for For All Mankind, a documentary film by Al Reinert about the Apollo program, though the film was not released until 1989. The score was written and performed by the trio.
Original Soundtracks 1 is a studio album recorded by rock band U2 and Brian Eno under the pseudonym Passengers as a side project. Released on 6 November 1995, the album is a collection of songs written for mostly imaginary films. Owing to Eno's involvement as a full songwriting partner and the album's experimental nature, the moniker "Passengers" was chosen to distinguish it from U2's conventional albums. It was commercially unnoticed by the band's standards and received generally mixed reviews. Guest musicians on the record included Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and producer Howie B, who would co-produce U2's following album, Pop (1997).
Another Day on Earth is the twenty-second solo studio album by Brian Eno, released on 13 June 2005 in the UK and Europe through Hannibal Records, and on 14 June 2005 in the US. The album predominantly recorded and mixed on Macintosh software, using Logic Pro, over a period of four years.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the first collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, released in February 1981. It was Byrne's first album without his band Talking Heads. The album integrates sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. It was recorded before Eno and Byrne's work on Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, but problems clearing samples delayed its release by several months.
Let It Be... Naked is an alternative mix of the Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be, released on 17 November 2003 by Apple Records. The project was initiated by Paul McCartney, who felt that the original album's producer, Phil Spector, did not capture the group's stripped-down, live-to-tape aesthetic intended for the album. Naked consists largely of newly mixed versions of the Let It Be tracks while omitting the excerpts of incidental studio chatter and most of Spector's embellishments. It also omits two tracks from the 1970 release – "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" – replacing them with "Don't Let Me Down", which was the non-album B-side of the "Get Back" single.
No Line on the Horizon is the twelfth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite, and was released on 27 February 2009. It was the band's first record since How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004), marking the longest gap between studio albums of their career to that point. The band originally intended to release the songs as two EPs, but later combined the material into a single record. Photographer Anton Corbijn shot a companion film, Linear, which was released alongside the album and included with several special editions.
Lux is the twenty-fifth solo studio album from Brian Eno, released through Warp on 13 November 2012. The album is a collection of ambient soundscapes that have been installed in art galleries and airport terminals. Critical reception has positively compared it with Eno's previous ambient work and noted that it is both relaxing as well as challenging music for those who engage it critically. In 2013, Brian Eno created a number of limited edition prints featuring the cover artwork from Lux made available only from his website.
Brian Peter George Eno, also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
(No Pussyfooting) is the debut studio album by the British duo Fripp & Eno, released in 1973. (No Pussyfooting) was the first of three major collaborations between the musicians, growing out of Brian Eno's early tape delay looping experiments and Robert Fripp's "Frippertronics" electric guitar technique.
Minecraft – Volume Alpha is the first soundtrack album by the German electronic musician Daniel Rosenfeld, known by his pseudonym C418. Created for the 2011 video game Minecraft, it is the first of two albums to come from the game's soundtrack. It primarily consists of simplistic ambient music, though some tracks are more upbeat. The simplistic nature of the album's music was caused by the technical limitations of the Minecraft sound engine, which made earlier concepts unfeasible. Volume Alpha was released digitally in March 2011 as Rosenfeld's first commercial release, with a physical release issued by record label Ghostly International in 2015.
Overgrown is the second studio album by English electronic musician James Blake. It was released on 5 April 2013 by Blake's Atlas Records, along with Republic Records and Polydor Records. The album features guest appearances from electronic music producer Brian Eno and Wu-Tang Clan member RZA. Overgrown debuted at number eight on the UK Albums Chart and at number one on the US Dance/Electronic chart. It was supported by lead single "Retrograde".
Sleep is an eight-and-a-half hour concept album based around the neuroscience of sleep by German-British composer Max Richter. It was released on September 4, 2015, accompanied by a one-hour version with variations, From Sleep, later remixed as Sleep Remixes.
The Ship is the twenty-sixth solo studio album by Brian Eno, released on 29 April 2016 on Warp Records. Announced on Eno's website on 24 February 2016, it was Eno's first solo album to contain vocals since 2005's Another Day on Earth. The Ship debuted at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart and is the second highest-charting solo album of Eno's solo career The album received critical acclaim.
Kaleidoscope EP is the thirteenth extended play by British rock band Coldplay. It was released worldwide on 14 July 2017 and serves as a companion piece to Coldplay's seventh studio album, A Head Full of Dreams (2015). The EP was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
American Utopia is the eighth studio album by Scottish-American rock musician David Byrne, released on March 9, 2018 through Todo Mundo and Nonesuch Records. The release is his first solo studio album since 2004's Grown Backwards, and serves as a musical component of a larger multimedia project titled Reasons to Be Cheerful, which attempts to spread positivity. Byrne announced the album and posted its lead single, "Everybody's Coming to My House", online on January 8, 2018.
Mixing Colours is a collaborative studio album by English brothers Roger Eno and Brian Eno. It was released on 20 March 2020 under Deutsche Grammophon.
Secret Life is a collaborative ambient album between British recording artists Fred Again and Brian Eno released on 5 May 2023 through Four Tet's label Text Records.