| Sauna | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 3, 2015 | |||
| Recorded | June 27, 2013 – August 13, 2014 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, experimental, ambient | |||
| Length | 55:15 | |||
| Label | P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. (ELV 036) | |||
| Producer | Phil Elverum | |||
| Mount Eerie chronology | ||||
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| Mount Eerie studio album chronology | ||||
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Sauna is the seventh full-length album by Mount Eerie. It was released on February 3, 2015.
Upon announcing Sauna, Phil Elverum said that the album was inspired by "Vikings and zen and real life". [1] On his label's website, Elverum had this to say about the title:
"The sauna that this album was inspired by is not a sauna that actually exists anywhere. It is about the idea of a small man-made wooden room crushed beneath a universe’s worth of bad weather; a concentration of extreme heat within a vast tough world. Inside this deliberate space a transformation occurs. The exaggerated atmosphere of flames, steam, smoke and dim light obliterate the usual sensations and new kinds of perception are exposed. Then the shocking plunge under cold water and the razor sword through sky." [2]
"All of the song titles are single words and some of the songs are very long," he said in a press release, "This is music meant to weigh heavy on you like a lot of cold water at night, and also the sword glimmering at the bottom of the lake at night." [1]
The album was recorded between June 27, 2013 and August 13, 2014 at The Unknown, a church-turned recording studio in Anacortes, Washington. [3]
Elverum began to first tease his new release by premiering a stripped-down version of the song "DRAGON" on the Pinball Sessions studio in Ontario, Canada. The video from this session was shared via the studio's website on September 16, 2014.
Phil Elverum announced the album through a series of teasers on his label's YouTube channel. Following that, he released a music video for two songs on the album, "THIS", and "SAUNA".
Sauna, after beginning production in 2013, was released on February 3, 2015. It exists on his Bandcamp page and was also released as a double LP, as well as a CD. Both the LP and CD are packaged containing photography done by Elverum.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.6/10 [4] |
| Metacritic | 82/100 [5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [6] |
| No Ripcord | 8/10 [7] |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.1/10 [8] |
| Magnet | 9/10 [9] |
| The 405 | 9/10 [10] |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |   [11] |
Sauna received critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 82 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [5] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave Sauna 7.6 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. [4]
In a review from No Ripcord Magazine stated that "Sauna not only proves itself to be one of Elverum’s most personal and intimate releases, it’s also one of his most artistically inspired as well," also commenting on its use of ambient music as a strong advancement in Elverum's use of setting to create mood, saying that "The crushing, almost melody-less ambience of Sauna might suggest that this is the album where Elverum goes fully native on us, with Elverum completely disappearing into the ether of the solitary natural world which has always been his fascination". However, the review also praises Sauna for its sense of intimacy. [12]
Other critics have also praised Sauna for its use of setting. The 405 stated in their review that "Although it starts in a relaxing atmosphere, there is certainly an unease the underscores the album. 'Dragon' features gentle singing from a gathering of females, trading off lines with Elverum beautifully, until they are gradually drowned out by what sounds like a field recording of a jet overhead." [13]
In a review from Tiny Mix Tapes, however, the album was criticized for its lyrics being too literal about the metaphors and images in which Elverum wrote about in his working, saying that "Perhaps with the sole exception of Don’t Smoke/Get Off the Internet, never before has Elverum’s work seemed so boldly transparent, so artificial". [14] However, in another review by Pitchfork the lyrics were praised, saying that "There is something almost aggressively quotidian about the scenarios he paints, like an indie film that aims to test your patience for how little action constitutes a "motion picture." Coffee is poured, windows are gazed at pensively, tractors idle". [15]
Eric Hill of Exclaim! Included the album in a ranking of Elverum's "essential" albums. [16] Daniel Bromfield of Spectrum Culture wrote in 2019 that Sauna is "the last product of what could be called the Old Mount Eerie," noting how later releases took sharp new turns. [17]
All tracks are written by Phil Elverum. All song titles are capitalized, with the exception of the song "(something)"
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "SAUNA" | 10:00 |
| 2. | "TURMOIL" | 1:50 |
| 3. | "DRAGON" | 3:15 |
| 4. | "EMPTINESS" | 3:23 |
| 5. | "(something)" | 2:16 |
| 6. | "BOAT" | 2:13 |
| 7. | "PLANETS" | 1:24 |
| 8. | "PUMPKIN" | 5:12 |
| 9. | "SPRING" | 13:21 |
| 10. | "BOOKS" | 3:30 |
| 11. | "THIS" | 3:18 |
| 12. | "YOUTH" | 5:27 |
| Total length: | 55:15 | |
| Sauna (bonus tracks) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Compilation album by | |
| Released | February 3, 2015 |
| Genre | Indie Folk, Experimental |
| Length | 13:01 |
| Label | P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. |
| Producer | Phil Elverum |
The Japanese edition of Sauna included a second disc, Sauna (bonus tracks) , which contains four additional tracks. The tracks were recorded alongside the album and were made to organize and compose the vocal tracks for Allyson Foster and Ashley Eriksson as well as the flutes Evie Opp play on "This". The album cover is from Anna Riwkin-Brick's book "Nomads of the North", 1942. [18]
All tracks are written by Phil Elverum
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sauna (demo)" | 2:52 |
| 2. | "Spring (demo)" | 4:10 |
| 3. | "This (demo)" | 3:17 |
| 4. | "Dragon (demo)" | 2:42 |
The personnel of Sauna according to Mount Eerie's Bandcamp page and the liner notes of the albums LP release:
The Microphones were an American indie folk, indie rock, and experimental project from Olympia, Washington. The project was founded in 1996 and ended in 2003, with a short reunion following in 2007 and revivals in 2019 and 2020. Across every iteration of the Microphones, it has been fronted by Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal songwriter and producer behind the band's albums, but he has also collaborated with other local musicians on his other recordings and tours. Many of Elverum's recordings from the project's initial period were released by the label K Records.
Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. Most of Mount Eerie's releases have been issued on Elverum's label P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd., and feature highly detailed packaging with his own artwork.
Philip Whitman Elverum is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist, best known for his musical projects the Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began to spell his surname Elvrum as "Elverum".
The Glow Pt. 2 is the third studio album by American indie folk and indie rock project the Microphones. It was released on September 11, 2001, through K Records and later through P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. Recording was done on analog equipment at Dub Narcotic, Olympia, Washington, from May 2000 to March 2001. The album takes influences from numerous music genres such as black metal, ambient and avant-garde, as well as non-musical sources like the American drama television show Twin Peaks and primary member Phil Elverum's relationship to Khaela Maricich. Elverum was responsible for the album's production in its entirety.
"No Flashlight": Songs of the Fulfilled Night is the debut studio album released by the band Mount Eerie. It was released on the 9th May 2005 and features appearances by Geneviève Castrée and Jason Wall.
Mount Eerie is the fourth studio album by American indie folk and indie rock band the Microphones, released by K Records on January 21, 2003. The album is named after the mountain Mount Erie near Anacortes, Washington, which is the hometown of Phil Elverum, the band's frontman. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, including accolades such as Pitchfork's "Best New Music" title and inclusion on Treblezine's list of "essential" psychedelic folk albums.
Geneviève Elverum, also known as Geneviève Castrée, was a Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, and musician from Quebec. An early admirer of comics, she began creating them at a young age. L'Oie de Cravan published her first book, Lait Frappé, in 2000. By 2004 she had released three more books—Die Fabrik, Roulatheque Roulatheque Nicolore and Pamplemoussi. The latter is considered her artistic breakthrough.
Singers is a compilation album by Phil Elverum. The album is often credited to Elverum's musical project Mount Eerie, although the sleevenotes offer the following declaration: "This new band called "Singers" is born. This is the first album by Singers." The album features songs performed with a large group of singers. The album was released on September 6, 2005.
Lost Wisdom is the second studio album by Mount Eerie, with Canadian musicians Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire. It was released on October 7, 2008 on P. W. Elverum & Sun, less than a month before Elverum's next album under the Mount Eerie name, Dawn, was released, which featured songs from this album. A follow-up album, Lost Wisdom pt. 2, was released in 2019, without Frederick Squire.
Dawn, also known as Dawn: Winter Journal, is the third full-length album by Mount Eerie. It was officially released November 1, 2008 on P. W. Elverum & Sun.
Wind's Poem is the fourth full-length album by Mount Eerie, released on July 14, 2009. Several of the tracks are inspired by black metal, and showcases Phil Elverum's "relatively newfound affinity for Xasthur and other lynchpins of the unholy genre."
Clear Moon is the fifth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project by American musician Phil Elverum. It was released May 22, 2012 on Elverum's own label P.W. Elverum & Sun. The album was written and produced entirely by Elverum, who recorded it at his studio the Unknown.
Ocean Roar is the sixth studio album by Mount Eerie, released on August 29, 2012. It is the second of two albums released by Mount Eerie in 2012.
A Crow Looked at Me is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project of the American musician Phil Elverum. Released in 2017, it was composed in the aftermath of his 35-year-old wife Geneviève Castrée's diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in 2015, and her death in July 2016. Elverum wrote and recorded the songs over a six-week period in the room where she died, mostly using her instruments. His sparse lyrics and minimalistic musical accompaniment drew influence from a broad range of artists, including the poet Gary Snyder, author Karl Ove Knausgård and songwriter Julie Doiron.
Now Only is the ninth studio album by Mount Eerie, the solo project of American musician Phil Elverum. It was released on March 16, 2018, on Elverum's record label P.W. Elverum & Sun. Like the preceding Mount Eerie album A Crow Looked at Me, Now Only is a concept album in the aftermath of the death of Elverum's wife, the cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée; Elverum described it as the second part of that album. The album was entirely written and produced by Elverum, and recorded in the room in which Castrée died.
After (stylized as (after)) is a live album by Mount Eerie, released in 2018. The album captures a live performance of songs from A Crow Looked at Me and Now Only recorded at the 2017 Le Guess Who? festival in the Netherlands.
Lost Wisdom pt. 2 is the second collaborative studio album by Mount Eerie and Julie Doiron. It was released on November 8, 2019. Like the previous two Mount Eerie albums it concerns the death of Geneviève Castrée, the first wife of Mount Eerie's principal member Phil Elverum, as well as his recent divorce from Michelle Williams. The album is a sequel to the 2008 collaborative album Lost Wisdom.
Pre-Human Ideas is a compilation album released by Phil Elverum under the name Mount Eerie, on November 12, 2013. The album consists of computerised versions of songs from his 2012 releases Clear Moon and Ocean Roar, plus 2 organ excerpts from the songs "Pale Lights" and "The Place Lives" from Clear Moon and Ocean Roar respectively.
Song Islands vol. 2 is a compilation album by Mount Eerie. It was released on October 19, 2010. It is a sequel to the Microphones album Song Islands.
Microphones in 2020 is the fifth and final studio album by American indie folk and indie rock band the Microphones. It is the Microphones' first release in 17 years, following 2003's Mount Eerie. It was released on August 7, 2020, on frontman Phil Elverum's record label P.W. Elverum & Sun.
