Solitude (King Midas Sound album)

Last updated

Solitude
Solitude (King Midas Sound album).jpg
Studio album by
Released14 February 2019 (2019-02-14)
Genre
Length60:01
Label Cosmo Rhythmatic
Producer Kevin Richard Martin
King Midas Sound chronology
Edition 1
(2015)
Solitude
(2019)
Singles from Solitude
  1. "You Disappear"
    Released: 29 January 2019 [2]

Solitude is a studio album by King Midas Sound, a British musical project of producer Kevin Martin and vocalist Roger Robinson. It was released on 14 February 2019 through Cosmo Rhythmatic. [3] [4] [5] It received universal acclaim from critics. [6]

Contents

Background

The album is almost entirely beatless, [7] and the lyrics explore isolation, loneliness, regret and resentment. [7] According to Martin and Robinson, it was recorded in a fraught period, but the lyrics are not autobiographical. [5] The album's cover art features a photograph taken by Daisuke Yokota. [8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 85/100 [6]
Review scores
SourceRating
The Line of Best Fit 9/10 [7]
Pitchfork 7.8/10 [9]
Resident Advisor 4.3/5 [10]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Solitude received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 from 5 critic scores. [6]

Theo Korz for The Line of Best Fit wrote that "Solitude is not an easy record to enjoy – even in writing this review I was reluctant to return to it", but that the album was "brilliant and awful", [7] while Louis Pattison for Pitchfork wrote that "Solitude is the sort of record it's hard to recommend wholeheartedly", saying it's "too severe, too unrelenting". [9]

Accolades

Year-end lists for Solitude
PublicationListRankRef.
The Quietus Quietus Albums of the Year 2019
81
The Wire The Wire's Top 50 Releases 2019
28

Track listing

All tracks are written by R. Robinson and K. Martin.

Solitude track listing
No.TitleLength
1."You Disappear"6:25
2."Zeros"3:17
3."In the Night"5:51
4."Too Late"3:49
5."Alone"4:38
6."Who"5:40
7."Lies"5:28
8."The Lonely"5:25
9."Bluebird (After Bukowski)"4:55
10."Missing You"4:00
11."Her Body"5:08
12."X"5:25
Total length:60:01

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. [13]

References

  1. "King Midas Sound to release new album 'Solitude' on Valentines Day". Inverted Audio. 29 January 2019.
  2. "You Disappear – Single by King Midas Sound on Apple Music". Apple Music. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  3. Eede, Christian (29 January 2019). "King Midas Sound Announce New Album". The Quietus . Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  4. Murray, Robin (29 January 2019). "King Midas Sound Detail New Album 'Solitude'". Clash . Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Exclusive full stream of King Midas Sound's Solitude – The Wire". The Wire . February 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 "Solitude by King Midas Sound". Metacritic . Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Kotz, Theo (15 March 2019). "King Midas Sound's Solitude is a devastating meditation on loneliness". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  8. "The Bug & Roger Robinson Announce New King Midas Sound Album". XLR8R . 29 January 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  9. 1 2 Pattison, Louis (15 February 2019). "King Midas Sound: Solitude". Pitchfork . Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  10. Ryce, Andrew (15 February 2019). "Review: King Midas Sound – Solitude". Resident Advisor . Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  11. "Quietus Albums Of The Year 2019 (In Association With Norman Records) (page 1)". The Quietus . 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  12. "The Wire's Top 50 Releases 2019". The Wire . December 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  13. King Midas Sound (2019). Solitude (CD booklet). Cosmo Rhythmatic.

Further reading