The Ship (album)

The Ship
Studio album by Brian Eno
Released	29 April 2016
Genre	Electronic ambient
Length	47:30
Label	Warp
Producer	Brian Eno, Peter Chilvers
Brian Eno chronology
High Life (2014) The Ship (2016) Reflection (2017)
Singles from The Ship
"The Ship" Released: 30 March 2016 "Fickle Sun (III) I'm Set Free" Released: 21 April 2016

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	A− [3]
Chicago Tribune	[4]
Exclaim!	6/10 [5]
The Independent	[6]
Mojo	[7]
Pitchfork	8.0/10 [8]
Q	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Uncut	[11]

The Ship is the twenty-sixth solo studio album by Brian Eno, released on 29 April 2016 on Warp Records. ^[12] 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 . ^[13] The Ship debuted at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart and is the second highest-charting solo album of Eno's career (after debut Here Come the Warm Jets ). ^[14] The album received critical acclaim.

Background

Brian Eno has said the title is a reference to the sinking of Titanic, which he has called "the apex of human technical power, set to be man's greatest triumph over nature". ^[13] The album was originally conceived as a multi-channel sound installation, when Eno discovered that he could sing in a low C: "As you get older, you know, your voice drops, so you sort of gain a semi-tone at the bottom and lose about six at the top every year. That's what's happened to me. So I've suddenly got this new, low voice I can sing with, and I just started singing with that piece. And, so it was the first time I thought, "Oh, what about making a song that you could walk around inside?". ^[15]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank	Ref.
Pitchfork	The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2016	2016	—	[16]
The Quietus	Albums of the Year 2016	2016	25	[17]
Rough Trade	Albums of the Year	2016	41	[18]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Brian Eno, except "Fickle Sun (iii) I'm Set Free" written and composed by Eno and Lou Reed.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Ship"	21:19
2.	"Fickle Sun (I)"	18:03
3.	"Fickle Sun (II) The Hour Is Thin"	2:50
4.	"Fickle Sun (III) I'm Set Free"	5:18
Total length:		47:30

Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Away"	6:53

• "Fickle Sun (III) I'm Set Free" is a cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Set Free", from their third studio album The Velvet Underground .

Personnel

Credits are adapted from The Ship liner notes. ^[19]

• Brian Eno – producer, recording
• Peter Chilvers – co-producer, recording, programming, keyboards, vocoder
• Leo Abrahams – guitar (track 4)
• Jon Hopkins – keyboards (track 4)
• Nell Catchpole – violin, viola (track 4)
• Nuria Homs – voice (track 1)
• Members of the Elgin Marvels – voice (track 1)
• Peter Serafinowicz – voice (track 3)

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [20]	44
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [21]	91
Irish Albums (IRMA) [22]	68
UK Albums (OCC) [23]	28
US Billboard 200 [24]	175
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [25]	1
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [26]	11

See also

• 2016 in music
• Installation art

References

1. "Reviews for The Ship by Brian Eno - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
2. Thom Jurek. "Ship". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
3. "The Ship · Brian Eno · Brian Eno's dark near-masterpiece is well worth the struggle · Music Review · The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club . 29 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
4. Kot, Greg (29 April 2016). "Brian Eno brings another wave of innovation with 'The Ship'". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 16 August 2016.
5. Mullin, Kyle. "Brian Eno The Ship". Exclaim! . Retrieved 16 August 2016.
6. Andy Gill (21 April 2016). "Album reviews: The Ship by Brian Eno, I've Always Kept A Unicorn by Sandy Denny, Onwards To Mars! by Fanfare Ciocârlia" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
7. The sprawling opening (title) track commencing with familiarly tremulous, slow-motion synths inexorably rising and falling, oscillating between exquisite consonance and transient dissonance. [May 2016, p.94]
8. "Brian Eno: The Ship Album Review - Pitchfork". Pitchfork . Retrieved 1 May 2016.
9. This is magnificent. [Apr 2016, p.105]
10. Kory Grow (25 April 2016). "Brian Eno's New Album: The Ship". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
11. The Ship successfully combines--surprisingly for the first time--his ambient and song-based work. [Jun 2016, p.73]
12. Gordon, Jeremy (24 February 2016). "Brian Eno Announces New Album The Ship". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved 24 February 2016.
13. Kreps, Daniel (24 February 2016). "Brian Eno Announces Titanic-Inspired Solo LP 'The Ship'". Rollingstone.com.
14. "BRIAN ENO". Officialcharts.com. 9 March 1974.
15. Weingarten, Christopher R. (14 April 2016). "Brian Eno on Kanye, Bowie and His Immersive LP 'The Ship'". Rollingstone.com.
16. "The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2016". Pitchfork . 9 December 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
17. "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus . 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
18. "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade . 14 November 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
19. The Ship (booklet). Brian Eno. Warp Records. 2016. 801061827216.
20. "Ultratop.be – Brian Eno – The Ship" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
21. "Ultratop.be – Brian Eno – The Ship" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
22. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 18, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
24. "Brian Eno Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
25. "Brian Eno Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
26. "Brian Eno Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 June 2016.