Virtue (The Voidz album)

Last updated
Virtue
The Voidz - Virtue cover art.png
Studio album by
the Voidz
ReleasedMarch 30, 2018
RecordedLos Angeles [1]
Genre
Length58:09
Label
Producer
the Voidz chronology
Tyranny
(2014)		Virtue
(2018)		Like All Before You
(2024)
Singles from Virtue
  1. "Leave It in My Dreams"
    Released: January 23, 2018
  2. "QYURRYUS"
    Released: January 24, 2018
  3. "Pointlessness"
    Released: February 13, 2018
  4. "All Wordz Are Made Up"
    Released: March 2, 2018
  5. "ALieNNatioN"
    Released: March 15, 2018
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 68/100 [5]
Review scores
SourceRating
DIY Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Pitchfork 6.9/10 [8]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [9]

Virtue is the second studio album by American band the Voidz, released on March 30, 2018 through Cult and RCA. [10] It is the band's first album after shortening their name from "Julian Casablancas + The Voidz" to "The Voidz".

Contents

Production, promotion and release

On October 7, 2017, The Voidz played songs from Virtue for the first time during a secret show (billed as "YouTube Comments", a supposed Voidz tribute band) in Los Angeles, including "Wink", "ALieNNatioN", "We're Where We Were", "My Friend the Walls" and "Lazy Boy". The band also played "Wink" on the Brazilian talk show The Noite while on a tour of South America during the same month.

On December 8, 2017, the band released a teaser video directed by Warren Fu, announcing the album, the simplification of their name to The Voidz and also their signing to RCA. [11] The video features snippets of the songs "Pointlessness" and "Pyramid of Bones", as well as the Les Paul and Mary Ford song "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise".[ citation needed ]

The album's first single, "Leave It in My Dreams", was released on January 23, 2018, [12] followed by a second single, "QYURRYUS", the next day. [10] "Pointlessness", "All Wordz Are Made Up", and "ALieNNatioN" were then released respectively as the following singles, while a music video for "Pyramid of Bones" was released on March 29, 2018.

The album artwork features a 2015 painting by Argentinian-Spanish artist Felipe Pantone. [13]

The track "Think Before You Drink" is an acoustic cover and rearrangement of a 1978 disco song by the musician Michael Cassidy. The band was inspired by a cover of the song performed by Hansadutta Swami. [14]

Reception

The album received mostly positive reviews from critics. The NME were largely positive about the record, awarding it four stars out of five. They also described it as an easier listen than the band's debut record, Tyranny. [15] DIY Magazine called Virtue a "mad experiment of throwing a thousand things at the wall," but also gave the record four stars, calling it "truly a mercurial beast." [16] Pitchfork were less effusive. They criticised Casablancas' "commitment to obfuscation." Awarding the album a score of 6.9, Virtue is framed as a "a record where inspired ideas are constantly battling for oxygen with dubious ones." [17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by the Voidz, except where noted.

Virtue track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Leave It in My Dreams"3:59
2."QYURRYUS"2:52
3."Pyramid of Bones"4:28
4."Permanent High School"4:13
5."ALieNNatioN"4:39
6."One of the Ones"2:38
7."All Wordz Are Made Up" (outro-bridge co-written by Jon Pancoast)3:19
8."Think Before You Drink" (Jeffrey Armstrong, Michael Cassidy)2:46
9."Wink"4:00
10."My Friend the Walls"4:03
11."Pink Ocean"5:26
12."Black Hole"3:15
13."Lazy Boy"3:30
14."We're Where We Were"3:46
15."Pointlessness"5:15
Total length:58:09
Japanese bonus track [18]
No.TitleLength
16."Coul as a Ghoul"2:41
Total length:60:57

Personnel

The Voidz

Technical

Visuals

Charts

Chart performance for Virtue
Chart (2018)Peak
position
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ) [19] 9
US Billboard 200 [20] 151
US Billboard Alternative Albums [21] 8
US Billboard Rock Albums [22] 23

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References

  1. ↑ Virtue (album liner notes). The Voidz. Cult Records. 2018.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. 1 2 Berman, Stuart. "The Voidz – Virtue Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Weiss, Jeff. "'The essence of life is kind of a nostalgia anticipation sandwich': Philosophy 101 with Julian Casablancas". Washington Post. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hickman, Langdon. "The Voidz Successfully Embrace the Weird on Virtue". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Virtue by The Voidz Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  6. ↑ Wright, Lisa (March 30, 2018). "The Voidz – Virtue". DIY . Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  7. ↑ Daly, Rhian (March 26, 2018). "The Voidz – 'Virtue' album review". NME . Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  8. ↑ Berman, Stuart (April 5, 2018). "The Voidz: Virtue Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  9. ↑ Modell, Josh (March 29, 2018). "Review: The Voidz' 'Virtue,' Albert Hammond Jr.'s 'Fortune'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  10. 1 2 Blais-Billie, Braudie. "Julian Casablancas' the Voidz Detail New Album Virtue, Share New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  11. ↑ Wicks, Amanda. "Julian Casablancas' The Voidz Announce New Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  12. ↑ Wicks, Amanda. "Julian Casablancas' the Voidz Share New Song "Leave It in My Dreams": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Felipe Pantone on Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  14. ↑ "thevoidzofficial comments on We're the Voidz and we're here to answer all your questions - ask us anything!". 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018.
  15. ↑ Daly, Rhian (2018-03-26). "The Voidz – 'Virtue' Review". NME. NME. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  16. ↑ "THE VOIDZ - VIRTUE". DIY Magazine. DIY Magazine. 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  17. ↑ Berman, Stuart (2018-04-05). "Virtue". Pitchfork. Pitchfork. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  18. ↑ "「ヴァーチュー」- ザ・ヴォイズ". Sony Music Japan. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  19. ↑ "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Billboard 200: April 14, 2018". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Alternative Albums: April 14, 2018". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Rock Albums: April 14, 2018". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
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