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9.0
114519
9.0 |
Clash
This album is filled with deeply textured soundscapes that feel contemporary but also from the not-too-distant future. The beats are crisp and reference R&B/beat culture, but are backed by gossamer strings and elegant synths
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9.0
114520
9.0 |
PopMatters
On her first full album Athena, Sudan Archives is soulful, surreal, and makes music on her own distinct and magnificent terms
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8.5
114521
8.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Sudan radiates confidence on Athena, uniting distinct musical elements as if they belonged together all along. It’s an album that sounds like nothing else
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8.0
114522
8.0 |
The Quietus
Where her EPs stubbornly wrapped tracks of jarring, syncopated beats around those massive tracks, Athena leans more towards R&B, and Parks takes advantage of the space of an LP to smooth out any previous idiosyncrasies
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8.0
114547
8.0 |
All Music
All the added instrumental layering and effects - wriggling synthesizers, buzzing basslines, ricocheting percussion, apparition-like vocal processing, and suchlike - are nuanced, not once getting in the way of a musician who can put forth an affecting message with just her voice and violin
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8.0
114571
8.0 |
The Guardian
The US singer and violinist’s debut album contains some of the most viscerally gorgeous music put to record this year
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8.0
114929
8.0 |
musicOMH
It’s original, exhilarating and unafraid to defy genre
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7.7
114672
7.7 |
Pitchfork
The L.A.-based singer and violinist makes her boldest and most fully formed statement yet
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7.5
114774
7.5 |
Spectrum Culture
Sudan Archives has given herself a belated introduction that exceeds even the loftiest expectations
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7.0
114650
7.0 |
Exclaim
An artist in full exploration mode like Sudan Archives excites for both the existing output and for the higher heights they will potentially attain
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7.0
114525
7.0 |
Loud And Quiet
It’s a record unusual enough to be increasingly intriguing over repeated listens as you try and unpick quite what Parks is trying to say, and – perhaps the more pertinent question here – the unique way she’s trying to say it
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6.0
114542
6.0 |
The Music
Titles like Black Vivaldi Sonata suggest her individual sense of humour remains intact, but in the final wash-up, Athena is slick, self-assured and just a little bit too safe for its own good
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6.0
114523
6.0 |
The Observer
From the opening pizzicato plunk of Did You Know to the sultry distortions of Pelicans in the Summer, the variety of modes on offer has pixelated
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