Albums to watch

Gold Record

Bill Callahan

Gold Record

Seventh album of mellow indie rock and Americana under his own name from the singer-songwriter was originally recorded for 1999’s Knock Knock, Let’s Move To The Country

ADM rating[?]

8.1

Label
Drag City
UK Release date
04/09/2020
US Release date
04/09/2020
  1. 10.0 |   Record Collector

    Both tender and wonderfully silly (the album opens with the line, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”), in returning to half-finished songs of the past with the renewed verve of the present, Callahan is constructing a future that looks likely to provide some of his best work
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  2. 10.0 |   The Observer

    Time to join the pantheon of great American singer-songwriters
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  3. 10.0 |   The Independent

    Callahan made this record after sifting through old notebooks for ‘frozen eggs’ he could turn into new songs
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  4. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    As a writer of quasi-autobiographical songs that offer uniquely considered observations on human relationships and general life detail, Gold Record proves he’s moving into a realm of his own
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  5. 8.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Bill Callahan opens his storybook on the attention demanding Gold Record
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  6. 8.5 |   The Quietus

    For an album that is extremely paired down, it is complete in all its meditative richness and erudite honey light
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  7. 8.4 |   Gig Soup

    For his eighteenth studio album, the masterful singer-songwriter revisits ideas - unreleased, or classics - in an attempt to make sense of who he is now
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  8. 8.0 |   Beats Per Minute

    Not everyone can deliver an album of porch-sitting musings and have it feel so life-affirming
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  9. 8.0 |   All Music

    Equally rich and effortless, Gold Record is especially satisfying for longtime fans as part of a bounty of great work from Callahan since his return, but there's plenty here to delight anyone who loves brilliant songwriting and down-to-earth performances
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  10. 8.0 |   The FT

    A new work rich in storytelling reveals a singer who has changed radically since his days of recording as ‘Smog’
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  11. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Gold Record is very assured, marking a refinement of the Callahan sound. Print edition only

  12. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Callahan's cast on Gold Record are notable for their kindness, and for the dignity of their discretion. Print edition only

  13. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    Gold Record features a loose collection of songs built around similarly loose instrumentation. Guitars squeak and strum, percussion is faint and soft, trumpets occasionally wail in the distance
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  14. 8.0 |   NME

    More a scrapbook of sounds than a cohesive collection, the singer-songwriter's new album nonetheless sees him reach higher astral spheres than before
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  15. 8.0 |   Pitchfork

    On his latest solo record, the singer-songwriter continues his quiet excavation of self and the tumultuous world around him, exploring how a supposedly ordinary life is often anything but
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  16. 7.6 |   Spectrum Culture

    Callahan provides 10 narrations here that mostly look at other people, but they should help both him and us look inward, too
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  17. 7.0 |   Northern Transmissions

    The album does have a lackadaisical approach which will definitely not be for everyone but it does contain a multitude of moments that, if you exercise the same amount of patience Callahan does here, you will find much to enjoy
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  18. 6.0 |   PopMatters

    The listeners' take ultimately will decide if this is a worthy addition to Callahan's sizable catalogue or an indication that more reinvention is in order
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  19. 6.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    Callahan’s sense of humour is warm, his baritone supple; he opens the first track, ‘Pigeons’, with the line, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”, and from there the songwriter potters from strength to strength
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