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9.0
142819
9.0 |
Northern Transmissions
The album closes with its title track, giving space for life to unfold again, carried by a band that creates the perfect sense of movemen
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8.0
142820
8.0 |
Far Out
It’s open, self-conscious in a way that feels completely honest, and lathered in the soft fabrics of hope even when the words themselves are sharp
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8.0
142888
8.0 |
Clash
A triumph of less being more and substance over instant gratification, it is intriguing to ponder how ‘Fatal Optimist’ will be viewed four decades hence
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8.0
142815
8.0 |
Uncut
11 raw but gorgeously melodic songs. One of the least cliched [breakup] records you're ever likely to hear. Print edition only
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8.0
142816
8.0 |
All Music
Throughout its first ten tracks, Fatal Optimist offers occasional philosophical gems, like "Sometimes a good thing can break you/Sometimes a bad thing can save you" from "Good Lair," a song that also wonders, "Is it really that bad to cover up the sad?"
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7.0
142817
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Scales back her sound, but not her devastating emotional honesty
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7.0
142818
7.0 |
PopMatters
Madi Diaz lays everything bare and achieves a certain wisdom through the heartbreak
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7.0
142909
7.0 |
Pitchfork
Mostly singing alone, accompanied only by her acoustic guitar, the Nashville singer-songwriter places heartache under a microscope on the third LP in a loose trilogy of breakup records
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6.7
142821
6.7 |
Spectrum Culture
Rather than lean into the pop instincts that helped make 2024’s Grammy-nominated, Weird Faith something of a breakthrough, Madi Diaz turns inward and toward spare arrangements on Fatal Optimist. Complicated emotions and messy people are depicted using direct language and simple sounds, and Diaz wears her hurt heart on her sleeve
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