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Philadelphia's been good to me

Kurt Vile

Philadelphia's been good to me

Tenth solo studio release from the American slacker-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist a love letter to his hometown of Philadelphia

ADM rating[?]

7.8

Label
Fontana Verve
UK Release date
29/05/2026
US Release date
29/05/2026
  1. 10.0 |   The Skinny

    Kurt Vile is more upbeat than ever on his excellent new album, Philadelphia’s been good to me – it could just be his best yet
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  2. 8.5 |   Northern Transmissions

    As the album’s primary producer, Vile offers something close to a glimpse into his inner world. The hypnotic, euphonic, bobbing cadence of his vocals blends seamlessly with the loose drift of his guitar playing, revealing the intimacies and joys of the years in possibly his best album to date
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  3. 8.0 |   Clash

    The most moving thing about Vile’s description of his home city is that it is abundant with nuance and free of sugar-coating, delivered with a comforting sense of honesty that makes it feel real. He knows it ain’t perfect, but it’s home
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  4. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Sounding characteristically virtuosic but unbothered, Vile is more forward-thinking than ever on a record that surveys the bliss and bumps of life in his mid-40s
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  5. 8.0 |   Uncut

    These 12 big-hearted, wayward country-soul songs deliver manifold charms, not least of all with "Chance To Bleed", a carousing, unabashed tilt at Sticky Fingers-era Stones. Print edition only

  6. 8.0 |   Mojo

    This album is steeped in Vile's love for his city. And it travels with class. Print edition only

  7. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    You need not have visited Philadelphia to appreciate this latest reliably reassuring chapter in its storied son's career
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  8. 8.0 |   DIY

    A love letter to his hometown that both aches with nostalgia and swells with affection
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  9. 8.0 |   Hot Press

    It’s a record that wears its feelings on its lapels and has a hug for everyone in the audience
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  10. 7.5 |   Paste Magazine

    Vile’s latest recording is as quintessential as they come, with twelve odes to his stomping grounds, both stylistic and literal
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  11. 7.5 |   Pitchfork

    There’s no place like home on Kurt Vile’s new album, a mellow but poignant consideration of the tension between life as a working musician and a family man
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  12. 7.5 |   Spectrum Culture

    Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me fits neatly and easily into Kurt Vile’s catalog, another comfortable guitar rock record played loose and breezy.
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  13. 7.0 |   A.V. Club

    Vile has neither reached new heights nor is he off the boil on Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me; he’s simply doing what he’s always successfully done over the course of his previous nine albums, which is deliver a level of consistency and a stronger sense of identity than most are capable of maintaining
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  14. 7.0 |   All Music

    On these songs as with so many before them, Vile is just walking us through the strange side streets of his mind, moving from one circular riff to the next and guiding us through the weird haze with a knowing smile
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