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8.0
79247
8.0 |
NME
He’s an impossible person, by all accounts – especially his own – but also an exceptionally expressive songwriter
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8.0
79248
8.0 |
Mojo
The whole album unfolds at a pace somewhere between stately and glacial. Print edition only
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8.0
79266
8.0 |
NOW
There's little sonic variation, but that approach puts the focus where it should be: on the raw emotion of his singing
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8.0
79291
8.0 |
The Skinny
Slips through the clutches of catergorsiation and stands alone as a uniquely beautiful, confrontingly original release
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7.5
79243
7.5 |
Consequence Of Sound
More than sadness, Noctunes’ prevailing mode is that of comfort. Beal sings like he’s trying to soothe himself with the sound of his own voice and wrap it around something bigger than himself at the same time
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7.5
79244
7.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
This is a soul record that sounds pristine and yet feels raw
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7.0
79283
7.0 |
The Quietus
Rather than an album divvied by twelve standalone songs, two efforts here proudly tower – chest firmly out – above the rest
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7.0
79288
7.0 |
Spin
A laborious listen, but moments of lightness give the record a little bit of balance
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7.0
79259
7.0 |
Exclaim
Immersive, quirky and gently haunting
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7.0
79316
7.0 |
All Music
This meditation on the breakup of a marriage is the artist's most restrained yet emotionally complex recording
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7.0
80299
7.0 |
PopMatters
Compared to his previous works, Noctunes is the most complete Willis Earl Beal project yet
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6.0
80113
6.0 |
Spectrum Culture
Noctunes is one of the year’s biggest downers
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6.0
79461
6.0 |
The Irish Times
One for the broken-hearted
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6.0
79349
6.0 |
The Observer
It’s an intriguing record, unpredictable and weird even in its simplicity
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6.0
79372
6.0 |
Uncut
It all tastes a little sweet. Print edition only
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6.0
79296
6.0 |
DIY
Perhaps then there is one thing that defines Beal’s sound; the fact that it is indefinable
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6.0
79249
6.0 |
Q
Noctunes is still a thing of impressive substance made by a very striking somebody. Print edition only
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6.0
79245
6.0 |
Gig Soup
Unfortunately, Noctunes feels like Beal is holding back slightly by abandoning the eccentricity and left field instrumentals that fans of the “Nobody Knows” era might come to expect
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6.0
79246
6.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Beal drifts further from his southern gothic persona, ditching the slide guitars and punchy drama for a distant synth ether
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5.9
79368
5.9 |
Earbuddy
Resell this as a set of Boards of Canada covers and I might have believed it
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5.7
79830
5.7 |
Pitchfork
A noble exercise, but in Beal’s attempt to exorcise old demons, the LP comes off way too moody and far too methodical to resonate long term
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5.0
79382
5.0 |
Under The Radar
Noctunes, unlike his previous records, is a work suspended in time, amorphous and entrancing, but ultimately too shapeless to hold its own weight
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5.0
79292
5.0 |
God Is In The TV
Does have something of a soothing quality that is hard not to admire
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