Hive Mind

The Internet

Hive Mind

Fourth album of hip hop soul from the LA-based Odd Future outfit, led by Syd and Matt Martians

ADM rating[?]

7.7

Label
Columbia
UK Release date
20/07/2018
US Release date
20/07/2018
  1. 10.0 |   NME

    Syd Tha Kid and her R&B cohorts put their heads together to create a towering achievement that combines Motown melodies with pop heartbreak
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  2. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    A moreish stew of hazy, swooning R&B that’s practically impossible to resist
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  3. 8.6 |   Paste Magazine

    Sprinkled with codas and half-songs, the effect is natural, not jarring, like turning down an alley, or rounding a city street and stumbling into another story
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  4. 8.5 |   The Quietus

    The kind of album that makes you wiggle in your seat without even realizing, step-tapping on the dance floor in your head. It’s playful and colorful and has a captivating intensity
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  5. 8.3 |   Consequence Of Sound

    An album that dips into club culture as deftly as it relaxes into burnt sugar
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  6. 8.3 |   Pitchfork

    A peak example of their combined powers. It simplifies their sound with soft-focus blues, plush arrangements, and deep-in-the-ground grooves
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  7. 8.0 |   NOW

    The Internet have delivered their most fully realized project to date
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  8. 8.0 |   DIY

    Delivers as many hits as The Internet’s breakout third record ‘Ego Death’, and serves up some serious ‘70s funk and soul flavours in the process
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  9. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    It’s a pristine production that perhaps runs a little low on ideas. But even when they drift into potentially soporific neo-soul The Internet’s seductive songs are hard to shake off
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  10. 8.0 |   The Observer

    No longer just a hip-hop band’s spin-off, the Internet’s seductive neo-soul is perfectly in tune with the mainstream on their accomplished fourth album
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  11. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    Free of filler and definitely worth repeating, Hive Mind is the Internet we know and love, but tighter and more refined
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  12. 8.0 |   The Independent

    It’s undoubtedly one of their best works: the band have a synergy that draws the listener in, allowing you to revel in their irresistible confidence, and hope they might invite you to join the party
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  13. 8.0 |   Q

    Though for all the slick instrumental interplay, with guitarist Steve Lacy again outstanding, it's Syd's hushed, Aaliyah-like delivery that supplies the core emotional connection. Print edition only

  14. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Hive Mind follows the laid-back R&B leanings of 2013’s Feel Good and Ego Death but is increasingly exploratory, gentle and sentimental
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  15. 8.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The Internet’s most musically diverse and synergetic album to date
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  16. 8.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    Unapologetically ambitious both musically and commercially, resulting in a collection of songs that are leaner, sleeker and more direct than ever
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  17. 8.0 |   The Music

    Has a contemporary, lived-in sound that lends a rare intimacy to a traditionally more electronic, produced style of soul
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  18. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Squelching guitars and kinetic basslines are in ample supply and, like with Ego Death, romance is the album’s lifeblood
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  19. 8.0 |   Crack

    A brilliant, electric album to keep you dancing through the summer
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  20. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    A step forward for this young, talented crew, housing nothing but scintillating performances from Syd and, in the rare moments when the group cuts loose, some seriously intoxicating funk
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  21. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Hive Mind, the group’s 4th LP, is its most polished, full of tranquil, yearning Quiet Storm and light-footed, live-band funk
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  22. 7.0 |   All Music

    They not only leave space for one another's ideas and playing, but also involve collaborators -- Nick Green again on some co-writing, Moonchild on serene horns -- without overstuffing the songs, operating as one organism
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  23. 7.0 |   The 405

    Rather than fall in love with this record from the get-go it needs a little airing and breathing time to get to grips with the finer notes, but it's sure to keep you coming back
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  24. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    This record makes a good argument for The Internet’s best work being together. The group do not always connect perfectly on this album but when they do, it’s magical
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  25. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    The Internet's fourth album, their most focused if not their most compelling, is a distillation of everything that makes them so distinctively cool
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  26. 6.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    Hive Mind can get too comfortable for its own good
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  27. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Some missed connections in R&B supergroup
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  28. 6.0 |   The FT

    Languid-sounding but carefully constructed psychedelic funk and R&B, with songs that have the loose feel of studio jams
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