Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 6 Ratings

  • Summary: The 2-CD set for the singer/songwriter was produced by Mike Mogis and John Alagia.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. The first disc, Elephants, pitches its tent closer to the Happenstance camp with lushly textured ballads, while Teeth Sinking Into Heart plays up the singer's debt to rock artists like PJ Harvey. The latter CD is the biggest surprise here, as it displays a swaggering confidence that wasn't as evident on Yamagata's previous releases.
  2. 80
    Elephant's songs of love and death are heart-wrenchingly sad, movingly performed and sung in a poignant, luminous voice betwixt pop and country folk-country. [Apr 2009, p.110]
  3. On the first part (Elephants), she sticks to brooding breakup ballads with long, languid piano chords and lush string arrangements, the perfect soundtrack for the lovesick....The mood changes radically on the second part, when Yamagata emerges with gritty, garage-rock tunes a la PJ Harvey, delivering defiant hooks with the energy of someone taking revenge.
  4. 60
    If you had Yamagata bagged as "winsome singer-songwriter," the breadth and ambition of this double-disc will knock you sideways. [Apr 2009, p.105]

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. 10
    In "Elephants... Teeth Sinking Into Heart" Rachael Yamagata approaches heartbreak from a darker and developed perspective - in comparison with her debut album "Happenstance" - as one who's been through heartache and is aware of the dangers and deceptions of love, yet finds herself in a place where she's willing to try. Blues, experimental rock ballads (characterized by the constant, but never unappealing reverberating guitar) and her signature piano pop make "Elephants... Teeth Sinking Into Heart" a complete album that should not be missed by anyone. Expand