Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 13
  2. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Jan 30, 2012
    65
    Better to think of this one as a purposefully delineated double A-side.
  2. Jan 26, 2012
    85
    While this EP is a rather nice progression for Dear, and truly shows the diversity of his music, it also will give listeners something to wait for when his project comes out.
  3. Jan 24, 2012
    65
    Show[s] only a hair's breadth of progress from previous albums. That's not entirely a ruinious outcome, but it's not always an enticing one.
  4. Jan 19, 2012
    68
    Even in this beatless world, he brings his techno producer's instincts out, dropping just enough in the way of fleeting, right-place-right-time hooks to catch your ear when it's ready drift away from the song.
  5. Jan 18, 2012
    65
    His Headcage EP, released yesterday via Ghostly, continues on that trajectory, moving toward music for a wider audience while maintaining much of the oddness that makes him popular in the world beyond the mainstream.
  6. Jan 18, 2012
    70
    It's a brand of nostalgia concocted from listless energy, a wandering jumble of drums, soothing, eyes-closed croons, sighs and elastic vocals that recall different influences at every turn.
  7. Jan 18, 2012
    70
    The lead track and "In the Middle (I Met You There)" are two of Dear's sharper avant-pop songs....The back half, "Street Song" and "Around a Fountain," are elusive sketch-like tracks with slightly unsettling ambience.
  8. Jan 18, 2012
    68
    Headcage has a pair of iffy tracks to weigh down two good--if not great--tracks, the whole EP sits in a generally favourable position in my view.
  9. Jan 18, 2012
    80
    Headcage begins where last year's Slowdance EP left off, sharing an inventiveness; creating driving, hazy, and atmospheric dance music.
  10. Jan 18, 2012
    70
    Dear's latest, the four-track Headcage EP, finds the New Yorker continuing to explore what it might mean for him to be a pop star, even going so far as to bring in some outside help on the production end.
User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Feb 26, 2014
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Matthew Dear's title track is the leader of pack in this EP, but strong enough to carry the entire project, leaving the listener wanting an album of the same realm. The timbre arrangement of swooning bass, glistening keys, and rounded layering of vocals is arguably the most impressive in his career. Full Review »