Held in Splendor
by Quilt
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Blurt Magazine
    Mar 12, 2014
    80
    For a moment or two here, Quilt sounds like a lost Pretty Things track, but as mentioned earlier, this is really their own unique creation. And it needs to be heard right now.
  2. Dusted Magazine
    Feb 10, 2014
    80
    With Held in Splendor, this group discovers their influences, then surrounds and deconstructs them. At its best, the album achieves bliss and demands attention.
  3. Uncut
    Feb 3, 2014
    80
    A happy music that isn't bland; Held In Splendor makes that toughest of tricks sound easy. [Mar 2014, p.82]
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  5. Spin
    Jan 30, 2014
    80
    Rough in all the right places but pleasurably smooth in others, Held in Splendor is less like the kitschy t-shirt quilt you made to remember your high school clubs and teams, and more like the perfect old blankets your grandmother used to sew: oversized, musty, and familiar even when you haven't worn them in years.
  6. AllMusic
    Jan 30, 2014
    80
    Held in Splendor shows that Quilt are defined, but not confined, by their affinity for the sounds of the '60s. Instead, they're using it in ways that may be slightly more down to earth but also cover more ground.
  7. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jan 30, 2014
    80
    Quilt really shine when Anna Fox Rochinski, Shane Butler and John Andrews harmonise impeccably over the spooky melodies of 'Saturday Bride' and 'Secondary Swan'.
  8. The Line of Best Fit
    Feb 11, 2014
    75
    It’s is a fluid, cohesive album that flows seamlessly from one movement to the next--as its cover suggests, it’s a canoe ride without the possibility of capsizing.
  9. Under The Radar
    Feb 5, 2014
    70
    Whether intentional or not, Quilt does a great job of appropriating those warped, vintage tones.
  10. Pitchfork
    Jan 30, 2014
    70
    Held in Splendor is a good example of a record that successfully executes the tropes of psych--it sounds like it could’ve been recorded in 1967 without directly ripping off any artist in particular--without every truly transcending them.
  11. Q Magazine
    Apr 23, 2014
    60
    You leave the record feeling a bit like you've visited a museum. [May 2014, p.116]
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  12. musicOMH.com
    Mar 13, 2014
    60
    For now, Held In Splendor is a promising, if limited, stepping stone.
  13. The Guardian
    Feb 20, 2014
    60
    It's all lovely, if a bit aimless--the most distinctive element is Anna Fox Rochinski's breathy soprano voice, which should be more of a feature.
  14. Filter
    Feb 14, 2014
    60
    Out-and-out rockers “A Mirror” and “Tired & Buttered” provide some much-needed lucidity, but as a whole, Held in Splendor may be a bit too tranquil for its own good.
  15. Consequence
    Jan 30, 2014
    58
    What would be even more effective is more focus on spanning dynamics and intensity, which can come naturally when shooting for something a bit more personal, but that doesn’t negate Splendor as a successful sophomore step.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. aceofspadespdx
    Oct 24, 2014
    9
    Every so often, there will be some online survey asking about the ultimate band and its members, kind of like some fantasy football team.Every so often, there will be some online survey asking about the ultimate band and its members, kind of like some fantasy football team. Hendrix on guitar, Moon on drums, Lemmy on bass, etc., much like those games stoners play after school hanging out behind the 7-11 a couple of blocks from campus.

    There would always be that one weirdo in the group who would recite little known albums by superstars and obscure musicians that would always make the rest of the heads say, "Hey man, quit bogardin' the pipe, you're really baked!"

    That one weirdo would say things like this: What if we mixed up pre-Animals Floyd with post-Peter Green but pre-'75 Fleetwood Mac together? And then added like those chicks from the Breeders to sing, but with proggy touches like "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" from the Pumpkins with some moody sax and produced by some George Martin wanna-be?

    Well Chong (or would it be Cheech?), you got your wish.

    The second album by Quilt, Held in Splendor, is all of these things and a whole lot of other strange juxtapositions. Compared to Iggy Azalea on the radio, this feels like the sorbet that pop music truly needs now: a cleansing of the pallet that feels fresh and ready for the next course.

    The tracks, 13 in 44 minutes, flow into one another, and titles alone magnificent: "Arctic Shark", "Eye of the Pearl", "Secondary Swan", etc. If the album is dying as an art form, then this may very well be its last glorious gasp, because taken as a whole, it is magnificent. It is truly a headphone or 5.1 surround experience, all glowing candles and shimmering tones. Considering that other acts have been toying with psychedelia (the Black Keys) or so immersed in it as to at times become a technicolor blob (Tame Impala), the SONGS are front and center, rocking when needed, folky with angelic singing when needed and just simply moving forward, opening new doors each time.

    Be wary: sitting alone and listening to this album alone will hook you almost immediately. The album's strongest track, "Mary Mountain", is easily the best song Syd Barrett or Bob Welch never wrote. And the track, like the rest of the album, feels like the best moments of each of those men's careers channeled into something special here.    … Full Review »
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