Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. There's no way around the fact that most of Machine Dreams is icy electro-pop, but it is not as if the truly singular Yukimi Nagano, an enamoring vocalist, has switched to drone mode, forsaking her grounding in R&B.
  2. Overall, Machine Dreams is bristling with invention and teeming with variety, a fantasy world you won't wish to quickly wake from.
  3. Mojo
    80
    Her jazzy instincts and surreal lyrics perfectly offset the music's mosaic minimalism. [Sep 2009, p.92]
  4. The album falters slightly when the music becomes more abstract and inscrutable, but on the whole it is not difficult to relate to Nagano or slip into the mood created by her bandmates.
  5. This is electronic pop music done right, free from hipster trimmings or overly vulnerable declarations of self-discovery, and a sure sign that Little Dragon have all the strength and memorability of a lucid dream.
  6. Machine Dreams is an exercise in scoping out the frontiers of avant-garde electronic pop not seen since the early ‘80s.
  7. 70
    With nods to synth pop, electro, and funk, Sweden's Little Dragon fill their second album with bleeping keyboards and jazzy arpeggios, recalling both Howard Jones and Saint Etienne. But what sets Machine Dreams apart is frontwoman Yukimi Nagano's alternately yelping and cooing voice.
  8. Of course, there are neat textures and chilled-out sounds. But by the end of the record, you have only a few tunes or hooks to serve as a souvenir of the 44-minute journey you've just taken.
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 22
  2. Negative: 1 out of 22
  1. May 25, 2021
    6
    In their second studio album, Little Dragon continue to explore their abilities in electrodance and ambiant music. It often remains shy andIn their second studio album, Little Dragon continue to explore their abilities in electrodance and ambiant music. It often remains shy and hovering rather than experimental, a bit more agressive and changing as it will be in 'Ritual Union' two years later. In 'Machine Dreams', the band manages to be satisfied with minimal crescendos, dreamy and distorted lyrics as well as constant and little evolving patterns. The ambiences and moods follow one after the other in a rather intriguing way, even if the tracks often reach their end before any musical construction has been noticed. It is undeniable that 'Machine Dreams' is an agreeable journey but there are just too few specific moments that will be identified as major turns in this musical fresco. The interesting movements as on "Swimming" seem to be phagocyted by the interminable tempos of the project. Full Review »