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Jul 31, 2023The typical Cole trademarks are here in abundance—the sharp lyrics; the simple but effective melodies; the deftness of touch. However, On Pain combines them with a little bit of what he was trying to avoid in the ’80s, in a very pleasing and effective manner.
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Jun 23, 2023In the end, Lloyd Cole makes the title of On Pain sound ironic. It’s as if the eight tracks and thirty-seven minutes are intended as an antidote to the psychic turbulence pervading the world at large in 2023.
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MojoJun 23, 2023A richly detailed synth-pop LP of admirable sophistication. [Jul 2023, p.82]
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Jun 23, 2023On Pain is overall both an exciting artistic achievement and a record that should fit the bill for anyone looking for a very cold and sad synth pop update.
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Jun 23, 2023He too, has become more of what he always was. And somehow he's achieved that by paring his music down t its rawest essence. [Jul 2023, p.26]
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Jun 27, 2023The literate lyrics, his expressive voice, his knack for hummable melodies—suggest that he has fully arrived at the next phase of a career that continues to deliver songs worth hearing.
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Classic Rock MagazineJun 28, 2023These lush ambient soundscapes mostly make great backdrops to the 62-year-old crooner's pithy musing and archly allusive lyrics, especially on more widescreen numbers. [Summer 2023, p.75]