Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
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  1. 90
    There are points during the disc when you wish the rollercoaster would relent, but that is beside the point: Fol Chen are pop experimentalists, deft song-writers and immaculate producers who have a lot to say – so hang on!
  2. How exactly these songs fit together with "Holes"' delicate plucking and the title track's pixelated folk might be locked in Fol Chen's brains, but even if there are more pieces of their puzzle-pop missing here than there were on John Shade, Your Fortune's Made, The New December is never boring.
  3. Whether or not Part II: The New December is steadied and readied as an opportunity to cash in on winning success (they were featured in everything ranging as far as NPR and a video collaboration with the Laker Girls), this is another great compression of darkly layered pop and stellar IDM.
  4. The album takes decoding, but it's got enough lilt, rhythm and sonic slapstick to make the job fun.
  5. Filter
    74
    Fol Chen proves it's capable of being quietly understated in addition to wonderfully frenetic. [Spring/Summer 2010, p.113]
  6. Although genre-jumping bands who employ "electro" elements to their approach seem to stick around for a shorter period than those who do not, Fol Chen certainly show signs of brightness.
  7. Had Fol Chen made good on those early impulses to really boost The New December's kinky eccentricities, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise to find it making serious inroads with new listeners. Though it ultimately only warrants selective revisiting.
  8. Fol Chen's commitment to writing music from a depersonalized angle is commendable as an artistic experiment-and more often than not, it surprises with unexpectedly beguiling hooks-but it's beginning to feel like its self-imposed mystery is a cover for its identity crisis.
  9. Under The Radar
    60
    The results can be attractive, scatterbrained, and pleasantly inebriating. [Spring 2010, p.63]

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