Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 17
  2. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. Q Magazine
    Jan 27, 2014
    80
    There's a potent '80s smoke machine-ambiance wafting through the plush, slow-fizz synths and padded percussion that fill their debut full-length. [Oct 2013, p.100]
  2. Aug 19, 2013
    80
    It's an odd assemblage, but it succeeds at putting DIANA into a rare league--a band poised to not only meet expectations head on, but to exceed them.
  3. Aug 16, 2013
    80
    It’s much more in line with Shabason and Adams’s work on Destroyer’s soft rock epic Kaputt, with its smooth sax, jazzy rhythms and 80s synth pop, but Elle’s breathy voice meshes remarkably well.
  4. Aug 13, 2013
    80
    This is a glacially beautiful album that you’ll do well to spend a lot of time with.
  5. Aug 13, 2013
    80
    Following through on both the gleaming productions of 1980s pop and the evocative murk of the short-lived trendlet called witch house, Diana creates larger-than-life soundscapes where private musings can flourish.
  6. Aug 23, 2013
    70
    There are enough explosive moments to suggest that DIANA have another gear to explore.
  7. Aug 21, 2013
    70
    Throughout, songwriters Joseph Shabason and Kieran Adams create unique beat and synth driven pop songs, all tinged with themes of love, longing, and renouncement.
  8. 70
    Perpetual Surrender is an ambitious album that delivers on numerous levels, though it can sometimes sound a bit like a TV stuck on constant re-run. But just as that’s enjoyable in its own way, so are DIANA in theirs.
  9. Aug 19, 2013
    70
    Perpetual Surrender's highlights might have had more impact if they were collected on an EP, but DIANA have a unique enough perspective--and enough potential--to make the album worth a listen for anyone who loves synth pop in any of its incarnations.
  10. 70
    They lose points, however, for a descent into guitar squall and full-on ‘Baker Street’ sax (‘Perpetual Surrender’), which mar an otherwise intriguing debut.
  11. Aug 16, 2013
    70
    Though they won't repeat the trick, Diana plunder '80s-aping blog-pop and find surprising riches in a long washed-out gold mine.
  12. Uncut
    Aug 13, 2013
    70
    A potential Urban Outfitters house band, yes, but very far from just brainless cool. [Sep 2013, p.87]
  13. Aug 13, 2013
    70
    Their debut is yearning blog-pop, which might be a bit ‘2009 called...’ if songs like ‘New House’ weren’t just as sharp as their 80s, sax-ballad ancestors.

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