Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 13
  2. Negative: 0 out of 13
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  1. Dec 7, 2017
    80
    The rave presets of old will appease older fans while the more intricate synth work will satisfy more recent converts. Still, it’s the deeper tunes here that point to an intriguing future.
  2. Nov 2, 2017
    80
    Some listeners are bound to find this repetitive too, and nowhere near different enough from his previous work. Yet To Syria, With Love is also Souleyman’s heaviest and hardest record since Leh Jani back in 2011.
  3. Jun 7, 2017
    80
    To Syria, With Love is not an album for everyone--from the outset, these songs are sonically specific and never look back from those first unrelenting beats--but once you give in to the open emotions and the irresistible urge to dance, it makes for an ecstatic experience.
  4. Jun 7, 2017
    79
    To Syria, With Love is musically interesting in its own right.
  5. The Wire
    Feb 23, 2018
    70
    Souleyman’s most recent excursion is seriously upfront music. The Syrian singer’s electro-hype dabke burnouts seem to have been ratchetted up to a degree that makes his own past efforts seem quite mellow. [Feb 2018, p.59]
  6. Nov 2, 2017
    70
    With the singular exception of the mournful, aching track ‘Mawal’, To Syria, With Love is a celebration of the music of Omar’s home. With the life and vibrancy of the compositions necessarily tapered by the sobering, harrowing reality of the honesty in his lyrics, he has brought us an all-too-real-life case of tears on the dancefloor.
  7. Uncut
    Oct 23, 2017
    70
    This is a meaty-sounding affair. [Dec 2017, p.30]
  8. Jun 7, 2017
    70
    To Syria with Love was assembled with an eye toward expanding Souleyman's audience. Given the production and the wide selection of textural palettes and tunes, it's a good bet he'll be successful. It will likely keep longtime listeners in the fold, too, although the raw, unhinged feel of his earlier recordings will be missed.
  9. Jun 7, 2017
    65
    The slower, more agonized songs best reveal Souleyman’s strengths.

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