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Jun 24, 2014This is an album full of wistful, careworn emotions and a sense of quiet profundity.
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MagnetJul 18, 2014Taylor is meditative in both sound and thought, using slow, simple arrangements in the service of a tender melancholy that grows more palpable as Await Barbarians floats along. [No. 111, p.61]
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Jun 5, 2014For a record that on first listen sounds so sparse, Await Barbarians is a trove of sentiment and intricacy.
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Jun 27, 2014Alexis Taylor has made an album that fits nicely into a world of dreamy pop, and most of all he made it sound authentic. There's nothing here that isn't refreshingly gorgeous.
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Jun 20, 2014It’s a fine collection of intimate, slow-burning, understated songs.
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Jun 11, 2014There's a take-it-or-leave-it quality to Await Barbarians' open-ended, unvarnished songs, but more often than not, Taylor draws his audience into the album's world in a way that feels like a visit with an old friend.
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Alternative PressJun 5, 2014Wait Barbarians is not an album for all moods and times of day. But for those calm, reflective moments that tend to arrive as dusk descends, this albums provides the ideal soundtrack. [Jul 2014, p.102]
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Jun 5, 2014The witty and intelligent intimacy of his lyrics and his finely restrained vocals growing richer with each repeated listen.
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UncutJun 5, 2014Slender and strange, Await Barbarians once more finds the singer on the back foot, his default position, peering cautiously at the things around him. [Jul 2014, p.81]
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Jun 11, 2014Well aware now of what he likes to do with Hot Chip and what he likes to do eponymously, Taylor’s efforts here are enough to sate fans until the next solo project arrives.
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MojoJul 24, 2014Await Barbarians reminds of Alex Chilton or even Liam Hayes's earliest music as Plush. [Jul 2014, P.87]
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Jul 1, 2014Await Barbarians largely sounds like a sketchbook, or even an EP, with Taylor working through ideas.
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Jun 23, 2014It may not be an album you’ll come back to again and again, but it shows off a refreshingly different side to Alexis Taylor.
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Jun 16, 2014Await Barbarians is often beatless and unelectronic, sparse and meditative.
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Jun 9, 2014It's not without charm--the needle-jump static of 'Dolly And Porter' gently drives a sweet melody; stroboscopic flickers of synth make a gripping arrangement for 'Closer To The Elderly'--but too often it's just Taylor's fragile voice cooing drab, introspective mantras over sparse electric piano.
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Jun 25, 2014Given what he’s proven capable of as part of his main gig, though, it’s hard not to wish that, when left to his own devices, he made more of an effort to get outside of his own head.
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The WireJul 21, 2014While this collection of songs is indeed tremendously soft, too many vibrations are swept under the rug of Taylor's voice. [Aug 2014, p.58]
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Jun 26, 2014One or two additional flashes of brilliance fail to act as saving graces, however, leaving Await Barbarians a disappointing effort from one of modern pop's mavericks.
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Jun 13, 2014Taylor doesn’t hit the requisite hands-flailing-in-the-air, feet-stomping sweet spot we’ve come to expect.
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Jun 5, 2014Intimate and involving doesn’t necessarily mean that the record is engaging, however, and some tracks wash over without an impression, ultimately making this feel like little more than an indulgent side-project.