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Beginners Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

  • Summary: The first full-length release on the Anti- label for the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter was produced by Phoebe Bridgers.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. 95
    Hutson continues his startling ability to generate a world of his creation, and our making. It’s the little things that gift Hutson’s songs with a penetrable honesty, balanced between the softly plucked strings - beauty and realism.
  2. Q Magazine
    Jun 30, 2020
    80
    The world isn't short of observational singer-songwriters, but when the work is of this calibre it's pretty hard to resist. [Aug 2020, p.107]
  3. Jul 2, 2020
    80
    While it’s a consistently strong collection, with no real missteps, certain tracks on Beginners really stand out. The quality peaks with the mid-album triumvirate of Unforgivable, Northsiders and Twin Souls.
  4. Jun 3, 2020
    78
    Hutson’s musical style finds a perfect complement in Bridgers’ subtle production.
  5. Jun 3, 2020
    76
    While the similarities to both his contemporaries and those who came before him are impossible to ignore, there are few musicians who could pull off singing about an aspiring building inspector and make it so equally funny and sweet—but Hutson possesses a rare balance of critical wit and soul.
  6. Jul 6, 2020
    70
    Vulnerable, complex and beautiful, it is an album that gets richer with every listen, and cements Hutson’s status as a songwriter to take notice of.
  7. Mojo
    Jun 3, 2020
    60
    Beginners is less rip-it-up statement than subtle realignment; less countrified and polished, more folky and sparse. [Jul 2020, p.80]

See all 9 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Apr 11, 2022
    10
    Christian Lee Hutson is a genius storyteller and an incredible guitarist, and his debut album "Beginners" highlights his strengths perfectly.Christian Lee Hutson is a genius storyteller and an incredible guitarist, and his debut album "Beginners" highlights his strengths perfectly. With minimal production and a focus on intimacy, each song feels carefully crafted, and deeply thoughtful. Not a single lyric is wasted.

    There is a deep sense of nostalgia on this album that has a very grounding effect. I always listen to it when I need to calm down. It brings me back to earth.

    Standout Tracks: Atheist, Talk, Northsiders, Lose this Number
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