• Record Label: Domino
  • Release Date: Feb 21, 2017
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 32
  2. Negative: 0 out of 32
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Feb 17, 2017
    100
    Dirty Projectors have released their career highlight to date and already one of 2017’s best. Encore surely.
  2. Feb 22, 2017
    94
    Dirty Projectors is back with a reshaped identity, serving up experimental/artistic indie-pop while retaining its penchant for eclecticism and unpredictability.
  3. 91
    He’s applied some of his musical tourism to Dirty Projectors to convey a batch of hyper-specific lyrics through an often-thrilling blend of electronica, prog-rock, Afro-beat, R&B, and pop.
  4. Feb 27, 2017
    90
    Dirty Projectors may be a breakup record, and one with its fair share of petty sniping (Keep Your Name’s pointed “What I want from art is truth, what you want is fame” is fairly hard to swallow without the suggestions elsewhere that Longstreth is playing characters) but, cathartic and redemptive, it’s one worth getting to know.
  5. Feb 24, 2017
    90
    Reduced to his own devices, our gentleman hero has crafted both the most intrinsically soulful, emotional, and heartfelt record of his career. No less, he's delivered on one of music's greatest archetypes--and with aplomb.
  6. Feb 24, 2017
    83
    Heartbreak can be overwhelming, inspiring, and exhausting, and with Dirty Projectors, Longstreth has birthed an album that strives to not only reflect that, but to mimic it, too.
  7. Mar 3, 2017
    80
    Fusing sonic intricacies, captivating melodies and compelling storytelling, Dirty Projectors’ eighth LP is their most honest and affecting yet.
  8. Mar 1, 2017
    80
    Over lush, sprawling production, Longstreth meticulously crafts a starkly honest account of a fall from grace and a rise back into it that embraces growth and forgiveness.
  9. Feb 24, 2017
    80
    Dave Longstreth conjures up something resembling a clear picture from all the record’s wildly disparate elements, and ‘Dirty Projectors’ serves to unify his most experimental moments with the door-opening impact of ‘Bitte Orca’.
  10. Feb 24, 2017
    80
    The record works not because it feels cynical, but because beneath the obvious lyrical headlines, you can sense Longstreth’s genuine enthusiasm for the new forms he’s exploring so vigorously.
  11. Feb 23, 2017
    80
    The broken-hearted Longstreth sounds like a changed man in many respects, but he's no less talented and visionary than he was before, and Dirty Projectors demonstrates that musically and lyrically, love and its absence have taught him a thing or two.
  12. Feb 23, 2017
    80
    This is musical therapy at its best: smart, confident, and yes, experimental.
  13. Feb 22, 2017
    80
    This is work of emotional and musical maturity: sad, complex and sometimes profound.
  14. Feb 22, 2017
    80
    Dirty Projectors finds ways to be both straightforward and strange.
  15. Feb 21, 2017
    80
    Dirty Projectors is not quite that good [Primal Scream’s Screamadelica]--few records are--but it certainly drives a stake into the ground as to what guitar bands could deliver in 2017 if they would only open their ears and minds up a little.
  16. Feb 21, 2017
    80
    As a whole this is a moving and interesting new project, proving that the end of a relationship can lead to something new and exciting.
  17. Feb 21, 2017
    80
    For the first time, Longstreth seems all too human, acknowledging failings and opening his inner landscape outwards.
  18. Feb 21, 2017
    80
    Dirty Projectors [is] a disruption, but a pleasant one at that--it affords listeners the space to grapple with the loss of Dirty Projectors in their previous form, while dispensing enough nurturing, boundary-breaking tonic to ensure that the first run-out for the project's next chapter is shrouded in optimism rather than dissolution, unforeseen obstacles and all.
  19. Feb 17, 2017
    80
    As dazzling, inventive and soulful as anything he's done. [23 Feb 2017, p.51]
  20. Q Magazine
    Feb 17, 2017
    80
    It is, as always, complicated, but addictively, intriguingly so. [Apr 2017, p.111]
  21. Uncut
    Feb 17, 2017
    80
    If art is love, and love is art, then this hyper-stylised, characteristically idiosyncratic break-up album, in the end makes a perfect kind of sense. [Mar 2017, p.36]
  22. Feb 24, 2017
    78
    Dirty Projectors’ ornate arrangements can’t hide the fact that these songs are as direct and unguarded as Longstreth allows himself to get.
  23. Feb 17, 2017
    75
    As a solo project, Dirty Projectors works well. As significant of a shift as this album is from past Dirty Projectors’ records, the detailed production and arranging work shows Longstreth put all of himself into making it.
  24. Mar 13, 2017
    70
    The main highlights are in the first half.
  25. Feb 21, 2017
    70
    Voyeuristic as it is, Dirty Projectors truly does feel like a record he had to make, not to mention one that's well worth our attention.
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 67 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 67
  2. Negative: 4 out of 67
  1. Feb 22, 2017
    9
    Glitchy, utterly experimental, raw, vulnerable and (most of all) constantly engaging and fun, Dirty Projectors finds David Longstreth at theGlitchy, utterly experimental, raw, vulnerable and (most of all) constantly engaging and fun, Dirty Projectors finds David Longstreth at the edge of his musical and artistic capacities. Fantastic record! Full Review »
  2. May 14, 2017
    6
    The uplifting choruses and Longstreth’s tasteful melodic writing couldn’t overcome the uneasiness and instability that the overwhelmingThe uplifting choruses and Longstreth’s tasteful melodic writing couldn’t overcome the uneasiness and instability that the overwhelming electronic textures provided, and only a couple of good songs came out atop the wash. My Score: 105/180 (Okay) = 5.8/10 Full Review »
  3. Mar 24, 2017
    9
    I loved this record from my first listen - dense, layered production with some beautiful songwriting and the occasional piece of inventiveI loved this record from my first listen - dense, layered production with some beautiful songwriting and the occasional piece of inventive lyricism. By no means is it perfect: the production occasionally takes too much focus, leaving some songs feeling underwhelming; however this is an album that I enjoy so much in part because of its imperfections, not in spite of them. Full Review »