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For Those I Love
by
For Those I Love Image
Metascore
89

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 33 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the debut full-length release for the solo project of Dublin-based producer David Balfe.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    Mar 24, 2021
    100
    ‘For Those I Love’ is not only an immaculate debut, but a beautiful record that speaks to anyone who’s ever loved and lost, anyone who might be mourning or just processing the days of youthful abandon, or perhaps those who need reminding that you can’t have shadows without the light.
  2. The Independent (UK)
    Mar 25, 2021
    100
    For Those I Love is as much a piece of history as it is a work of art. ... A staggering album.
  3. Clash Music
    Mar 26, 2021
    90
    ‘For Those I Love’ is a truly exquisite achievement in which the redemptive hope that love and friendship provide is never allowed to sink beneath the waters.
  4. The Line of Best Fit
    Mar 24, 2021
    80
    His creation of such an overt sense of nostalgia, grief, loss and mourning, whilst also making time to make statements on social justice issues is impressive.
  5. Mojo
    Mar 24, 2021
    80
    Haunted and intimate, Balfe's deep brogue ultimately salvages hope from the wreckage. [May 2021, p.83]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. musicOMH.com
    Mar 26, 2021
    80
    Anchoring the album with his own painful history and never admitting defeat, Balfe has scripted a exhilarating album that contends with unimaginable loss whilst warmly celebrating persistence.
  7. The Guardian
    Mar 25, 2021
    80
    For all the Dublin references, there’s a universality to the emotion; the music is finely-crafted enough to keep you returning, not matter how distressing the subject matter of the songs. There’s something here that that suggests Balfe could easily outrun the well-meaning, but limiting labels currently being attached to him – “Ireland’s potent poet of grief” – if that’s what he wants.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Ricko
    Apr 18, 2021
    9
    This is one of those records that very much has a wow factor. It's 46 minutes of catharsis and channelling of grief into something amazing.This is one of those records that very much has a wow factor. It's 46 minutes of catharsis and channelling of grief into something amazing. The album is a collage of beats, samples and field recordings with David Balfe's heavily accented poetry rolling over it. Balfe name checks many of his influences across the album including Mike Skinner and The Streets. Such is the scale of the talent here, "For Those I Love" would still exist with or without The Streets, but their is no doubting it would be in a very different form. "For Those I Love" is a special record and I expect it to challenge for the Choice Music Prize for best Irish album next spring. The biggest question hanging over it is the extent upon which Balfe relies on grief and death to drive the album. It works magnificently here but in my humble opinion the path forward for his art needs to have a different muse for it to be sustainable.… Expand

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10
#10 Best Album of 2021

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