græ
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græ Image
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 17 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 76 Ratings

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  • Summary: The double album (released also as two separate EPs] for the experimental artist features a guest appearance from Jill Scott and elements of folk, jazz, indie rock, pop, and soul music.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. DIY Magazine
    May 14, 2020
    100
    Equal parts elegant and antagonistic, it comes together to be every part the listening experience that he wanted it to be - complex, unconventional and ultimately, essential.
  2. Beats Per Minute
    May 14, 2020
    91
    Grӕ is so rich in content and so vast in musicality it would be impossible to unpack everything in a single review. It is complex yet universal – comforting yet unsettling. It lives in an incorporeal realm of its own, and somehow, Sumney has gained complete and utter command over it.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    May 19, 2020
    90
    Moses Sumney and Mike Hadreas have made the albums of our strange quarantine season — bleak but tender, sprawling yet intricately detailed, as suffused with the need for physical contact as they are alert to its dangers and prohibitions. ... Stunning art-soul record. ... Yet as busy as the music can occasionally feel, both albums keep close track of the singers’ voices, which always merit the attention.
  4. Under The Radar
    Aug 10, 2020
    85
    For all of the purposefully oblique subject matter, the album never once feels indirect or opaque. ... His voice is multiply expressive, both in the way that a singer/songwriter’s voice in its lyrical accent would be, and in the way that someone like Daniel Lopatin’s production would expectedly turn a voice into beautiful putty.
  5. New Musical Express (NME)
    May 14, 2020
    80
    This is a brave, vulnerable and ambitious work that asks us to recognise and celebrate our own grey areas. It’s an album full of possibility and startling scope, and which, ultimately, finds peace among the pain.
  6. The New York Times
    May 18, 2020
    80
    It’s hard to imagine many of its songs being performed onstage, even before the pandemic — even as it encompasses more sonic possibilities, from the orchestral to the surreal. ... Sumney doesn’t have to explain himself in prose. His songs do it even better.
  7. The Wire
    Jul 14, 2020
    80
    He knows that being the most complete version of himself requires lifelong searching – græ never fails to feel like such a journey. [Aug 2020, p.63]
    All this publication's reviews

See all 17 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. invertedrisk
    May 15, 2020
    10
    A completely phenomenal piece of art that demands multiple listens, and close reading of its lyrics to fully understand.
  2. NormanAlee
    Jul 26, 2020
    10
    its sad when in this world such uncreative artist like Tailor Swift with decent but average melodies (Folklor) overhyped by media machineits sad when in this world such uncreative artist like Tailor Swift with decent but average melodies (Folklor) overhyped by media machine instead of this album with bold catharsic songs like Bystanders, Me in 20 Years or Bless Me.… Expand
  4. IgorSiberia
    May 16, 2020
    10
    "I gave my life
    To something
    Something bigger
    Than me..."
    ...plus luxury sound.
  5. nami2
    Dec 28, 2022
    9
    I think this album was fantastic. The genre-bending nature, Moses' genius and intimate lyricism, and his absolutely beautiful voice, that likeI think this album was fantastic. The genre-bending nature, Moses' genius and intimate lyricism, and his absolutely beautiful voice, that like the music does not stay pinned down in specific style, and instead weaves and meanders through multiple octaves and ranges and does so beautifully, even acting as an instrument in some of the songs (Cut Me). This album was absolutely beautiful.… Expand
  6. musicwizard636
    Jul 4, 2020
    9
    There is over an hour of material on Græ and nearly every moment satisfies. Sumney's magnificent production confronts you sonically while hisThere is over an hour of material on Græ and nearly every moment satisfies. Sumney's magnificent production confronts you sonically while his iconoclastic ideas challenge your code of ethics.… Expand
  7. All_ButTrU4
    Dec 20, 2021
    8
    There is something grand about this record. Is it the strong harmonies? Or maybe the focused production that unearths what it intends for youThere is something grand about this record. Is it the strong harmonies? Or maybe the focused production that unearths what it intends for you to feel. I've got it now,it's moses. This album is the best picture of him we've ever received. It explores the vast parts of him from his relationship with masculinity and femininity or with blackness and isolation. The key to this album is the little pieces such as the samles,interludes,base strum in cut me or violins in bles me. Everything is grand like a performance. Not a single moment is wasted in this album. A serious improvement on the meandering debut. Favourites:cut me,bless me,me in 20yrs,two dogs… Expand
  8. alxmsn
    Jul 1, 2020
    5
    Maybe I didn't give this album enough listens, but I just couldn't get into it.

See all 10 User Reviews

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