- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Mar 12, 2014For a moment or two here, Quilt sounds like a lost Pretty Things track, but as mentioned earlier, this is really their own unique creation. And it needs to be heard right now.
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Feb 10, 2014With Held in Splendor, this group discovers their influences, then surrounds and deconstructs them. At its best, the album achieves bliss and demands attention.
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UncutFeb 3, 2014A happy music that isn't bland; Held In Splendor makes that toughest of tricks sound easy. [Mar 2014, p.82]
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Jan 30, 2014Rough in all the right places but pleasurably smooth in others, Held in Splendor is less like the kitschy t-shirt quilt you made to remember your high school clubs and teams, and more like the perfect old blankets your grandmother used to sew: oversized, musty, and familiar even when you haven't worn them in years.
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Jan 30, 2014Held in Splendor shows that Quilt are defined, but not confined, by their affinity for the sounds of the '60s. Instead, they're using it in ways that may be slightly more down to earth but also cover more ground.
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Jan 30, 2014Quilt really shine when Anna Fox Rochinski, Shane Butler and John Andrews harmonise impeccably over the spooky melodies of 'Saturday Bride' and 'Secondary Swan'.
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Feb 11, 2014It’s is a fluid, cohesive album that flows seamlessly from one movement to the next--as its cover suggests, it’s a canoe ride without the possibility of capsizing.
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Feb 5, 2014Whether intentional or not, Quilt does a great job of appropriating those warped, vintage tones.
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Jan 30, 2014Held in Splendor is a good example of a record that successfully executes the tropes of psych--it sounds like it could’ve been recorded in 1967 without directly ripping off any artist in particular--without every truly transcending them.
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Q MagazineApr 23, 2014You leave the record feeling a bit like you've visited a museum. [May 2014, p.116]
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Mar 13, 2014For now, Held In Splendor is a promising, if limited, stepping stone.
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Feb 20, 2014It's all lovely, if a bit aimless--the most distinctive element is Anna Fox Rochinski's breathy soprano voice, which should be more of a feature.
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Feb 14, 2014Out-and-out rockers “A Mirror” and “Tired & Buttered” provide some much-needed lucidity, but as a whole, Held in Splendor may be a bit too tranquil for its own good.
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Jan 30, 2014What would be even more effective is more focus on spanning dynamics and intensity, which can come naturally when shooting for something a bit more personal, but that doesn’t negate Splendor as a successful sophomore step.