I Never Learn
by Lykke Li
  • Record Label: Atlantic
  • Release Date: May 6, 2014
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
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  1. Spin
    May 7, 2014
    60
    When I Never Learn aims for pop, it's the hazy Shangri-Las variety; the melodies are Li's lushest to date, but the smoke never clears around them.
  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    May 5, 2014
    60
    I Never Learn is an album about love, but not a record to love.
  3. The Observer (UK)
    May 5, 2014
    60
    You are either in the mood for this depth of wallowing or you are not.
  5. The Guardian
    May 1, 2014
    60
    I Never Learn works best in the smallest doses, despite its brevity, because it's as one-paced as a fading lower-division central defender, and that pace is sluggish.
  6. Drowned In Sound
    Apr 30, 2014
    60
    I Never Learn is by no means a failure--the highs are grand when they come--but it has a tendency towards bombast and shallow self indulgence that sees it edge dangerously close to the fringes of mediocrity.
  7. Pretty Much Amazing
    Apr 29, 2014
    42
    Heard consecutively, these songs sound disappointingly like one another, and while one good belter about the pain of unrequited love is a blessing, nine in a row turns out to be real drag.
  8. Q Magazine
    May 20, 2014
    40
    As a whole, though, I Never Learn wallows too much. [Jun 2014, p.119]
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  9. The Independent (UK)
    May 1, 2014
    40
    “I Never Learn” is a gorgeous opener, its fulsome strum of acoustic guitars graced by strings and backing-vocal cooings in anthemic manner; but from there it’s emotional pain writ large, with wan piano lines supplanted by grand, melodramatic resolutions.

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Most Shared Album of 2014

User Reviews

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User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 149 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 137 out of 149
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 149
  3. Negative: 6 out of 149
  1. NazAw
    Jul 22, 2014
    7
    The swedish songstress Lykke Li delivers her most saddest and heartfelt record yet.
    An organic and cohesive set of piece, with one of the    The swedish songstress Lykke Li delivers her most saddest and heartfelt record yet.
    An organic and cohesive set of piece, with one of the better singel's to face 2014 with "Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone". A beautiful and emotional song featuring loose acoustic guitars and with a raw Li who's voice cracks open for a lover, lyrically about a dying love she's seeing un-touchable in near future. In my opinion, a new topping hit for Lykke Li. A tear-jerker at it's finest, and a much better of it we will not get from this year, surely.

    While "I Never Learn" holds beauty upon it's hands, such as the stand-out "No Rest For The Wicked" where we find Li with intriguing melodies and instrumentals, the latter of it is what the record has it's bigger flaws. At times, over-saturating her voice till it only sees itself being background noise.
    The production is not necessarily bad, at all, I enjoy the stripped mood all through, but with lush instrumentals and the reverb effects, the rawness of the tunes looses the better grit as the previously mentioned highlights of the album had to offer. Lykke Li, herself even has her lower, and less interesting pen-moments as the closer "Sleeping Alone".

    But with that being said, when Li is at her best, as the sweet and most pop-py sounding, sonically and vocally "Gunshot" it is phenomenal and one memorable anthem after another. "I Never Learn" is less technical but more of a simpel straightforward and heartbroken Lykke Li, which is not a bad thing, not her best LP to date but maybe her most enjoyable one.    … Full Review »
  2. WadeVS
    May 9, 2014
    9
    Whilst it might technically be her least successful album, this is not a technical album. It's all about heart here, and Lykke proves sheWhilst it might technically be her least successful album, this is not a technical album. It's all about heart here, and Lykke proves she really has one and it's really been hurt. Stripped of all pretensions and tricks, this album is pop music at its purest. Simply beautiful.… Full Review »
  3. jrodfilms
    Sep 5, 2014
    10
    probably my favorite album this year. dark and short, in the years to come this should be known as one of the quintessential love lost albums.probably my favorite album this year. dark and short, in the years to come this should be known as one of the quintessential love lost albums. at just nine songs, each song has its purpose and will not let go of your ears.… Full Review »
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