by
Cold Specks
- Record Label: Arts & Crafts
- Release Date: May 22, 2012
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May 21, 2012As a first collection of work from the band this is a stunning release, bursting with life and creativity and fully deserving of the attention and praise that is bound to come its way.
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UncutMay 22, 2012The LP draws on old-style American folk but expertly remodels it for a contemporary audience. [Jun 2012, p.70]
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May 21, 2012Boasting the talents and a depth of spirit of an artist twice her age, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion is a majestic powerhouse of a career starter.
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May 21, 2012I Predict A Graceful Expulsion is not only immediately accessible, but also rich and nuanced enough to survive repeated listens.
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May 21, 2012There's a bruised strength to Spx's voice, and her melodies have the stark, fatalistic tone of chain-gang moans.
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May 21, 2012The music never gets in the way, and works pretty much perfectly to help the songs ebb and flow, and to heighten the best moments.
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May 21, 2012What elevates I Predict a Graceful Expulsion above pure comfort food, however, is how it subtly tugs against the big, major-network-drama payoff for which it feels custom-built. There's a naggingly elusive quality to the songs that troubles as much as it soothes.
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Aug 30, 2012With a folk-y production quality that carries but never distracts from the main attraction--Spx's husky, soulful voice--Predict a Graceful Expulsion is a truly stunning debut.
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Jul 31, 2012I Predict a Graceful Expulsion stands out as a stunning debut effort, not just because of Spx's one-of-a-kind songwriting perspective, but also thanks to a level of musicianship that's more proficient and wise than you'd expect from someone with her limited experience.
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May 31, 2012The overall feeling of the record is dark, but tracks like "Hector" and "Blank Maps" offer a bit of light.
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May 29, 2012As the words mourn and pray, the music promises redemption.
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May 29, 2012I Predict a Graceful Expulsion feels like a late round in a long fight, and while it may not deliver a knockout punch, it most certainly deserves the win.
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May 29, 2012I Predict a Graceful Expulsion is not the great record some would have you believe it is, but it is a very good one.
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May 23, 2012I Predict A Graceful Expulsion maintains a grounded, brooding focus that is designed more as a calling card to exhibit the next proper artist to warm the top of dusty stereo players of plenty middle-aged households.
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Q MagazineJun 20, 2012Spx's voice is a thing of wonder - rich, deep and stomach-tighteningly emotional. [Jun 2012, p.99]
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May 21, 2012If the focus on 'I Predict A Graceful Expulsion' is sharp then its scope is overly broad, focusing in on vague sentiments that leave you fond, but never in love.
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May 21, 2012Holland and Winter Solstice are particularly fine. But [the album] is also very much fixed in one place, and at one pace, and doesn't quite reach the consistent transcendence it aspires to
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May 21, 2012The arrangements here, courtesy of PJ Harvey collaborator Rob Ellis, seek to relocate Spx in too elegant a vein, making her sound less singular and more assimilable. It is a shame.
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MojoJul 18, 2012It's difficult to make either narrative or poetic sense of, well, what she's on about. [Jun 2012, p.85]