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UncutNov 11, 2014Bainsbridge's achievement is to take a style of music defined by its emotional directness and render it mysterious, aloof and enthralling. [Dec 2014, p.77]
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MojoNov 6, 2014The results, often transcendent and inventive, incorporate gospel elements and "found sounds," while retaining the spirit of shaky DIY experimentation. [Nov 2014, p.95]
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Oct 28, 2014If you’re looking for a new album with real depth to play on repeat, with horns, pianos and cowbells to spare, this is it.
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Oct 21, 2014At least this time Otherness is a touch easier to define: disappointing.
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Oct 17, 2014There's only one track with any forward motion, and it's the overly slick and one-dimensional "I'll Be Back." Otherwise, Otherness is mostly murky and overcooked ballads, without hooks or much emotional impact.
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Oct 16, 2014With some exceptions, the songs truly take flight when Kindness cedes the mic to others, like Robyn or Kelela, whose voices add depth and suggestiveness--with an ease that eludes Bainbridge himself--elevating the album’s bland lovelorn sentiment.
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Oct 16, 2014Otherness isn't just less immediate than other pop music; it's less self-aware, and way less fun.
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Oct 15, 2014Otherness is probably a better album than Bainbridge’s debut as Kindness but it succeeds in different ways and is certainly more of a slow burner.
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Oct 14, 2014A marked improvement on a charming but varied debut, the album works to place Bainbridge near the top of pop-minded disco revivalists.
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Oct 14, 2014Bainbridge reaches past the boundaries he set on Change of Mind, making Otherness a rich, varied examination of love and loneliness. But sometimes that sparseness he likes means there’s just too little to grip.
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Oct 13, 2014There's an abundance of feelings created in the listener from this album when played in full.
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Oct 13, 2014The shortcomings of Bainbridge’s own vocals, which sometimes lack soul and are rarely memorable.
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Oct 10, 2014Bainbridge’s intentions are of course only known to himself and perhaps his collaborators, but there are enough moments here to make the listener believe that staying the course with Kindness, regardless of his seemingly wilful obtuseness and contrastingly puzzling adherence to cliché, might be worth it in the long term.
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Oct 10, 2014As it stands, it's a very good record that builds on and expands the musical ideas presented on his debut.
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Q MagazineOct 9, 2014Bainbridge reveals himself here not as an exhaustingly pseudy hipster but rather a songwriter of singular depth and emotion. [Nov 2014, p.114]
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Oct 9, 2014It’s immediately likeable, but loses distinctiveness later on.
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Oct 9, 2014His sophomore full-length is at times uninspired and leaves an emptiness in the gut.
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Oct 9, 2014Bainbridge remains a slightly aloof presence throughout, but zesty vocal cameos from Kelela, Robyn, Tawiah and Ghanaian rapper M.anifest save Otherness from slipping into tasteful self-indulgence.