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Saint Cloud Image
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 128 Ratings

  • Summary: The fifth full-length release for the indie music project of Katie Crutchfield was produced by Brad Cook.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Mar 27, 2020
    100
    What songs these are, genuinely good enough to be compared with peak Dylan: like him, Crutchfield is adept at nestling into the almost comforting niche of heartache and hopping out again with a grin.
  2. Mar 27, 2020
    91
    Saint Cloud offers us the best possible version of Crutchfield she could possibly give us. The record is made by someone who was always whispering, finally having the confidence and courage to speak up and sing unrestrained. It demands to be listened to.
  3. Mar 30, 2020
    90
    ‘Saint Cloud’ is the refreshed, reformed and matured Waxahatchee – and it’s glorious.
  4. Q Magazine
    Mar 23, 2020
    80
    This utterly beautiful balm of a record feels less like a confessional, and more a vessel for warmth, serenity and worldly wisdom. [May 2020, p.114]
  5. 80
    Confident and accomplished fifth album.
  6. Mar 26, 2020
    80
    While alternating between regretful slower tracks, midtempo drawls, and livelier, foot-tapping fare, the album never moves off dirt roads and adjacent orchards, and proves to be her most carefree-sounding effort to date. That's despite doggedly self-examining lyrics that keep Saint Cloud squarely in the realm of prior releases from an artist who continues to ward off complacency.
  7. Mar 30, 2020
    60
    There’s a sharpness in these songs that still unsettles. It’s there in Crutchfield’s vocals, louder and fiercer than before, and on songs such as Fire, which is also difficult to love. Her lyrics, tackling subjects including addiction and self-hatred, often feel too verbose, but they become surprising and refreshing on closer listen.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 27
  2. Negative: 2 out of 27
  1. i94
    Mar 27, 2020
    10
    It's a shame all the Dua Lipa fans are tanking this album's user score—you can support your fav without being an arse to another (I happen toIt's a shame all the Dua Lipa fans are tanking this album's user score—you can support your fav without being an arse to another (I happen to love both!). That being said, Saint Cloud is 2020's best so far. Its timing couldn't be better—it feels like the level-headed enlightenment we need in these dark times. The entire album feels like sunlight hitting your face. Standouts are "Fire," "Oxbox," and the three closing tracks—but there's not one bad song on this album. I imagine that this album feels like the collective joy we'll all feel whenever this pandemic subsides. Until then, we have Saint Cloud. And for that, I am grateful. Expand
  2. Jan 18, 2021
    10
    A beautiful album, full of life and vivid emotions that transported me, to a place filled with flowers, colors and wonderful landscapes. OneA beautiful album, full of life and vivid emotions that transported me, to a place filled with flowers, colors and wonderful landscapes. One of the best of 2020 in my opinion. Expand
  3. Mar 27, 2020
    10
    Some albums just resonate deep and this is one stellar collection of songs. It feels alive and bright.
  4. Jun 16, 2021
    9
    Melhores faixas
    -Fire
    -Lilacs
    -Hell

    A prova que menos é mais tanto na letra quanto na produção
  5. Sep 3, 2020
    9
    A masterpiece! Nice songs to hear, an excellent job! Waxahatchee nailed it!
  6. Mar 27, 2020
    8
    upon first listen this is a beautiful and well written album, but more listens will be necessary.
  7. May 29, 2020
    3
    The vocals on Saint Cloud are Katie Crutchfield's most polished, but good vocals don't necessarily make for good music. Ever since the albumThe vocals on Saint Cloud are Katie Crutchfield's most polished, but good vocals don't necessarily make for good music. Ever since the album Cerulean Salt, Crutchfield's lyrics (she's thought to be one of her generation's most gifted songwriters) have become increasingly self-absorbed, self-important, and confessional, either whining about how much she has suffered in bad relationships or dwelling on her personal suffering. Too often she directs her ire toward an unnamed lover she's over and done with, or, as a variation on the theme, apologizes to the man she loves for how crummy a person she is. These types of songs, tinged with narcissism, usually addressed to an unidentified "you," are uninteresting in the long run. (Doesn't Taylor Swift do the exact same thing?) Crutchfield's best work, like the songs found on American Weekend, Cerulean Salt, and here and there on the subsequent albums ("Silver" is probably her last great song) blends the specific with surreal imagery and broad strokes approaching social commentary. The heartfelt and vulnerable edge, the looking inward while simultaneously looking outward, that element that once made her so raw and compelling, has been traded away for mere sentimentality and navel gazing. Or, rather, like so much of the work by singer-songwriters these days, mirror gazing? I do like the country sound in Saint Cloud, and the vocals are so pretty, but wish the album possessed the power of punk and lo-fi she seems to have inexplicably traded away. Expand

See all 27 User Reviews

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