Saint Cloud
by Waxahatchee
  • Record Label: Merge
  • Release Date: Mar 27, 2020
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 128 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 105 out of 128
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 128
  3. Negative: 16 out of 128
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  1. thmadden29
    May 17, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This comes across as very run of the mill folk, with little musical or lyrical insight or innovation. Critics, please do better to help artists push boundaries.… Expand
  2. brennans
    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 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 orThe 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

Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best Album of 2020
70
#70 Most Discussed Album of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. No Ripcord
    Apr 3, 2020
    70
    The further you get, the sharper the writing becomes and the more introspective and unique the album feels.
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  2. Paste Magazine
    Apr 1, 2020
    90
    When an artist completely and beautifully upends the conventions of an entire genre, they’re probably aware of their capabilities. Saint Cloud is the sound of Katie Crutchfield at her most conscious, comfortable and controlled.
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  3. Sputnikmusic
    Apr 1, 2020
    90
    Katie is making a point of saying more with less, taking potent emotions and quietly tucking them into a plain white envelope for us to open and interpret. She’s as lucid as we’ve ever heard her, stripping down to her emotional core and daring us to make eye contact.
    Read full review
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