- Record Label: Our Secret Record
- Release Date: May 19, 2009
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Some bands make a third album; others make something more like a third refinement of "the album." This feels like the (charmed) latter.
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Thanks to Monahan and the strength of the songs the trio wrote for the album, this stands as Au Revoir Simone's best work so far.
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You can slice up its track-by-track constitution--a gently sung, interesting turn of phrase here, an evocative chord progression here--but it is a beautiful, haunting creature as a whole, and a poignant testament to the power of simplicity.
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Music to stick pins in voodoo dolls of the popular kids by.
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The fact that many of the songs have lengthy instrumental passages confirms that Au Revoir Simone is more concerned with conveying emotions than just singing about them. On this count, the album's a clear success.
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The band's egalitarian and mutually supportive dynamic pays off on the harmonious Still Night, Still Light, their third and best album.
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Opener 'Another Likely Story' sets the mood, dovetailing chilly lunar textures with hushed vocal harmonies to often nap-worthy effect.
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Essentially, Still Night, Still Life is a fun, carefree listen and doesn't pretend to be anything more. As an added bonus, it's also a clear improvement over the band's past works as well.
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Listen to Still Night, Still Light for what it is and its unlikely you will end up disappointed.
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Snoozy delights from the polyphonic twee whose outright nerdiness is charming.
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Everything sounds lovely, but the songs are too indistinct from one another, and there’s very little emotional range on display.
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Q MagazineThere's an intimacy to these songs that makes it feel like you're intruding on some private sorrow, but there's no denying their ability to sustain a mood. [Jun 2009, p.117]
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UncutThere's a couple tunes that rise above the general lo-fi languor. But you get the feeling they could carry on like this, lost in unchanging adolescent reverie, forever. [Jun 2009, p.83]
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Under The RadarAu Revoir Simone might want to explore organic instrumentation further--the vocal harmonies would flourish--although the lyrics could wilt in the exposure. [Summer 2009, p.64]
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MojoOver the course of a whole album their light-as-afeather mix of glacial keyboard, breathy vocals and mid-tempo time signatures begins to grate, and you wish producer Thom Monahan had made them take more risks. [Jun 2009, p.99]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 15
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Mixed: 1 out of 15
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Negative: 3 out of 15
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Nov 3, 2010