• Record Label: Merge
  • Release Date: Sep 3, 2013
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 14
  2. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. Q Magazine
    Jan 27, 2014
    80
    His trademark lyrical honesty and sublime fingerpicking remain at the fore. [Oct 2013, p.99]
  2. Oct 22, 2013
    70
    The Buckner of today is more minimalist, more streamlined, and he asks his listeners to put in a little more work. It’s only fair.
  3. Sep 12, 2013
    80
    Buckner’s songwriting, both in the arrangements and vocals, is laser-focused on the development and exploration of his scorched-earth aesthetic. Together, they project it with grace, refinement, and skill.
  4. Sep 10, 2013
    82
    It is a beautiful sleeplessness captured in Surrounded; in those channels and eddies, fans of his musical landscapes can drift for hours.
  5. Sep 4, 2013
    77
    Surrounded is polished and persuasive enough that everyone should give it a try.
  6. Aug 30, 2013
    70
    While Buckner's songs can be awe-inspiring (just ask Bon Iver's Justin Vernon), Surrounded, like its most recent predecessors, requires closer attention in order to fully appreciate.
  7. Uncut
    Aug 29, 2013
    80
    In short, dense, mesmerising, involving. [Oct 2013, p.63]
  8. Under The Radar
    Aug 29, 2013
    75
    It arrives at the stripped-down mastery of Our Blood via a less circuitous route, and solidifies Buckner's grasp on what surely must be real Americana, in all its darkness, confusion and opacity. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.87]
  9. Aug 29, 2013
    70
    The results sound more natural than risky and the entire album finds a nice place between the direct and the obtuse.
  10. 70
    Buckner’s record is a vague reflection of something remarkably powerful, a beautiful mirror image of dreams, of dusty reminiscences and pleas that come too late.
User Score
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No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Nov 15, 2013
    9
    For Chrissakes...he isn't re-issuing "Bloomed", he's releasing new music. And this new music is Buckner--if not at his best--then, giving usFor Chrissakes...he isn't re-issuing "Bloomed", he's releasing new music. And this new music is Buckner--if not at his best--then, giving us his all: urgent, thoughtful, tuneful and evocative.

    I'll take this Buckner any day.

    If it isn't "Since", that's ok. None of us are "Since" anymore. Unless we're still 19...or 23...or 28. Or whenever we first heard the masterpiece.

    If you'd followed him as he has gotten older, this new album is something new: fulsome, tuneful, raspy (which we've come to know} and honest. It is something of a return. But also something new.

    Just enjoy.
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