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Jun 19, 2020Though happiness is elusive in Owen's world, beauty is not, and The Avalanche is a striking testament to Mike Kinsella's gifts, where even sadness can pay handsome rewards under the right circumstances.
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Jun 25, 2020Mike Kinsella has made not only one of his sincerest works to date, but also one of the most brutally honest albums of the year.
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Jun 19, 2020Although Kinsella still writes dense math rockers ("On with the Show") alongside uncomplicated acoustic ditties ("Headphoned"), The Avalanche seems to meld together into slosh of uniform sound, leaving the listener with an album that is emotionally thrilling even when it is tactilely urbane.
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Jun 19, 2020Sometimes, Kinsella keeps it simple (as on the acoustic lament Headphoned) while at other times, such as On With The Show, the sound is more lush. It’s a testament to Kinsella’s abilities that he can pull off both equally well.
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Jul 14, 2020The Avalanche wallows, but the realization rather than the anticipation of karmic retribution lends it emotional urgency even as Kinsella works in his familiar modes of meandering melodies, exquisite acoustic arpeggios, and the occasional lapse into cringe-posting that threatens to break the whole spell.
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Jun 19, 2020Though the lyricism and imagery present across The Avalanche might be some of Kinsella’s bleakest, and a stark contrast to the soft subtleties of its instrumentation, it’s also some of his strongest and most transparent.
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UncutJun 19, 2020It has the desperate, desolate sound of one that needed to be written. [Aug 2020, p.27]
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Jun 23, 2020Overall of The Avalanche is gorgeously rendered for days’ or weeks’ worth of isolated listening. Kinsella knows, it seems, that a bloodied and beaten heart is sometimes the best reminder of our own impermanence. With its non-stop fragility and intense vulnerability, The Avalanche demonstrates that no one wrings desperation from an acoustic guitar quite like Mike Kinsella.