The Fade in Time
by Sam Lee
Metascore
89

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
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  1. The Telegraph (UK)
    Aug 11, 2015
    100
    This is a terrific album, full of dignity.
  2. The Guardian
    Mar 16, 2015
    100
    The most emotional songs are bravely straightforward but quite unexpected.... Surely one of the albums of the year.
  3. musicOMH.com
    Mar 16, 2015
    90
    This music is restless but keenly aware, finding common ground and intersections between a range of source material and contemporary contexts and, most importantly of all, delivering these songs with honesty, conviction and genuine feeling.
  5. PopMatters
    Jul 16, 2015
    80
    It’s an album that, even in its quiet moments, refuses relegation to the background. In short, it serves to announce the arrival of a great talent who promises to find new ways to keep us singing the old songs well into another century.
  6. Mojo
    Apr 22, 2015
    80
    Even if purists find the whole baroque confection too much, they will have to admit there's never been a record quite like this. [May 2015, p.99]
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  7. Uncut
    Mar 16, 2015
    80
    For all the ideas and juxtapositions that illuminate these songs, none feel jarring or tokenistic. [Apr 2015, p.79]
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  8. The Observer (UK)
    Mar 16, 2015
    80
    A wonderfully inventive creation.

Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best Album of 2015

User Reviews

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User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 34 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 34
  3. Negative: 14 out of 34
  1. BespectacledGuy
    Apr 12, 2015
    10
    For some reason, this album has attracted several strongly negative ratings from users, though I for one simply cannot fathom as to why. ForFor some reason, this album has attracted several strongly negative ratings from users, though I for one simply cannot fathom as to why. For me, this album was a real beauty, from the erratic, uncoordinated opening of "Jonny O' the Brine", to the piano-led "Blackbird", to the closing ballads of "Lovely Molly" and "The Moss House". The whole thing just glimmers. There are some wonderfully bizarre choices of instrumentation, yet strangely this never feels out of place with the traditional folk songs of the British Isles. Special mention must also go to one or two other tracks, such as the frantic ghost story "Willie O"; "Airdog", which poignantly reflects on the nature between man and beast in the art of killing; and "Phoenix Island", which features a lovely coda from the Roundhouse Choir.

    So ignore the User Score (at time of writing it rests at a lowly 3.8) and purchase this wonderful sophomore effort by Sam Lee. You'll be doing yourself a favour, as its placement in yearly critical acclaim so far behind only rapper Kendrick Lamar testifies.    … Full Review »
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