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Jan 23, 2014Total Strife Forever is a brutal electronic album, but one that still retains a very humanistic core--this juxtaposition is a thematic thread which runs throughout the album. Doyle then sculpts and defines the music in order to create tension between these two disparate elements, or else uses their differences in order to surprise and engage the listener.
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UncutJan 15, 2014A Major new British talent is born in William Doyle's solo debut, which sounds like the great lost album that Brian Wilson, Eno and Bjork should have made together. [Feb 2014, p.75]
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Jan 10, 2014Total Strife Forever is breathtaking. It might get tough sometimes, lonely and desolate even, but Doyle’s catharsis will hoist you by the bootstraps into lusher pastures.
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Jan 8, 2014While James Blake came good on his Mercury prize winning second album, William Doyle as East India Youth has delivered a stunningly exquisite work on his very first go.
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Jan 7, 2014This is music that’s meticulous and expansive without ever falling into the trap of being boring or self-indulgent.
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Jan 7, 2014Total Strife Forever is that scarcest of things; a masterly record which walks a unpredictable line musically yet remains entirely consistent in quality.
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Jan 30, 2014It's a rare album in this genre that blends relaxation with excitement so perfectly, that stays cool without ever being aloof or dragging.
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Q MagazineJan 28, 2014When it swells and soars, it doesn't just work. It werks. [Feb 2014, p.115]
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MojoJan 23, 2014Locating a broken, but still-beating heart within metallic machine music, East India Youth's debut is a triumph. [Feb 2014, p.97]
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Jan 13, 2014It’s well executed, quite odd, highly original and full of promise--exactly what you want from a debut album.
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Jan 10, 2014An often fairly classicist pop record which nods heavily towards naggingly familiar influences, yet doesn't feel like it could exist at any other time than now.
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Jan 9, 2014Perhaps surprisingly, Doyle is at his most affecting when he's vocal-free.
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Jan 8, 2014What really sets Total Strife Forever apart is Doyle’s vocal ability.
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Jan 7, 2014Innovative, cerebral and yet totally accessible, Total Strife Forever is an incredibly impressive record.
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Feb 5, 2014While William Doyle’s career is undoubtedly on an upward trajectory and I am looking forward to his evolution as an artist, Total Strife Forever is hardly a landmark in electronic music.
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Jan 27, 2014In terms of compositional sophistication, Doyle struggles to compete with the Jon Hopkinses of this world, his emotional brushstrokes unambiguous and delineated. But considering he’s a 22 year old home producer, comparing Total Strife Forever to last year’s EP shows that he’s growing exponentially.
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Jan 13, 2014Although Doyle's vocal melodies lack focus at times, Total Strife Forever possesses enough left-turns to satisfy the most adventurous electronic music fans.
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Jan 7, 2014Total Strife Forever (thanks, Foals) is an ambitious, absorbing debut, and still probably only a glimpse of what East India Youth’s capable of.
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Jan 13, 2014The jumps between genres barely jar once you realise how good Doyle is at all of them.
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Jan 21, 2014While Doyle struggles to balance his various musical elements--the opening 10 minutes is sheer drudgery--he has a nice way with layered vocal harmonies, which deserve more regular exposure.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 20 out of 23
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Mixed: 3 out of 23
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Negative: 0 out of 23
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Jan 17, 2014
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Jan 22, 2014
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Jan 20, 2014