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9.0
45055
9.0 |
Under The Radar
The songs throughout Fragrant World are arrestingly forward-thinking without shying away from invoking music's rich pageantry
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8.5
45057
8.5 |
Bowlegs
Yeasayer have constructed a confident and diverse set of songs, which continues to put them head and shoulders above their contemporaries
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8.5
45054
8.5 |
BBC
Once you’ve settled into it, Yeasayer’s Fragrant World is a wonderful place to explore
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8.0
45056
8.0 |
The Skinny
As grand designs go, it’s one that endures
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8.0
45053
8.0 |
Clash
Right from the off it’s more accessible than 2010’s good, but tricksy, Odd Blood
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8.0
45087
8.0 |
Q
When it works, it's a glorious thing. Print edition only
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8.0
45166
8.0 |
DIY
The album oozes confidence flipping between the weird and wonderful with occasional flashes of decadence. Do not mistake the complexity of Yeasayer's work for indulgent musical masturbation as this sound could not be created if they weren't allowed to run riot in the studio
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8.0
45169
8.0 |
Evening Standard
Amid all the experimentation, singer Chris Keating never forgets to include a hummable melody: this is pop music, Jim, but not as we know it
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8.0
45162
8.0 |
The Fly
Fragrant World has, if anything, a much less commercial feel than Yeasayer have previously tried
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8.0
45273
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
This is a record of adventure and texture, an attempt, musically, to conjure up a future we may never actually have. Maybe that is kind of nerdy, but Yeasayer carry it off with style to spare
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7.8
45304
7.8 |
Paste Magazine
A sexy, infectious compilation of conventional musical tropes, filtered through Yeasayer’s dark kaleidoscope
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7.4
45618
7.4 |
The AU Review
Fragrant World is not a failure, it’s intricacies evolving over time and with repeated listens, it’s various moods, flavours and atmospherics engaging a casual or intent listener. However, the limits of it’s success might not be that of it’s predecessor
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7.1
45240
7.1 |
Beats Per Minute
The thematic and musical revamping is impressive, even for a band that seems to enjoy turning itself inside out on a regular basis, but it isn’t quite matched by the executio
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7.0
45291
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
At times, you're sure they've nicked a melody from some neon-dream MTV hit you can't quite place. Then you realize they're reinventing that dream right now
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7.0
46166
7.0 |
Tone Deaf
Although there are plenty of strengths in Yeasayer’s Fragrant World, you can’t help but be left wanting something just a tad more memorable
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7.0
45446
7.0 |
All Music
For those willing to rise to the challenge, Fragrant World has a wealth of obscured moments of bizarre genius. They don't hand them over willingly, but with a little digging, incredibly interesting ideas are just below the surface
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7.0
45052
7.0 |
musicOMH
a record redolent of trying desperately hard to be cool. That said it’s no stinker, more a transition, a typical third LP that just doesn’t catch light enough
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6.7
45243
6.7 |
A.V. Club
The record is piled high with suffocating layers of throbbing bass, densely droning new-wave electronica, distorted vocals, and spastic computer effects, leaving little room for the quirky experiments in proggy riffs, free-form harmonies, and multi-instrumental jams
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6.0
45265
6.0 |
No Ripcord
As a listening experience it's not spectacular, furious or even that odd, just reassuringly reliable, although the ingredients are starting to smell a bit off
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6.0
45164
6.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
The grooves and the sonic wizardry work, but Fragrant World doesn’t have half of the intensity, innovation, or memorable hooks of the group’s two prior LPs
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6.0
45294
6.0 |
PopMatters
Much of the album feels swampy where “Ambling Alp” and “Madder Red” were direct and hooky, and too often the electro clutter weighs it down more
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6.0
45522
6.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
[A] muted and airless mood reigns
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6.0
45306
6.0 |
Prefix
Fragrant World is by no means an unlikable album. It's just too likable, too anodyne, too furry around the edges
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6.0
45441
6.0 |
Art Rocker
For all its alt-pop good bits, doesn't have the depth or warmth that many of the current indie groups have, and that just leaves it a little cold
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6.0
45084
6.0 |
Mojo
The big pop tunes have evaporated amid the cacophony. Print edition only
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6.0
45175
6.0 |
The Independent
A frustrating experience overall
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6.0
45178
6.0 |
Independent on Sunday
Has killer synthpop tunes buried within it, but too often you wonder how much better a record this would have been if they quit dicking around and just gave you the song
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6.0
45181
6.0 |
The Observer
They're at their best when they do a little less, as on the surprisingly melancholy and lovely Henrietta
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6.0
45120
6.0 |
The Guardian
The halfway point marks a clear shift in quality, as if they finally rediscovered their pop sensibility
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6.0
45157
6.0 |
NME
Neither pushing for a pop crossover nor ranging into unmarked sonic territories - smells like treading water
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5.4
45066
5.4 |
Pitchfork
Unlike the erratic, occasionally captivating, and always bold Odd Blood, Fragrant World rests in a tentative middle ground
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5.0
45188
5.0 |
Slant Magazine
The band's tendency to overreach may be muted on Fragrant World, but Yeasayer is still as earnestly silly as ever
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4.0
45094
4.0 |
Uncut
Despite the contemporary sheen, too much here is reminiscent of a certain kind of overwrought mid-80's synthpop. Print edition only
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4.0
45891
4.0 |
God Is In The TV
Dull, conventional electronic music that plays it safe
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4.0
45433
4.0 |
State
How long the band can drink from the same well is anybody’s guess, but if Odd Blood made up the minds of the undecided and sent them packing, rehashing the same ideas isn’t likely to win them back
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4.0
45608
4.0 |
The Quietus
An occasionally flourishing, but largely frustrating and tedious record
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4.0
45300
4.0 |
Spin
Listening to it is sort of like the experience of going to the doctor as a child, being told that the shot isn't going to hurt a bit, then feeling disappointed and just a little bit sad when the shot in fact doesn't hurt a bit
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