Collections from the Whiteout | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 26 March 2021 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Indie Rock, Folktronica [1] | |||
Length | 54:01 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Producer |
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Ben Howard chronology | ||||
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Singles from Collections from the Whiteout | ||||
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Collections from the Whiteout is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Ben Howard, released on 26 March 2021. [3] [4]
The lead single from the album, "What a Day", premiered on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show on 26 January 2021. [2] A second single "Crowhurst's Meme" was released 2 February 2021. [5] The third and fourth singles, "Far Out" and "Follies Fixture" were released on 26 February 2021. [6] The fifth single, "Sorry Kid" premiered on Annie Mac’s show on 22 March 2021. [7]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.2/10 [8] |
Metacritic | 69/100 [9] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
The AU Review | [10] |
DIY | [11] |
The Independent | [12] |
The Line of Best Fit | 7/10 [13] |
Mojo | [14] |
NME | [15] |
Pitchfork | 6.9/10 [16] |
Uncut | 5/10 [17] |
The album was met with positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100, the album was scored a 69, which indicates generally favourable reviews. [9] Ben Lynch of DIY Magazine gave the album 4 stars, calling the album "Melancholy, meticulous and achingly grand", elaborating that "His dialling down the traditional guitar/vocal folk and diving deeper into a range of electronics, whether the harsh distortion of ‘Sage That She Was Burning’ or the bright, tactile ‘Metaphysical Cantations’, is a primary deviation here. ‘Follies Fixture’, the opener and a highlight, expresses this newfound path from the onset, its entrancing swirl likely to divide fans while potentially turning a few new heads his way. Make no mistake though, Collections From The Whiteout remains in the truest sense a Ben Howard release." [18] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor and Rachel Brodsky say that "instead of a too-many-cooks situation, which this easily could’ve been, [producer Aaron Dessner] and Howard find cozy nooks for everyone. The singer’s reedy voice is the drawstring that ties it all together." [19] Hannah Jocelyn of Pitchfork gave the album 6.9 out of 10, saying that "Whiteout doesn’t always sound like a revelation, but it allows Howard to open up, letting in new lyrical and musical ideas that complement his own without overwhelming them." [20]
Other reviews were less positive. John Murphy of musicOMH.com gave the album 3 stars, explaining that "there’s certainly a lot to take in on Ben Howard’s fourth album – not all the ideas work in fairness, and there’s a few too many moments which feel like half-sketched ideas. Yet Dessner makes a decent foil for him and for those who have joined Howard on his career journey to date will be more than happy to continue travelling with him." [21] PopMatters' Brice Ezell gave the album 6 out of 10, saying that "if Whiteout is an imperfect album, it is one that also evinces Howard’s refusal to stay in a single musical lane." [22]
Collections from the Whiteout spent its first week of release at number one on the UK Albums Chart (with first-week sales of 15,621 copies, including 1,759 from sales-equivalent streams). [23] Unusually for a number one album, it recorded no other weeks in the chart.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Follies Fixture" | Ben Howard | 3:59 |
2. | "What a Day" |
| 5:15 |
3. | "Crowhurst's Meme" |
| 3:44 |
4. | "Finders Keepers" |
| 2:49 |
5. | "Far Out" |
| 4:18 |
6. | "Rookery" | Howard | 2:31 |
7. | "You Have Your Way" | Howard | 4:25 |
8. | "Sage That She Was Burning" |
| 4:17 |
9. | "Sorry Kid" |
| 4:59 |
10. | "Unfurling" |
| 3:40 |
11. | "Metaphysical Cantations" |
| 4:21 |
12. | "Make Arrangements" |
| 4:25 |
13. | "The Strange Last Flight of Richard Russell" |
| 4:23 |
14. | "Buzzard" | Howard | 0:55 |
Total length: | 54:01 |
No. | Title | Length |
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15. | "Rumble Strip" | 3:00 |
16. | "London Portrait" | 2:29 |
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Musicians
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Production
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Chart (2021) | Peak position |
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Belgian Albums ( Ultratop Flanders) [24] | 14 |
Belgian Albums ( Ultratop Wallonia) [25] | 78 |
Dutch Albums ( Album Top 100) [26] | 9 |
German Albums ( Offizielle Top 100) [27] | 19 |
Irish Albums ( OCC) [28] | 17 |
Scottish Albums ( OCC) [29] | 1 |
Swiss Albums ( Schweizer Hitparade) [30] | 81 |
UK Albums ( OCC) [31] | 1 |