Lamp Lit Prose

Lamp Lit Prose
Studio album by
Dirty Projectors
ReleasedJuly 13, 2018
StudioIvo Shandor (Los Angeles, CA)
GenreProgressive pop[1]
Length37:19
LabelDomino
ProducerDavid Longstreth
Dirty Projectors chronology
Dirty Projectors
(2017) 		Lamp Lit Prose
(2018) 		5EPs
(2020)
Singles from Lamp Lit Prose
  1. "Break-Thru"
    Released: May 2, 2018[2]
  2. "That's a Lifestyle"
    Released: June 14, 2018
  3. "I Feel Energy"
    Released: July 12, 2018

Lamp Lit Prose is the eighth studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors, and was released on Domino Records on July 13, 2018.[2]

Production

The album was produced by David Longstreth at his Los Angeles studio.[3]

Release

The band supported the album with a tour, which began in May 2018 with significant personnel changes.[4]

They released the first single off the album, "Break-Thru", on May 2 along with a music video.[5][6] In Spin, Andy Cush described the single as sounding "more immediately Dirty Projectors-ish than anything on the self-titled album" released in 2017.[3]

On June 14, they released a second single, "That's a Lifestyle", with an animated music video by Kitty Faingold.[7] In Stereogum, Chris DeVille also contrasted this single with the tenor of Dirty Projectors, saying "That's A Lifestyle" echoed earlier albums "Bitte Orca and Swing Lo Magellan, the pop-minded prog exercises that transformed Dirty Projectors from underground oddities to full-fledged indie rock stars. It's a magnificently pretty guitar tapestry that never lets its complexity smother the pop appeal."[8]

On July 12, the day before the album's release, the band released their third single, "I Feel Energy".[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.3/10[10]
Metacritic77/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The A.V. ClubB+[13]
Entertainment WeeklyB[14]
The Guardian[15]
The Independent[16]
Mojo[17]
NME[18]
Pitchfork7.4/10[19]
Rolling Stone[1]
Uncut8/10[20]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 77, based on 27 reviews.[11] At Rolling Stone, Will Hermes called the album "a flood of ideas and magnificent vocal arrangements" which he found "by turns dazzling and exhausting."[1] Jazz Monroe of Pitchfork praised the album's "more hopeful, chipper kind of songwriting."[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by David Longstreth, except "(I Wanna) Feel It All" by Longstreth, Nat Baldwin and Mike Johnson

No.TitleLength
1."Right Now" (featuring Syd)3:39
2."Break-Thru"3:47
3."That's a Lifestyle" (featuring Haim)4:22
4."I Feel Energy" (featuring Amber Mark)4:37
5."Zombie Conqueror" (featuring Empress Of)3:45
6."Blue Bird"3:49
7."Found It in U"3:27
8."What Is the Time"3:14
9."You're the One" (featuring Robin Pecknold and Rostam)2:18
10."(I Wanna) Feel It All" (featuring Dear Nora)4:21
Total length:37:19
Bonus tracks[21]
No.TitleLength
11."What Is the Time" (Early Orchestration)1:23
12."You're the One" (Early Orchestration)2:19
13."That's a Lifestyle" (Early Instrumental)4:14
Total length:45:15

Personnel

Musicians
Technical
  • David Longstreth – mixing (except 2)
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing (2)
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Sonny DiPerri – drum engineering (1, 2, 8), percussion engineering (1, 4, 8), guitar engineering (1)
  • David Tolomei – drum engineering (3–7, 10), string engineering (2, 4, 10), horn engineering (1, 4, 6, 8, 10), percussion engineering (6), piano engineering (10)
  • Miro Mackie – vocal engineering (1, 3–10), piano engineering (1), guitar engineering (9, 10)
  • Ryan Tuttle – guitar, Wurlitzer and Rhodes engineering (2, 8), piano engineering (8)
  • Robby Moncrieff – guitar engineering (3–7), Rhodes and Wurlitzer engineering (4, 10), bass and organ engineering (7), additional engineering (10)
  • Nikolaj Nielsen – Robin Pecknold's vocal engineering (9)
  • Logan Patrick – Rostam Batmanglij's vocal engineering (9)
Artwork
  • David Longstreth – art direction
  • Joe Cariati – glass sculptures
  • Jason Frank Rothenberg – photography
  • Kelsey Fugere – prop styling
  • Teresa Eggers – prop styling
  • Rob Carmichael (Seen) – design

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 122
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[23] 153
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[24] 17
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[25] 17

References

  1. ^ a b c Hermes, Will (July 13, 2018). "Review: Dirty Projectors' 'Lamp Lit Prose' Is Full of Dizzying, Exhausting Prog-Pop". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Kaye, Ben (May 2, 2018). "Dirty Projectors announce Lamp Lit Prose". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Cush, Andy (2018-05-02). "Dirty Projectors Announce New Album 'Lamp Lit Prose'". Spin. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  4. ^ Rettig, James (2018-04-18). "New Dirty Projectors Release Lamp Lit Prose Revealed By Shazam". Stereogum. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  5. ^ Sodowsky, Sam; Monroe, Jazz (May 2, 2018). "Dirty Projectors Enlist Haim, Robin Pecknold, More for New Album, Share Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
  6. ^ Patterson, Adreon (May 2, 2018). "Dirty Projectors Announce New Album Lamp Lit Prose, Release Peppy New Single "Break-Thru"". Paste.
  7. ^ Blais-Billie, Braudie (June 14, 2018). "Listen to Dirty Projectors' New Song "That's a Lifestyle"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  8. ^ DeVille, Chris (2018-06-14). "Dirty Projectors – "That's A Lifestyle" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  9. ^ Daramola, Israel (July 12, 2018). "Dirty Projectors – "I Feel Energy (feat. Amber Mark)"". Spin. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  10. ^ "Lamp Lit Prose by Dirty Projectors reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Lamp Lit Prose by Dirty Projectors Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  12. ^ Deming, Mark. "Lamp Lit Prose – Dirty Projectors". AllMusic. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  13. ^ Adams, Erik (July 13, 2018). "Dirty Projectors, Lamp Lit Prose". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  14. ^ Feldberg, Isaac (July 11, 2018). "Dirty Projectors rediscover romance on Lamp Lit Prose". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 14, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  15. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (July 12, 2018). "Dirty Projectors: Lamp Lit Prose review – lovedrunk swoons from hip-pop heroes". The Guardian. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  16. ^ Shepherd, Jack (July 12, 2018). "Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose, album review: a unique indie record". The Independent. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  17. ^ Doyle, Tom (August 2018). "Dirty Projectors: Lamp Lit Prose". Mojo (297): 91.
  18. ^ Smith, Thomas (July 13, 2018). "Dirty Projectors – 'Lamp Lit Prose' review". NME. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  19. ^ a b Monroe, Jazz (July 16, 2018). "Dirty Projectors: Lamp Lit Prose". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  20. ^ Troussé, Stephen (July 26, 2018). "Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose". Uncut. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  21. ^ "Lamp Lit Prose". Hostess Entertainment Unlimited (in Japanese). Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  22. ^ "Ultratop.be – Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  23. ^ "Dirty Projectors". Oricon. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  24. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  25. ^ "Dirty Projectors Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 1, 2019.