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Dark Days + Canapés

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Dark Days + Canapés
Studio album by
Ghostpoet
Released18 August 2017
GenreAlternative rock, experimental rock, electronica
Length44:27
LabelPlay It Again Sam
ProducerLeo Abrahams
Ghostpoet chronology
Shedding Skin
(2015) 		Dark Days + Canapés
(2017) 		I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep
(2020)

Dark Days + Canapés is the fourth album by British vocalist and musician Ghostpoet.

Described as a standout track,[1] the first single from the album, "Immigrant Boogie", was released in April 2017.[2] Three more songs, "Trouble + Me", "Freakshow" and "Dopamine If I Do", were also released prior to the album. Music videos were released for "Immigrant Boogie" and "Freakshow". It was produced by Leo Abrahams and mixed by Abrahams and Kristofer Harris.[3] "Woe Is Meee" was the second collaboration of Ghostpoet and Daddy G.[4] In an email to The Fader, Ghostpoet said "I wrote this one for the struggling minds, trying to make sense of an ever-increasingly technologically connected, but lonesome world."[5]

Reception

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Commercial performance

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In the UK Albums Chart charting week of August 31, 2017, Dark Days + Canapés was the No. 37 album upon its first week of release according to the Official Charts Company. It marks the highest position achieved by a Ghostpoet album as well as the first time that one of his albums had ranked within the top 40 based on domestic sales.[6]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Clash8/10[9]
The Guardian[10]
The Independent[11]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[12]
Mojo[13]
The Observer[14]

Dark Days + Canapés was well received upon released by contemporary music critics. The review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a weighted score of 79 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable" reviews.[7]

Harriet Gibsone in The Guardian gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, stating that it was "exhaustingly bleak" and compared "Trouble + Me" to Radiohead's "Street Spirit".[10] Isa Jaward of The Observer gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, concluding Ghostpoet was "now at home in this [alt-rock] style and his languid, sung-spoken monologues sound their most assured."[14] Reviewing the album for The Line of Best Fit, Joe Goggins concluded that "Ejimiwe is on positively caustic form at points, not least when he rails against modern relationships and consumerism on 'Freakshow' and frets about self-medication on closer 'End Times'. His languid delivery belies the very real anxieties that Dark Days + Canapés is scored through with, but the nervy sonic backing absolutely serves to accentuate them; what that leaves us with is an album that's more about personal politics than global ones, but that still feels scored through with the suffocating disquiet of life in 2017."[12]

In Clash, critic Robin Murray described the album as "boasting a rare sense of unity" with "the aural palette bringing together hugely disparate elements to conjure something of real impact."[9] Andy Gill of The Independent rated the album 5 out of 5, describing it as a "great album that bodes well for Ghostpoet's future."[11] In the review from AllMusic, Andy Kellman was also positive in his assessment, stating, "Rest assured, everything else on the two-time Mercury Prize nominee's fourth Ghostpoet album throbs and churns with grim, gripping realism. Parts of Dark Days + Canapés are so bleak in spirit that they sound as if they were recorded in a sweatbox built inside a slag heap."[8]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Obaro Ejimiwe, except where noted [8]

Dark Days + Canapés
No.TitleMusicLength
1."One More Sip" 1:32
2."Many Moods at Midnight"Obaro Ejimiwe, Leo Abrahams4:00
3."Trouble + Me" 4:53
4."(We're) Dominoes"Ejimiwe, Abrahams4:20
5."Freakshow" 4:05
6."Dopamine If I Do" (featuring EERA[2])Ejimiwe, Abrahams3:39
7."Live>Leave" 3:48
8."Karoshi" 3:13
9."Blind as a Bat..." 4:38
10."Immigrant Boogie" 2:39
11."Woe Is Meee" (featuring Daddy G[15])Ejimiwe, Grant Marshall4:07
12."End Times" 3:33

Charts

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Chart (2017) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 84
Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] 42
UK Albums (OCC)[18] 39

References

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  1. ^ Cheal, David (18 September 2017). "Ghostpoet: Dark Days + Canapés — 'psychodramas of everyday life'". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Ghostpoet shares 'Dopamine If I Do' from new album, 'Dark Days & Canapés'". DIY. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Dark Days + Canapés - Ghostpoet | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. ^ Jaward, Isa (20 August 2017). "Ghostpoet: Dark Days + Canapés review – languid and assured". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Ghostpoet Shares A Ballad For The Lonely, 'Dopamine If I Do'". The FADER. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  6. ^ "GHOSTPOET | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Dark Days + Canapés by Ghostpoet". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Kellman, Andy. "Dark Days + Canapés - Ghostpoet | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  9. ^ a b Murray, Robin. "Ghostpoet - Dark Days + Canapés". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  10. ^ a b Gibsone, Harriet (17 August 2017). "Ghostpoet: Dark Days + Canapés review – grey-sky thinking about modern life". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  11. ^ a b Gill, Andy (17 August 2017). "Album reviews: Ghostpoet, Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins and more". The Independent. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  12. ^ a b Goggins, Joe (16 August 2017). "Dark Days + Canapés by Ghostpoet | Album Review". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  13. ^ Andy, Cowen (16 August 2017). "Ghostpoet's Dark Days + Canapés Is MOJO's Album Of The Week!". Mojo Magazine. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  14. ^ a b Jaward, Isa (20 August 2017). "Ghostpoet: Dark Days + Canapés review – languid and assured". The Observer. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  15. ^ "Ghostpoet – Dark Days + Canapés". Echoes and Dust. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Ghostpoet – Dark Days + Canapés" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
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