The Weather (Pond album)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2017) |
| The Weather | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 5 May 2017 | |||
| Studio | Kevin Parker's home studio (Fremantle, Western Australia) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:44 | |||
| Label | Marathon Artists | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Pond chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Weather | ||||
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The Weather is the seventh studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band Pond. It was released on 5 May 2017 by Marathon Artists.[1] As with previous Pond albums, it is also co-produced by former member and Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker. It features 10 tracks, led by its first single "Sweep Me Off My Feet".
Background
[edit]Pond frontman Nicholas Allbrook has described the album as a "concept album, not completely about Perth, but focusing on all the weird contradictory things that make up a lot of colonial cities around the world. Laying out all the dark things underneath the shimmering exterior of cranes, development, money and white privilege. It’s not our place, but it is our place. British, but Australian, but not REAL Australian. On the edge of the world with a hell of a lot of fucked things defining our little city, still we try and live a wholesome respectful life, while being inherently disrespectful. At the end of all this confusion in our weird little white antipodean world, there’s the beach, purity and nature that brings us all together".[2]
The album cover shows a photograph of the Carillon City mall in Hay Street, Perth, taken in the early 1980s (Google Street View).
Critical reception
[edit]| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 80/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Classic Rock | |
| DIY | |
| Exclaim! | |
| The Guardian | |
| Pitchfork | 7.7/10 |
The Weather received positive reviews from music critics, holding an average critic score of 80, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3] Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of Pitchfork wrote that "For all its disjointedness, the album never wanders more than a few inches away from the sublime. It’s a document of a band knocking loudly on the door of greatness."[4] Marcy Donelson for Allmusic described the album as "trippy and shambolic". Donelson also praised its "epic, sometimes otherworldly luster".[5] Gwilym Mumford in The Guardian wrote that the album is "Accessible but still absolutely out there, this is prog, but not as we know it."[6]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "30000 Megatons" | Allbrook | 4:02 | |
| 2. | "Sweep Me Off My Feet" |
| Allbrook | 3:29 |
| 3. | "Paint Me Silver" |
| Allbrook | 3:44 |
| 4. | "Colder Than Ice" | Watson | Watson | 3:10 |
| 5. | "Edge of the World, Pt. 1" |
| Allbrook | 4:54 |
| 6. | "A/B" |
| Allbrook | 3:28 |
| 7. | "Zen Automaton" | Allbrook | Allbrook | 4:01 |
| 8. | "All I Want for Xmas (Is a Tascam 388)" |
| Ryan | 2:36 |
| 9. | "Edge of the World, Pt. 2" |
| Allbrook | 6:22 |
| 10. | "The Weather" |
|
| 3:58 |
| Total length: | 39:44 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Fire in the Water" | Allbrook | Allbrook | 4:04 |
| Total length: | 43:48 | |||
Personnel
[edit]Pond
- Nicholas Allbrook
- Jay Watson
- Joe Ryan
- Jamie Terry
Additional musicians
- Christian Ruggiero – horns on "30000 Megatons" and "Zen Automaton", saxophone on "Colder Than Ice"
- Jamie Canny, Sam Newman – horns on "30000 Megatons" and "Zen Automaton"
- Mei Saraswåati – additional vocals on "Sweep Me Off My Feet" and "Colder Than Ice"
- James SK Wān – bamboo flute on "Colder Than Ice"
- Kirin J Callinan – additional vocals on "Paint Me Silver" and "Colder Than Ice", guitar noises on "Edge of the World, Pt. 2"
- James Ireland – piano and some production on "A/B"
Production
- Production – Kevin Parker and Pond
- Engineering – Pond, Kevin Parker, Richard Ingham
- Mastering – Greg Calbi
- Packaging design – Alex Joseph
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2017) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[7][8] | 33 |
| Australian Physical Albums (ARIA)[8] | 23 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[9] | 126 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[10] | 132 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[11] | 83 |
References
[edit]- ^ "POND 'The Weather' Pre-order Available Now - Marathon Artists". Marathon Artists. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ "Pond announce new album 'The Weather' with 'Sweep Me Off My Feet' vid". NME. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ The Weather by Pond, retrieved 8 May 2017
- ^ "Pond: The Weather Album Review | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ "The Weather - Pond | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ Mumford, Gwilym (4 May 2017). "Pond: The Weather review – Australian psych-rockers take a musical leap". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- ^ "Pond - The Weather". australian-charts.com.
- ^ a b "ARIA Report 1420" (PDF). ARIA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2017.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Pond – The Weather" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Pond – The Weather" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
