''About to Die'' is an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

group

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...

, released digitally and on vinyl on November 6, 2012.Minsker, Evan
Dirty Projectors Share "About to Die" Video, Announce New EP With New Tracks

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.

Recording

The album's first track, "About to Die", is taken from Dirty Projectors' 2012 release ''

Swing Lo Magellan ''Swing Lo Magellan'' is the sixth studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors, which was released on Domino Records on July 10, 2012, in the United States and July 9, 2012, internationally.Minsker, EvanDirty Projectors Ann ...

''. Another track, "While You're Here", was written by Dave Longstreth following

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock music, rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), Dave Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...

bassist Gerard Smith's death in 2011.Battan, Carrie
Listen to Dirty Projectors' Tribute to Late TV on the Radio Member Gerard Smith: "While You're Here"

. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.Longstreth, Dave
Tweet

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2012.

Reception

''About to Die'' received general acclaim from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 74, based on 5 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".Critic Reviews for About to Die

. Retrieved 5 December 2012.

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

's Adam Kivel commented that ''About to Die'' "offers a bite-sized take of the entirety of ''Swing Lo Magellan''", adding that it "doesn't outshine its older sibling, but it certainly acts as a logical and warm companion."

's Mike Powell called ''About to Die'' a "refreshingly basic album" and "a cherry on a cupcake" for Dirty Projectors.

Track listing

References

External links

Domino Records' page on ''About to Die''
{{Authority control 2012 EPs Domino Recording Company EPs Dirty Projectors albums