''Bitter Tea'' is the fifth full-length album by
the Fiery Furnaces
The Fiery Furnaces are an American indie rock band, formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York.. - ''In 2000 they moved Brooklyn... and began playing as the Fiery Furnaces late in the year''. - Allmusic The band's primary members are Matthew and El ...
, released on April 18, 2006, via
Fat Possum
In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food.
The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple ester ...
in the U.S and
Rough Trade
Rough Trade may refer to:
*Rough Trade (shops), London record stores
*Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores
*Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label
*Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band
* "Rough Trade" (''Am ...
in the UK. After it leaked onto the internet on February 22, the band immediately started selling the CD on tour.
The band envisioned ''Bitter Tea'' as a loose companion piece to their previous album, ''
Rehearsing My Choir'', released just five months prior.
Critical response
''Bitter Tea'' received generally positive reviews that were less polarized than their previous two proper albums, ''
Blueberry Boat
''Blueberry Boat'' is the second album by American indie rock band The Fiery Furnaces. It was released on July 13, 2004, just over ten months following their debut album, '' Gallowsbird's Bark''. ''Blueberry Boat'' polarized music critics due to ...
'' and ''
Rehearsing My Choir''. At ''
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 ...
'', Mark Richardson praised the "sweet, undeniable melody" of "Teach Me Sweetheart" and the poppy likeability of "Benton Harbor Blues."
Heather Phares at
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
criticized the album for being too long and "oddly diluted," but admitted that "even if all the songs aren't uniformly great, there's something interesting about each of them."
Track listing
# "In My Little Thatched Hut" – 4:13
# "I'm in No Mood" – 3:39
# "Black-Hearted Boy" – 5:11
# "Bitter Tea" – 5:45
# "Teach Me Sweetheart" – 5:56
# "I'm Waiting to Know You" – 4:01
# "The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry" – 5:44
# "Oh Sweet Woods" – 5:25
# "Borneo" – 4:17
# "Police Sweater Blood Vow" – 2:53
# "Nevers" – 5:02
# "Benton Harbor Blues" – 7:23
# "Whistle Rhapsody" – 4:20
# "Nevers (Reprise)" (unlisted) – 5:14
# "Benton Harbor Blues (Reprise)" (unlisted) – 3:13
Backmasking
The album contains several instances of
backmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. It is a deliberate process, whereas a message found through phonetic reversal may be unintentional.
Artists have used ...
throughout.
References
2006 albums
The Fiery Furnaces albums
Rough Trade Records albums
Fat Possum Records albums
{{2000s-indie-rock-album-stub