''Cry Sugar'' is the third studio album by

Hudson Mohawke Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A founding member of th ...

, the alias of Scottish musician Ross Birchard. It was released on 12 August 2022 on

Warp Records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

. It has received generally favorable critical reviews.

Background

''Cry Sugar'' is Birchard's first album of new material since his 2016 soundtrack for the video game ''

Watch Dogs 2 ''Watch Dogs 2'' is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the sequel to 2014's '' Watch Dogs'' and the second installment in the '' Watch Dogs'' series. It was released for the PlayStation 4 ...

'' and his first full-length solo release in the digital streaming era. In a press release, Birchard described the album as influenced by his move to Los Angeles, in which he observed its "American decadence" and compared it to the "apocalyptic film scores" of artists such as

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

and

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

samples feature on much of the album, a quality rooted in Birchard's admiration for the tradition of hip-hop producers including

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as '' ...

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned along ...

, and

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American musician and record producer. Alongside childhood friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in 1992, with whom he has produced numerous hit records for variou ...

the Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

contributed to the track "Redeem". The track "Stump" was inspired by

Max Richter Max Richter (; ; born 22 March 1966) is a German-born British composer and pianist. He works within postminimalist and contemporary classical styles. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the University of Edinbu ...

's "On the Nature of Daylight", heard in the soundtrack of '' Shutter Island'' (2010). The cover artwork by Willehad Eilers depicts a debauched scene featuring the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in a thong. A

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the single "Bicstan" was directed by

Patti Harrison Patti Harrison (born October 31, 1990) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her roles in comedy series such as '' Shrill'' (2019–2021) and ''I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson'' (2019–present), as well as the c ...

and Alan Resnick. Visuals for the "Megamix" and "Stump" releases were made by an artist named kingcon2k11.

Critical reception

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 weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''Cry Sugar'' received an average score of 79, based on 7 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Louis Torracinta of '' Clash'' suggested the album "may take the cake for

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

record of the year," adding that it "pulls from everywhere, all at once, swimming in the old and celebrating ecstatically the new." David Renshaw of ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' stated that Birchard's "love of the wildly high BPM club sound of

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

is blended with soulful gospel samples and epic movie-score landscapes to create a project that's irreverent, yet moving and hypnotic as well." Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' stated that "there's an edge-of-chaos tone to ''Cry Sugar'', an album on which almost every sound fizzes with distortion and the music occasionally sounds on the verge of collapse." Gaby Wood of ''

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

'' called the album Birchard's "definitive solo effort" which "sees him re-emerge not as a jack but a master of all trades, fusing soul, jazz,

happy hardcore Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or " hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s ...

and dance into vibrant, technicolor explosions of sound that succinctly capture the mood of our time in all its fitful glory and pain." Arielle Lana LeJarde of ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'' described ''Cry Sugar'' as a "62-minute-long hallucinogenic trip into our innermost emotions through frantically introspective, groove-coaxing tunes." "Lonely Days" was named one of ''Clash'''s top tracks of 2022.

Track listing

All tracks produced by

, except "Redeem", co-produced with

, and "Kpipe", co-produced with KÁRYYN. Notes * "Kpipe" is stylised in all caps. Sample credits * "Intentions" contains a sample of "I Pray", performed by Copyright, featuring

Imaani Imaani Saleem (born Melonie Crosdale on 1 January 1972) is a Jamaican-English singer, best known for representing the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham with the song "Where Are You". The song placed second in the ...

. * "Behold" contains a sample of "For Your Glory", performed by

Tasha Cobbs Natasha Tameika Cobbs Leonard (born July 7, 1981) is an American Black Gospel music, gospel musician and songwriter. She released the extended play ''Grace (Tasha Cobbs album), Grace'' in 2013 with the hit lead single "Break Every Chain". The E ...

. * "Redeem" contains a sample of "Redeemed", performed by Rev. Gerald Thompson. * "3 Sheets to the Wind" contains a sample of "Cry Sugar", performed by Dyson's Faces. * "Some Buzz" contains samples of "God Has Smiled On Me", performed by Rev. James Cleveland, and "I Think I Am In Love With You", performed by Wee.

Personnel

Credits adapted from official liner notes.

Musicians

* Ross Birchard – instruments , production , additional keys * Cid Rim – additional drums * Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi – strings , additional strings *

Kwes Kwesi Sey, professionally known as Kwes (; sometimes stylised as ''kwes'', ''kwes.'', ''Kwes.'' or '' =o'' ) is a British music producer, composer and artist from London, England. Kwes is also currently signed to Warp as a solo artist and rel ...

– piano * Rett Smith – guitar *

Johan Lenox Stephen Michael Feigenbaum, known professionally as Johan Lenox, is an American singer, composer and producer. His musical style combines elements of trap music, hip hop, pop and classical music. He began gaining attention for his production for hi ...

– string arrangement * Rag n Bone Broth Man – accordion * L. Ron Weasley – additional triangle * Jamaica Elrahar – vocals * Girth, Wind & Fire – percussion *

Mette Towley Mette Towley (born May 31, 1991), known professionally as METTE or Mette Narrative; is an American dancer, actress and singer. Early life and education Towley was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, and raised in Severn, Maryland, and Alexandria, Minn ...

– vocals * Clarence Coffee Jr – vocals * Dj JeffMillsShoes – scratches *

Tayla Parx Taylor Monét Parks, known as Tayla Parx, is an American singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and actress. A two-time Grammy nominee in the Album of the Year category, songs she has written and co-written have exceeded 16 billion streams on Spotify ...

– additional vocal FX , vocals * Eli Teplin – additional keys *

Tkay Maidza Takudzwa Victoria Rosa "Tkay" Maidza ( ; (born 17 December 1995) is a Zimbabwean-born Australian singer-songwriter and hip hop artist from Adelaide, South Australia. She has been nominated for and won many awards, and released two albums: '' Tk ...

– vocals *

– production , additional keys * Ayatollah Hogmanay – flexatone * KÁRYYN – production , vocals * Jonty Chapeau – guiro *

Sasha Alex Sloan Alexandra Artourovna Yatchenko (born March 11, 1995), known professionally as Sasha Alex Sloan (previously Sasha Sloan), is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''Only Child'', was released on October 16, 2020. It was met with critic ...

– vocals

Technical

* Ross Birchard – mixing * Austin Seltzer – mixing * Joker – mixing , mastering

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2022 albums Warp Records albums Hudson Mohawke albums Albums produced by Hudson Mohawke