''Observator'' is the sixth studio album by
The Raveonettes
The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals. Their music is characterized by close two-part vocal harmonies inspired by The Everly Bro ...
, and was released on 11 September 2012.
Background
Singer Sune Rose Wagner traveled to
Venice Beach
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed b ...
to gather inspiration for a new album. He ended up going on three-day drug and alcohol
bender due to
depression he was suffering because of
back injury
Back injuries result from damage, wear, or trauma to the bones, muscles, or other tissues of the back. Common back injuries include sprains and strains, herniated discs, and fractured vertebrae. The lumbar spine is often the site of back pain. ...
. Songs on the album are inspired by observations of the people he met during this time.
The album was recorded in two to three weeks at
Sunset Sound Recorders
Sunset Sound Recorders is a recording studio in Hollywood, California, United States located at 6650 Sunset Boulevard.
Background
The Sunset Sound Recorders complex was created by Walt Disney's Director of Recording, Tutti Camarata, from a coll ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
because of Wagner's desire to record where
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...
"did all their best stuff"
and "environment surrounded by all those ghosts of genius".
Reception
The album received generally positive reviews upon its release. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on 17 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews".
Track listing
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2012 albums
The Raveonettes albums
Vice Records albums
Albums produced by Richard Gottehrer
Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders