''Universal Themes'' is the seventh studio album by American
indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation.
The genre has it ...
act
Sun Kil Moon, released on June 2, 2015 on
Caldo Verde Records
Caldo Verde Records is a San Francisco-based indie rock and folk record label founded by Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon frontman Mark Kozelek in 2005. The label primarily features releases by Kozelek and Sun Kil Moon, but has also releas ...
.
The album was preceded by the singles, "The Possum", "Garden of Lavender" and "Ali/Spinks 2", and features contributions from
Sonic Youth drummer and ''
Benji'' collaborator
Steve Shelley.
Noting the "spoken segments, garage-rock and pretty acoustic passages", Jon Dennis of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' described the overall sound of the album as "intimate and minimal".
Reception
Upon its release, ''Universal Themes'' received acclaim from music critics. 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 normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album currently holds an average score of 79, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Corbin Reiff of ''
The A.V. Club'' wrote that ''Universal Themes'' "lives up to the promise of its vague title", and while Kozelek "keeps the actual events described in the music as personal to himself as they ever been, the experiences and the feelings they evoke are relatable on a hundred different levels."
Noting its "increased rawness" in comparison to Sun Kil Moon's previous work, ''
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. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outl ...
''s Dan Caffrey called ''Universal Themes'' the band's most demanding album, whilst concluding that it "might be one of the most in-the-moment albums ever made".
Paul Simpson of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
noted that "like ''
Benji'', ''Universal Themes'' is a challenging listen, and some might view it as Kozelek's most indulgent album yet," but that Kozelek's "brilliant musicianship and guitar playing combined with his fascinating storytelling skills ensure that his music is as poignant and life-affirming as ever, and the album is yet another success in his remarkable catalog."
While stating that Kozelek's veering "between wry, pissed-off, and ruminative expression without ever really settling on any of those" means that the album "never reaches the same highs as ''Benji''", Jeremy Winograd of ''
Slant Magazine'' wrote that "it does allow the listener to become fully immersed inside Kozelek's head, which is an alternately terrifying and hilarious place to be."
In a mixed assessment, ''
Observer'' critic
Kitty Empire stated that ''Universal Themes'' "may test the patience of later adopters".
Mark Richardson of ''
Pitchfork'' stated that ''Universal Themes'' is "ultimately a spotty album from a guy who has released a lot of spotty albums."
Track listing
Personnel
*
Mark Kozelek – vocals, guitar, percussion, production, photography
*
Steve Shelley – drums
* Alex Schwartz – bass guitar
(3)
* Chris Connolly – keyboards
(8)
* Nathan Winter – recording
* Aaron Mullan – additional recording
* Jack Kertzman – additional recording
* Will Chason – recording,
mixing
* Brian Azer – design
Charts
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Sun Kil Moon albums
Caldo Verde Records albums