A Crow Looked at Me

A Crow Looked at Me
Studio album by Mount Eerie
Released March 24, 2017
Recorded August 31, 2016 – December 6, 2016
Genre
Length 41:30
Label P.W. Elverum & Sun
Producer Phil Elverum
Mount Eerie chronology
Sauna
(2015)		 A Crow Looked at Me
(2017)		 Now Only
(2018)
Singles from A Crow Looked at Me
  1. "Real Death"
    Released: January 18, 2017
  2. "Ravens"
    Released: February 15, 2017

A Crow Looked at Me is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, the solo project of American musician Phil Elverum. The album is a concept album about the death of Elverum's wife, the cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée.[1] The album was released on March 24, 2017.

Background

The album's release comes in wake of the passing of Elverum's wife, Geneviève Castrée, on July 9, 2016.[2] On January 5, 2017, Elverum announced that he will "re-enter the world," go on tour, and release a new album.[3] The next day, Elverum played his first concert since September 2014 at a record store in Anacortes, Washington. Phil Elverum, while choosing to perform, also asked fans to stay away as the response was "overwhelming" and the store could only hold 50 people.[4] The first single from A Crow Looked at Me, "Real Death", was released on P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.'s SoundCloud page on January 18, 2017, to widespread acclaim, netting the "Best New Track" distinction from Pitchfork.[5] Paste wrote that in "Real Death", "[t]he music gives Elverum all the room he needs to not so much sing, but document."[6] The second single, "Ravens", was released on February 15, 2017, alongside a music video uploaded to Mount Eerie's official YouTube account, again earning the "Best New Track" distinction from Pitchfork, writing that "Elverum makes no attempts to find metaphor or meaning; when he sees two ravens flying overhead, he knows it's an omen, but he can't say what for."[7]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.8/10[8]
Metacritic93/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The A.V. ClubA−[11]
Consequence of SoundA−[12]
Exclaim!9/10[13]
Mojo[14]
Paste9.2/10[15]
Pitchfork9.0/10[16]
PopMatters10/10[17]
Uncut9/10[18]
ViceA[19]

A Crow Looked at Me received universal acclaim upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 93, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 18 reviews.[9] It focuses on death, rather than being layered and musical like Mount Eerie's previous work.[16][20]

Accolades

Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2017
10
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2017
14
Exclaim! Top 10 Folk and Country Albums of 2017
2

Track listing

All tracks written by Phil Elverum.

No.TitleLength
1."Real Death"2:27
2."Seaweed"3:01
3."Ravens"6:39
4."Forest Fire"4:15
5."Swims"4:07
6."My Chasm"2:22
7."When I Take Out the Garbage at Night"2:25
8."Emptiness pt. 2"3:28
9."Toothbrush/Trash"3:52
10."Soria Moria"6:33
11."Crow"2:21
Total length:41:30

Personnel

  • Phil Elverum - songwriting, vocals, production, mixing, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, piano, drum machine, accordion, synthesizer

References

  1. ↑ Gotrich, Lars. "Stream Mount Eerie's Heartbreaking New Album, 'A Crow Looked At Me'". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  2. ↑ Yoo, Noah (July 10, 2016). "Geneviève Elverum Has Died". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  3. ↑ Yoo, Noah (January 5, 2017). "Phil Elverum: "Please Don't Come" to Tomorrow's Mount Eerie Show". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  4. ↑ Strauss, Matthew (December 30, 2016). "Mount Eerie Performing New Music at First Show in 2 Years". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ Currin, Grayson (January 25, 2017). ""Real Death" by Mount Eerie Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  6. ↑ McNett, Jared (January 25, 2017). "Mount Eerie Shares Deeply Personal "Real Death," Announces New Album A Crow Looked At Me". Paste. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  7. ↑ Sodomsky, Sam (February 15, 2017). ""Ravens" by Mount Eerie Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked at Me". anydecentmusic.com. AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Reviews and Tracks for A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie". Metacritic. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ Phares, Heather. "A Crow Looked at Me – Mount Eerie". AllMusic. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  11. ↑ Corcoran, Nina (March 24, 2017). "Mount Eerie confronts death on its saddest album to date". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ Sackllah, David (March 24, 2017). "Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  13. ↑ Fenech, Zach (March 24, 2017). "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked at Me". Exclaim!. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  14. ↑ Male, Andrew (July 2017). "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked at Me". Mojo (284): 91.
  15. ↑ Fink, Matt (March 24, 2017). "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked At Me Review". Paste. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  16. 1 2 Powell, Mike (March 24, 2017). "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked At Me". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  17. ↑ Britt, Thomas (March 20, 2017). "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked at Me". PopMatters. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  18. ↑ Sodomsky, Sam (May 2017). "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked at Me". Uncut (240): 35.
  19. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 27, 2018). "Robert Christgau on Mount Eerie's 'A Crow Looked at Me,' a Brutal Listen". Vice. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Mount Eerie: A Crow Looked At Me". Sputnik Music. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  21. ↑ Stereogum Staff (December 5, 2017). "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Stereogum. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  22. ↑ Pitchfork (December 12, 2017). "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  23. ↑ Exclaim! (December 4, 2017). "Top 10 Folk and Country Albums of 2017". Retrieved Jan 10, 2018.
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