Music to Listen To...

Despite being longer than any of the band's studio albums, Music to Listen To… is being marketed as an EP,[1] though other sources have referred to it as an album.[2][3] The release comes shortly after an interview with vocalist Oli Sykes in which he discussed plans for more experimental releases, stating "We're not going to do an album again, maybe ever."[2] It was left unannounced until the day of its release, with the band posting "new record out now" on their social media.[4]

Music to Listen To… signalled a continuation of the more collaborative direction explored on Amo, the latter of which included features from Grimes and Dani Filth. The group are joined by pop singer Halsey on the song "¿", and would later go on to collaborate with her again on her own song "Experiment on Me", which was produced by Sykes and Fish. Other featured artists include previous touring mates Yonaka and Lotus Eater, as well as indie pop outfit Happyalone. and hip hop artist Bexey.[5][6]

Describing the process behind the release, Sykes said his first idea was to make "a bit of a study album, or something long, using bits and bobs from what we've got from Amo or demos and stuff like that. When we got together it turned into this whole different thing, and we just rolled with it."[7]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
KillYourStereo	50/100[8]
NME	[6]
Sputnikmusic	[10]

Music to Listen To… received polarised reviews from critics. Some praised its experimentation, whilst others were less keen on the stylistic pivot and criticised its length.

In a four-star review for NME, Ali Shutler called the release a "bold experiment" and described it as an "intense, occasionally confusing listen that definitely won't be for everyone, but […] never feels like hard work".[6] A less positive staff review from Sputnikmusic called the album "devoid of compositional structure, narrative and flow" and summarised it as a "drunken joke the band may well regret".[10] AllMusic also criticised the release, stating that "as the tracks bleed one into the next, there isn't much here to grasp onto, outside of big moments that suddenly swell up and devour listeners".[9]

Notes

• "Like Seeing Spiders Running Riot on Your Lover's Grave" is stylised in all lowercase.
• "Tapes" is stylised as "±ªþ³§".[11]

Bring Me the Horizon

• Oliver Sykes – lead vocals, production
• Jordan Fish – programming, keyboards, backing vocals, production, engineering, percussion
• Lee Malia – guitars
• Matt Kean – bass
• Matt Nicholls – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Halsey – guest vocals on track 4
• Bexey – guest vocals on track 5
• Lotus Eater – guest performance on track 5
• Happyalone. – guest vocals on track 6
• Toriel – guest vocals on track 7
• Theresa Jarvis of Yonaka – guest vocals on track 8