Phylactery Factory

Phylactery Factory is the second album by American singer-songwriter Casey Dienel, but the first under the White Hinterland name.

Phylactery Factory
Studio album by
White Hinterland
ReleasedMarch 2008
RecordedFebruary 2007
GenreIndie pop
Length48:57
LabelDead Oceans
ProducerAdam Selzer
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Les InrockuptiblesFavorable[1]
Pitchfork[2]
PopMatters[3]
AllMusic[4]

Album release

The album, written by Dienel and produced by Adam Selzer,[3] was released on March 4, 2008 from independent label Dead Oceans.

Reception

The album received predominantly positive reviews. At Pitchfork, the album received a 5.8 rating out of 10, one of its few mixed reviews, with Stephen M. Deusner writing: "Phylactery Factory is a more ambitious, more professional, and more complicated record" than Dienel's first record, "with dark jazz-pop flourishes and compositions heavy with words. It is, however, not quite as rewarding."[2] By contrast, leading French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles described the album as "the spirit of US songwriting in all its humble splendor"; like Deusner, Les InRocks critic Richard Robert described the project as "ambitious" but Robert found it "impeccably realized throughout the album, which, like Dienel's fluttering voice, breathes into every measure a fragrance of freshness rarely found in music with synthesizer."[1] At AllMusic, Stewart Mason gave the album four of five stars, calling the album "a varied, endlessly listenable album" in which "the four-piece band is supplemented by perfectly deployed horns, strings, vibes, and other instruments (including, on 'Hung on a Thin Thread,' what sounds like a musical saw), giving the album a musical depth that matches perfectly with thoughtful songs like the heartbreaking the-war-at-home narrative 'Hometown Hooray' and the jaundiced, romantic ruminations of 'Dreaming of the Plum Trees.'"[4]

Mason as well as Matthew Fiander reviewing at PopMatters noted the success of Phylactery Factory as a sophomore album for Dienel. Fiander wrote: "Phylactery Factory, and the move to White Hinterland, is a huge step forward for Casey Dienel. As a 20-year-old singer a couple of years ago, she showed promise with her first record. Here, by making the move to full band at the right time, she has fulfilled a good deal of that promise much earlier than anyone expected. This is a confident, well-executed, endlessly beautiful record."[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Casey Dienel.[4]

  1. "The Destruction of the Art Deco House" – 5:57
  2. "Dreaming of the Plum Trees" – 4:52
  3. "Calliope" – 4:50
  4. "Hometown Hooray" – 7:08
  5. "Lindberghs + Metal Birds" – 3:44
  6. "A Beast Washed Ashore" – 6:38
  7. "Napoleon At Waterloo" – 3:14
  8. "Hung On a Thin Thread" – 4:26
  9. "Vessels" – 5:00

References
  1. Robert, Richard (June 3, 2008). "Phylactery Factory". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Retrieved 2017-06-17. L’esprit du songwriting US dans toute son humble splendeur...ambitieux, mais impeccablement réalisé tout au long d’un disque qui, comme la voix papillonnante de Dienel, exhale à chaque mesure un parfum de fraîcheur rarement porté par les musiques de synthèse.
  2. Deusner, Stephen M. (March 25, 2008). "White Hinterland - Phylactery Factory". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  3. Fiander, Matthew (March 3, 2008). "White Hinterland: Phylactery Factory". PopMatters. Retrieved 2017-06-17.
  4. Mason, Stewart. "Phylactery Factory - White Hinterland | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
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