Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
Critic Score
Based on 30 reviews
2015 Ratings: #107 / 1021
Year End Rank: #27
User Score
Based on 718 ratings
2015 Rank: #146
Liked by 49 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
Uncut

Multi-Love finds Unknown Mortal Orchestra surging ahead of their fellow psych-pop voyagers, abandoning the hazy introversion of previous albums for frisky, rainbow-coloured optimism.

90
The Line of Best Fit

The fact that Multi-Love presents a huge creative leap forward helps to deal with the shock of the new.

90
NME
Here, Nielson strides away from the woozy Beefheart-indebted psychedelia of ‘II’ and its self-titled 2011 predecessor, and vividly expands every single aspect of the UMO sound.
86
Paste

Unknown Mortal Orchestra can now sit back and smile at the fact they’ve written an album which could just as easily be this year’s Channel Orange as it could be its Lonerism. But then again, what makes it even better is how it’s still so distinctively UMO’s that it really can only be 2015’s Multi-Love.

85
The 405

Multi-Love is chock full of weighty grooves and skilful funk all cast under the same purple-orange lava lamp palette as the album's cover.

85
Under the Radar
Ruben Nielson returns with another anachronistic beauty, this one hitting the eardrums like a dusty Numero Group find from a home studio in the '70s U.S. Rust Belt, fashioned meticulously, mad-scientist style, with an army of synthesizers patched together and deployed deep in the off-hours.
83
Pretty Much Amazing

Immediately, Multi-Love introduces its polyamorous priorities in multiple senses, equally emphasizing real-life interpersonal relationships as Nielson's many-tendriled affection for multi-instrumentation and electronic layering.

83
Consequence of Sound
By deconstructing traditional geometries of desire, they’ve made their most fully realized album yet.
80
No Ripcord
Though Nielson’s penchant for psychpop and might be the defining feature of the band, Nielson’s LSD-inspired musings burrow themselves a comfortable niche of their own throughout the album.
80
SPIN
While his latest album is obviously rooted in Nielson’s present, it still brims with the same introspective nostalgia that comes with dusting off those old memories, and old records.
80
DIY
Yes, he’s going gung-ho with studio wizardry, trying techniques he’s previously avoided. But with every move, he’s trying to take convention into outer space.
80
Exclaim!

2015 is definitely shaping up to be the year of the groove in rock music, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra's most recent effort, Multi-Love, is helping head up the charge.

80
FasterLouder

We have arrived at a notable highpoint for both Nielson and the rest of the Orchestra. Multi-Love marks their best LP yet.

80
Loud and Quiet
‘Multi-Love’ shuns themes of misery and isolation in favour of the bittersweet nature of togetherness, while embracing the rich strain of funk and R&B that has always simmered beneath UMO’s work.
80
The Guardian
The songs nod to the 1960s (Like Acid Rain), 70s (The World Is Crowded) and 80s (Can’t Keep Checking My Phone), but always feel fresh – a giddy, psychedelic sound almost as unique as the subject matter.
80
musicOMH
Whilst a number of these tracks draw on sonic elements from the past, the writing and production retains an individuality and distinction.
80
The Needle Drop
Unknown Mortal Orchestra comes through with their most eerie, catchy, soulful, and idiosyncratic record yet.
71
Pitchfork
This is Nielson's most accomplished album, though it's not his most direct, or brash, or explosive.
70
Drowned in Sound

What Multi-Love lacks in immediacy it mostly makes up for in aesthetic.

70
Rolling Stone

Just as in his personal life, Multi-Love sees Nielson coloring outside the lines for a vibrant vision of connection.

70
AllMusic

Multi-Love is still an impressive stretch that shows Neilson successfully moving away from the sound that made him strangely popular without losing much of the adventurous spirit that informed it.

60
Clash
'Multi-Love' undoubtedly reveals Unknown Mortal Orchestra's willingness to reinvent and innovate, yet it's still beset by some of the difficulties that have featured in their previous work.
60
PopMatters
A group with this much creative drive is bound to have some missteps, and if this is a misstep for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, then there’s nothing wrong with that.
LetalShertly
79

Man, they really decided to change up their style a lot throughout their previous albums. I like this a lot more than their slow, lackluster and mellow songs. It has nice jams on it that don't disappoint me at all really, just some aren't really too different from each other. Overall enjoyable psychedelic pop/funk songs that leave you very happy after listening to them.

MinatoArisato
75

Smooth and mesmerizing, Multi-Love is a pleasant surprise which continues to impress me with every listen.

Best Track: Stage or Screen
Worst Track: The World Is Crowded

100

Amazing album unique rock music mix R&b soul Psychedelic soul Fresh awesome again buy hot summer

92

One of the most ear grabbing and engaging lo-fi funk pop ever. Crescendos into one of my all time favorite albums.

indie_ivy_backu
86

funky lo-fi psych pop bangers. a great way to calm down after listening to the Lingua Ignota album

93

Multi-Love è l'esempio lampante di come il detto "beato fra le donne" sia vero finché la situa non diventa TROPPO seria... Ruban Nielson, la mano principale dietro gli Unknown Mortal Orchestra, e la sua estrosa famiglia ci raccontano delle avventure vissute da Ruban, sua moglie e una donna che per un periodo si è stabilita con la coppia, dando così il via a un'intensa relazione a 3. L'intero album fa da diario della storia, partendo dalla curiosità e ... read more

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Added on: February 5, 2015