Never Were The Way She Was

Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - Never Were The Way She Was
Critic Score
Based on 18 reviews
2015 Ratings: #197 / 1021
User Score
Based on 162 ratings
2015 Rank: #127
Liked by 10 people
April 28, 2015 / Release Date
LP / Format
Constellation / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

80
The Needle Drop
Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld team up for an experimental, enjoyable collection of tracks, featuring skilled combinations sax and violin.
80
Exclaim!

Recorded live with no overdubs or loops, Never were the way she was is a perfect blend of Neufeld's violin virtuosity and Stetson's outside-the-box approach to saxophone and clarinet, their styles complementing yet pushing each other to new heights.

80
The Skinny
Neufeld’s violin offers an elegant counterpoint to the more jagged, aggressive baritones of Stetson’s saxophone. It’s an enigmatic and often foreboding record.
80
AllMusic
Both artists bring the personas displayed on their own recordings, but to new ends here. These eight pieces feel very songlike, despite the spontaneity of their setting.
80
Drowned in Sound
This may be not a dramatic leap forward ... but for those who’ve acquired a taste for the extreme physicality of his music, this is another fine record, whose developments are many, if subtle.
77
Pitchfork

Never were the way she was has a bracing air, an implicit reminder of the things that can be done with two instruments and two hands.

75
Consequence of Sound
Much like a masterfully rendered novella, Stetson and Neufeld leave you wanting more, wishing you could inhabit the world they carve out, feel its majestic highs and tragic depths.
70
SPIN
It’s a cohesive meditation on the legacy of avant-garde greats like Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt and peers such as Tim Hecker — and, of course, an essential part of Stetson and Neufeld’s own impressive canons.
70
NME
The two finest soloists from Montreal label Constellation combine here for something far greater than the sum of its parts.
70
Slant Magazine

With Neufeld's wild strings adding to the improvisational feel, Never Were the Way She Was combines the fluidity of jazz with the emotive expansiveness of avant-garde tone pieces, the lower registers of the sax carving out an elaborate underworld of throaty hoots and bellows to complement the violin's screeching heights.

70
musicOMH

Never Were The Way She Was is most definitely a joint effort with neither one apparently taking the lead, instead they combine to create an album filled with claustrophobic but occasionally joyous soundscapes.

Plats
94

Colin Stetson and Arcade Fire violinist Sarah Neufeld work to create a beautiful and experimental example of minimalism in modern classical music. It feels like the soundtrack to a really lonely woods area that you're walking around in, with these polished compositions being a key factor.

Fav Tracks: The Rest of Us, In the Vespers, With the Dark Hug of Time, Never Were the Way She Was, The Sun Roars Into View, Won't Be a Thing to Become

Least Fav Track: Flight

Score:
9.4
Outstanding

Felix_96
70

7/10

good

Fav tracks: The Sun Roars Into View, Won't Be a Thing to Become, In the Vespers, And Still They Move, The Rest of Us

BuffaloStaple
86

One of the most overlooked albums of the decade for sure, a really great collaborative effort here. It's an incredibly atmospheric album that i've consistently returned to, probably my favourite thing either of these two artists have ever done.

Felix_96
70

7/10

good

Fav tracks: The Sun Roars Into View, Won't Be a Thing to Become, In the Vespers, And Still They Move, The Rest of Us

spikelincoln
86

Colin Stetson is in a league of his own in the ability he has to create haunting, ethereal dronescapes. This album is no different and it’s only enhanced with the company of Sarah Neufeld adding a delicate layer to Stetson’s pulsating backbone.

Jlepileo03
84

A beautiful collaboration between two instrumental powerhouses.

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Added on: February 18, 2015