Strangers

Marissa Nadler - Strangers
Critic Score
Based on 22 reviews
2016 Ratings: #262 / 1004
User Score
Based on 169 ratings
2016 Rank: #389
Liked by 7 people
May 20, 2016 / Release Date
LP / Format
Sacred Bones / Label
Sign In to rate and review

CRITIC REVIEWS

85
The 405

Strangers is an astounding combination of styles that takes music that is fairly usual, and turns it into something completely unique that strikes slowly but deeply, and irrevocably.

83
Consequence of Sound

Strangers is a culmination of years of work, moving past heartbreak and embracing maturity as growth rather than deterioration.

80
The Line of Best Fit

Strangers feels and sounds like a breakthrough album, a set of linked short stories set to music.

80
The Needle Drop

Singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler delivers her strongest set of songs yet on Strangers.

80
Mojo

Nadler has moved forward with a delicate yet steel-spined album of intimate soliloquies positing her as having taken up the baton which Mazzy Star have so often dropped.

80
Uncut

An album that seems to exist in some hinterland between dream, nightmare and reality.

80
Exclaim!

On Strangers, Nadler seems to have her perfected her craft, adding even more confidence to keep her winning streak alive and well.

80
SPIN

She’s the sort of artist that you couldn’t imagine ever making a bad album, and her newest is more proof.

77
Paste

Strangers is in many ways more dynamic than some of Nadler’s previous efforts, balancing the ethereal atmospherics with musical movement that adds a sense of foreboding, as if Nadler were singing calmly in the face of an onrushing apocalypse.

76
Pitchfork
As with any Nadler recording, this isn’t a stark turn from her usual vibe. The strength of this album lies in its subtle shifts, the way it casually unfolds without getting stuck.
70
American Songwriter

Despite the ominous lyrical content, Nadler creates music with warmth, grace and genuine humility.

70
Under the Radar

Nadler forges ahead on her seventh album, Strangers, with a mix that comfortably sits within her typical sullen-to-sinister range.

70
AllMusic
The nuanced musical and sonic sophistication on display here is an extension of the songwriter's signature sound, which has perhaps become more accessible. That said, these changes mark development, not compromise.
70
PopMatters

Her songs are musically sparse, and while often the first thing I think of is Grouper in comparison, Marissa Nadler’s songs are much more potent; patently bleaker; downright apocalyptic.

70
musicOMH

For the most part Strangers succeeds because of its strangeness, but when that strangeness slips, the album as a whole does too.

70
Drowned in Sound

Where Marissa Nadler missed the mark by stripping away both the darkness and the interesting musical experiments of its predecessor Little Hells, Strangers fills the space left by doom and gloom with heady sonic experimentation.

60
The Skinny

Atmosphere is everything in Nadler's oeuvre. The dynamics of her songs and their careful arrangements are sketched with subtlety: there are few 'big' moments. With that in mind, it's the beefier, fuller tunes that stand out.

60
Tiny Mix Tapes

The flesh on the 11 ghosts of Strangers is heavier than on lots of Nadler’s past work. And the sonic space mirrors the lyric meat; this is corporal, forward locomotion.

MAN
55

Good!

Phoenix
NR

It took me weeks to finish listening to this record lol

'Strangers' has a lot of gorgeous 'dream folk' cuts, however it struggles with lack of diversity in its material, which is the main reason why it took me so long to go through the entire tracklist.

FAVORITE TRACKS: KATIE I KNOW, SKYSCRAPER, STRANGERS, SHADOW SHOW DIANE, DISSOLVE.

amygoodall
76

good

iamcomplaining
82

A very sweet piece of music. Calming but emotional. I was worried that the same style would get exhausting, however, it kinda stuck the whole way and I didn't get tired.

Jlepileo03
82

A gorgeous and well-written set of tracks.

Phoenix
NR

It took me weeks to finish listening to this record lol

'Strangers' has a lot of gorgeous 'dream folk' cuts, however it struggles with lack of diversity in its material, which is the main reason why it took me so long to go through the entire tracklist.

FAVORITE TRACKS: KATIE I KNOW, SKYSCRAPER, STRANGERS, SHADOW SHOW DIANE, DISSOLVE.

Purchasing Strangers from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?


Added on: February 23, 2016