Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar
Critic Score
Based on 28 reviews
2018 Ratings: #36 / 890
Year End Rank: #34
User Score
2018 Rank: #158
Liked by 82 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Observer

Cocoa Sugar bursts with the weird warmth of an ice burn, a sizzling stew of Tricky-covers-the-Fall garage rap.

100
The Skinny

Cocoa Sugar slaps sugary boy band choruses against tongue-twister rap, via surreal imagery borrowed from the Bible and a sprinkling of the kind of idioms your nan might use. It’s a potent mix, and their best album yet.

90
Drowned in Sound
Ultimately, Young Fathers continue to prove their worth as an outlier in UK art-pop. Their very specific melting pot of identities continue to be one of the most exciting things coming out of not only Scotland (which they very much are) but in the world, today, facing an increasingly divisive political sphere of which the band's music is in constant conversation with.
90
musicOMH

With this record Young Fathers have managed a perfect synthesis between what they are saying and how they choose to present that sonically. Yes, this is a highly political and experimental record, but it is also a brilliant pop album.

90
PopMatters

New album, Cocoa Sugar, is, without doubt, the bands most accessible to date but don't think for a moment that they have compromised their sound in pursuit of mainstream success. For every hook or vocal melody, there is a contrasting, experimental noise, as if the band are at pains to scuff up the sound if things become too comfortable. It's this juxtaposition that makes the album such a thrilling listen.

90
No Ripcord

Cocoa Sugar is an invigorating listen from beginning to end, and it's hard to imagine any other band making a musical work of art that's as visceral this year.

90
The Line of Best Fit

Although on initial listen, Cocoa Sugar appears a somewhat sparse and restrained affair, there is in fact little restraint to be found in the record’s emotional depth; and its ability to explore and convey a plethora of intangible human experiences.

90
Exclaim!

With Cocoa Sugar, Young Fathers are still pushing the envelope and thinking outside the box, but more importantly they are doing all of this within pop's limitations. This is a fluid expression of both jarring and accessible concepts that hit you square in the jaw.

85
Under the Radar
Somehow, Young Fathers have made their most accessible record yet but also their most introspective and necessary. It serves as further proof that they are one of the U.K.'s very best bands.
83
A.V. Club
Ultimately ... this is another dispatch from the post-genre space Young Fathers have claimed for their own, blasting out triumphant, sincere, and deeply humanistic sound collages that beg for you to join them there.
80
Mojo

Cocoa Sugar is an audacious high-wire act which captures them at a potent peak.

80
Evening Standard
Their latest album marks a bold change in direction, the band creating their most cohesive, accessible sound to date.
80
God Is in the TV

As always, it’s a physical experience; visceral grunts, shrieks, exclamations, flailing to the heavens; naked emotion as well as walloping catharsis encompass Cocoa Sugar.

80
The Independent

It all adds up to a fascinating, multifaceted work which strives to find its own unique space in a crowded musical world, forever mindful of its limitations, but soldiering on with good humour.

80
Northern Transmissions
Oscillating between anger, fear, joy, sadness and disgust – the five primary emotional reactions – the band articulates its own collective response to personal dilemmas and wider social issues across 12 infectious tracks.
80
Spectrum Culture

Despite holding the hookiest moments the trio has ever crafted, Cocoa Sugar is also their strangest album yet, pulling at their own sound like Play-Doh and alternating between giggling and sobbing with unsettling ease.

80
Dork

The perfect meeting point between 808s-era-Kanye production value and humble, anglo-centric vocals, they deliver every track with an urgency that forces you to listen. The result? ‘Cocoa Sugar’ is a highly intoxicating blend.

80
Q Magazine

Cocoa Sugar finds Young Fathers at a fascinating juncture: opening up, moving forward, but still existing in a sonic hall-of-mirrors world of their own.

80
Uncut
They demonstrate a unique approach, building unsteady sonic sculptures from bizarre beatboxing and sped-up samples and bringing them to life with rapturous soul testifying.
80
The Guardian
The end result is fascinating and forbidding in equal measure, and there’s clearly an argument that it’s also very timely.
80
Clash
‘Cocoa Sugar’ is a record that merits mass appeal recognition, a timely offering educing the moral panic fever reigning over our everyday existence.
80
DIY

Young Fathers haven’t done what was expected of them on ‘Cocoa Sugar’ but in dodging expectations once again, they continue to triumph.

80
NME
‘Cocoa Sugar’ isn’t a filtered version of what came before. Instead, it cements their status as riled-up oddballs determined to reinvent the wheel.
80
AllMusic

Cocoa Sugar mystifies before it gratifies, but it reflects a modern global chaos as much as it does a personal one.

75
The 405

Every song on Cocoa Sugar has more layers than most average rap and R&B releases put together.

73
Pitchfork

The latest from the experimental rap trio is chaotic but sleek, a streamlined presentation of the singular style Young Fathers have crafted.

70
Loud and Quiet
Labels aside, Young Fathers are making intelligent, politically-driven pop which sounds beautiful, and that should be cherished.
60
The Needle Drop

Cocoa Sugar is one of Young Fathers' milder releases.

BradTasteMusic
NR

Fantastic. Took time to get used to the sound but it really grew on me. It is an album that feels like it transports you to another world. Any album with that kind of power is fantastic in my eyes

KIDWITHGUNs
90

Classic Fantano

Looking over fantastic albums

Only to slap it in the face with a 6

Host
88

they just be in the studio crafting new genres and shi, nothing too complicated

Eco02
89

this album is very interesting and well done but im also shaking soo

RealZzzz
80

Fuckin love this album cover lol. Guessing this is soul, I am really not familiar with the genre; but the fact it can be THIS experimental with its sounds and atmosphere is impressive af. Each song has some wacky shit to offer, I love the theme, flow and actual soundfonts used in the album, it weirdly fits the album cover, I think the blues of the colour palette and backdrop colour do the mood of the album justice. PRetty brilliant and catchy stuff, I really enjoyed this!

lumbodumbo
78

it’s clicking
the minimal production just works so well with their celebratory sound

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Track List

1See How
2:01
85
2Fee Fi
2:41
81
3In My View
3:15
92
4Turn
3:36
82
5Lord
3:37
84
6Tremolo
3:08
79
7Wow
4:00
83
8Border Girl
4:01
81
9Holy Ghost
2:32
82
10Wire
1:40
76
11Toy
3:13
89
12Picking You
3:04
86
Total Length: 36 minutes
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Added on: January 17, 2018