Double Negative

Low - Double Negative
Critic Score
Based on 26 reviews
2018 Ratings: #16 / 890
Year End Rank: #7
User Score
Based on 909 ratings
2018 Rank: #107
Liked by 88 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Record Collector

Not since Bon Iver’s aforementioned reinvention or even Radiohead’s Kid A have a relatively mainstream band made such an assured volte-face, wilfully pushing their audience away while they revisit, remake and remodel the tension that made them so very precious in the first place. Fierce and beautiful. Low are back.

100
musicOMH

Double Negative is an album that will endure for a long time. It’s a thrilling development that proves how Low continue to release music of extremely high standards, restlessly creative and never content to stand still.

100
The Guardian
This ranks alongside the likes of Anselm Kiefer and Cormac McCarthy as a document of contemporary social collapse, and as such is the most important, devastating album of the year.
90
Drowned in Sound
It is an astonishing album, cohesive but wide ranging, sometimes presenting Low as they were, more often seeing the trio forge on until guitars dissolve, words dissolve, flesh dissolves and everything becomes pure light.
90
Spectrum Culture

Considering the trying times we live in, it’s inspiring that Low have managed to cope by learning how to fully – and artfully – embrace their inner austerity and hopelessness.

90
God Is in the TV

Double Negative by Low is simultaneously like nothing they’ve ever done before, and exactly like everything they’ve ever done before.

90
Uncut

Double Negative is their biggest step forward to date, an album that scrambles their sound completely; it sounds nothing like Low and everything like Low. More than that, it captures what it means to be alive in 2018, when developments in technology create rather than alleviate suffering, when each day seems to present a fresh new hell, when it takes immense will power to maintain equilibrium and hope.

90
Clash
‘Double Negative’ is a quite stunning artistic statement, one which at first seems like it might just be admired rather than enjoyed. But, given time, the scale of Low’s achievement reveals itself. A dystopian masterpiece.
90
The Line of Best Fit
The album marks an extraordinary point in the trio’s career – an album rich in darkness and in texture, finding Low in experimental sublimity, further reminding us that their range has only gotten exceptionally larger and better over time.
90
Tiny Mix Tapes
What Double Negative seems to be doing is provoking the listener to actually feel the songs, not by way of the old associative emotions — the you’s and I’s, the easy reactions — but through the deconstruction of what’s habitual, returning music to what it actually is: this other form of communication.
90
PopMatters

Double Negative sees Low continue their tradition of producing highly emotional music and delivers their most powerful, direct, and moving work yet.

87
Pitchfork
The austere trio has profoundly warped their slowcore sound to create an ambitious, modern wonder of an album, an exploration of the song as an imperfect conduit of feeling.
80
The Skinny

Double Negative is a magnificent and courageous record, if you’re ready for it.

80
Q Magazine
This is the sound of Low finding extremity in a new, thrilling way.
80
FLOOD Magazine
The band sounds as good as ever here, and pleasures abound—whether they’re leaning into their mighty roar or savoring their vocal chemistry in passages of hushed murmurs.
80
Northern Transmissions
While this record isn’t that accessible, it proves over time to be really powerful to hear.
80
AllMusic

Double Negative is a brave and thoughtful collection of songs that lets Low's beating heart scream for its life against a world without compassion, and if it isn't much fun, in 2018 it's truly necessary.

80
Under the Radar

While a somewhat disorientating experience, this is Low's most challenging and interesting record for sometime.

80
The 405

With Double Negative, Low maintain all fronts of their fanbase. All the elements of the bands chilling atmospheres are here.

70
Crack Magazine

From the moment it begins, Double Negative sounds like being inside a violent storm, holding up a mirror to the turbulence of the world right now.

70
Loud and Quiet
As if galvanised by a world that’s once again collapsing, they’ve pushed their sound even closer to the edge of disintegration.
70
Exclaim!

Yes, Double Negative asks much of listeners, but what you get in return is positive to say the least.

67
A.V. Club
The result is fearless and impressive, but often lacking in the kind of inviting musicality that encourages repeat listening. It’s a headphones record that holds its audience at a distance: admirably fascinating, but rarely addictive.
60
Mojo
Some of the vocal processing, though pushed to the extreme, will be a little familiar to Bon Iver fans/sceptics. Persevere, though, and yet more classic Low songs emerge from the post-apocalyptic murk.
snarekickblues
100

such delicate music. my AOTY

hippocritic
98

400 ratings wooo. Seems like a good time to return to one of my favorite bands, maybe even my favorite: Low. This is the first time I'm reviewing one of their albums after the passing of Mimi Parker; let me just say: rest in peace. She has left behind quite the legacy, including this 2018 album, Double Negative. Her drumming functions as the glue holding these songs together, along with Alan's guitar. Take the highlight Always Trying To Work It Out, where the drums are mixed to sound something ... read more

SnowyFighter
73

This shit made me freak tf out at 3 in the morning

Low is the one band that I’ve always enjoyed, but never fully saw the hype for. The same case applies here, but I still had a good time overall with Double Negative. I listened to this record last night and the production is super cool, but it scared the shit out of me lol. Still I think that is the best part of the record. My favorite song is Dancing and Fire, which might be one of my favorite Low songs. I be lively subtle and ... read more

liminal_raptor
94

This is so beautiful, immense and mysterious, it hurts. I'm kind of baffled how can this be so underrated, in my opinion Double Negative is a masterclass of noise / industrial / glitch music.

Legendary slowcore band, Low has really leaned into noise on their last two albums, and they found absolute gems in the depth of that sound, and brough them up to the surface. I'm so sorry for Mimi - I can't help but wonder, what amazing pieces of art would they have made, if she'd still be with ... read more

87

Still a fascinating record after the past few years.

Thalassophoneus
90

It took some time for this album to grow on me, cause its aggressive distortions or booming drums make it uncanny in its otherwise minimalist production. But it's this kind of uncanny character that one ought to appreciate.

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Added on: June 12, 2018