We Will Always Love You

The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
Critic Score
Based on 33 reviews
2020 Ratings: #129 / 871
User Score
2020 Rank: #105
Liked by 223 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Independent
On a 25-track album with remarkably little filler, Robbie Chater and Tony de Blasi have forged a mature, miasmic exploration of their concept of ‘forever voices’.
100
The Irish Times

Spanning 25 tracks, We Will Always Love You opens with heartfelt voice messages and closes with Morse code bleeps sent out by Nasa scientists to a star cluster in 1974. By drawing out the torture of longing for an absent loved one, Chater and Di Blasi masterfully convey the possibility that there’s more to life than we dare to think.

96
Sputnikmusic
When it seems like there's no reason to go on, when everything's broken, when you are hit harder than you can imagine by loss, listen to this - a practically perfect record.
90
Clash
It’s an album that’s somehow halfway between DJ mix and a greatest hits compilation, and arguably the best of The Avalanches’ trio of releases thus far.
90
Slant Magazine

Though not as technically jaw-dropping as their 2000 debut, Since I Left You, or its belated follow-up, 2016’s Wildflower, both of which are said to employ upward of 3,500 samples apiece, We Will Always Love You is undoubtedly the Avalanches’s most conceptual effort to date.

90
The Young Folks

They ditched their plunderphonics-only mindset, grabbed ahold of new artists as vocal guests, and still managed to make it a great addition to their discography, with as many, if not more important lessons to gain.

85
Under the Radar
The most impressive thing about the record is the way it simultaneously exists as a collection of pristine singles and a complete whole.
83
Consequence of Sound
The Avalanches have crafted an album that beckons the listener to see time as something pliable. It shows us a world in which outer space is within reach, in which radios crackle like fires and offer us similar venues for passing down our stories between generations.
81
Pitchfork
The Australian group’s ambitious third album overflows with ideas, samples, guests, and sheer stimuli. In their sparkling music, every sound feels like a treasured memory.
80
The Arts Desk
While the quality isn’t always consistent, the careful curation ensures everything hangs together with a satisfying sense of completion.
80
musicOMH

We Will Always Love You is an emotional rollercoaster, and a lovingly put-together tapestry that signals The Avalanches entering the 2020s as vibrant as ever.

80
Spectrum Culture

Though it’s messy, flawed, and in need of an editor in places, We Will Always Love You is a beautiful and heartbreaking album that was worth the comparatively short wait.

80
Record Collector
Having perfected euphoric ambience from sampling on their first two albums, the Aussie duo prove just as uplifting via a series of inspired collaborations.
80
The Observer
There’s much to discover here, making it an immersive and rewarding album to go back to again and again.
80
The Telegraph

With songs filled with lost voices, and lyrics hinting at interstellar distances, The Avalanches’ core idea is that these are ghost sounds, broadcast from Earth and travelling to infinity. Yet on such a dizzyingly mixed set of sonic non-sequiturs, meaning seems arbitrary, casting listeners adrift from one lovely moment to the next.

80
Evening Standard
Aware that these songs are unlikely to be heard at a gig or in a nightclub any time soon, the feel is more subdued
80
RIOT

We Will Always Love You is a story in its own right. The remarkable kind that you pick up before bed and you do not put down until daylight comes.

80
Mojo

This never feels thrown-together, which is some achievement. Instead, the album feels like one to spend ample amounts of time with as you travel into its far-flung corners as it reaches for the stars.

80
Uncut

The album is neither stuck in the past nor barreling recklessly towards the future, and, in this sense, it's a lavish genre-agnostic mixtape.

80
Rolling Stone

The Aussie sample-pop duo bring on Rivers Cuomo, Karen O, Blood Orange, Leon Bridges, and many others for a rich LP of poignant, chill-out soul that flows by like a seamless mixtape.

80
Exclaim!

It's a different kind of majesty from a band haunted by their monumental, defining debut, 2001's Since I Left You. By opening their sound to new collaborators and the wide expanse of the sky, the Avalanches have found a way to move forward, alone but together.

80
The Line of Best Fit
The Avalanches have made an album more meticulous than most musicians who start with sounds anew. Thankfully they have the grace and experience to take on new themes and voices, and stay light on their toes.
80
DIY

At a time where it is often painful to remember past freedoms, here we are instead treated to a hopeful look forward. It’s the sort of artistic escapism we could all use more of.

80
No Ripcord

We Will Always Love You is an impressive mediation on everything that matters, and of letting go of what doesn’t. Nevermind a normal band being able to create this; a normal band wouldn’t even attempt it.

80
NME
The production duo narrow the gap between releases on their third album in two decades. The meditative tone suggests they'll continue to go the distance.
80
AllMusic

Overall, the guest artists are more attuned here with Chater and Di Blasi, who were seemingly burdened much more by sample licensing than by commercial expectations. Pocket some tissue and hold tight.

77
Paste

The LP is woven with otherworldly, alien sounds, yet there is an undeniable coziness to the songs—thanks in part to the cozy crackle of vinyl samples and stirring vocals—that combats the coldness often associated with outer space.

70
The Forty-Five
Voice recordings are precious, particularly those of the dead. It’s easy to forget what somebody sounds like once they’re gone. The Avalanches weave past with present to articulate the emotional gravity of love, time, and space – and what better way to do so than through music, which might survive everything, even the stars.
67
Beats Per Minute

With some trimming, We Will Always Love You might have been a victory lap, but instead it feels like The Avalanches would have been better off taking another decade to fine-tune it.

60
Dork
From start to finish, the new album presents a new wave for The Avalanches, and we’re more than happy to go along for the ride.
60
PopMatters
The Avalanches as a collaborative pop project isn't a bad look, but the guests here embarrass themselves in too many ways, mostly through vague polemics.
50
Loud and Quiet

Supposedly inspired by the romance between scientists Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan, We Will Always Love You drifts aimlessly through vague love songs with equally vague titles, only occasionally bumping into a hit.

50
The Needle Drop

For as stylistically cohesive and seamlessly flowing as We Will Always Love You is, it's somehow a tale of two albums.

Chode
40

I’m guessing a lot of people are gonna love this and if you do, I don’t have a problem with that. Enjoy what you enjoy. However, as an Avalanches fan, I was incredibly disappointed by this album. I’ll try my best to explain my current thought process about this album.

Let me preface this review by saying that if you liked the singles, you’ll probably like the album. However, if you were iffy on this album’s singles like I was, then you will probably be just as on ... read more

elitimesfour
100

I went into this wanting to write a substantial review for this. I mean, it’d be my first avalanches album I’d followed the entire creation of, the first one I’d have the privilege of being able to review as soon as it drops, the first time I could say I was there for the drop of one of their projects. But as I went on throughout this project, I released…

…I had nothing to say. I was left speechless for the entire runtime. All 25 tracks, all 71 minutes. Just ... read more

MattsReviews
80

We Will Always Love You Avalanches. We Will Always Love Your Legacy.

The critically acclaimed electronic music group based in Australia is back again with their 3rd album, "We Will Always Love You". Known for their previous projects that I was personally fond of "Wildflower" and "Since I Left You", the band is coming back only 4 years later for a new album. Their style and creativity brought them to the top. Plunderphonics isn't a genre most are familiar of, but ... read more

RealZzzz
85

This was pretty neat, it defo isn’t no “since I left you” but it is a really nice chill album to vibe to, bash this on and have a good time, it’s great x

SleepinOshawott
100

I have never felt an album that’s longer than an hour feel so beautiful. It deserves its runtime, some of the best production of the 2020s thus far. It’s almost horrifying how this is supposedly their worst record. I mainly listened to this for the cover art as it’s genuinely so cool. This album is comforting, an experience like no other. The performances have genuine soul, like Pink Siifu’s charisma, Denzel Curry continuing his hot streak, Cola Boyy’s memorable ... read more

ikmmm
69

Man, even if I'm not a huge fan of this project, you just have to respect how The Avalanches' albums are always an EXPERIENCE. They are the purest example of artists valuing albums over singles, and I love it. Whether they're working with electronic samples or orchestral arrangements, they always manage to create a very specific atmosphere on each one of their LPs - with that being said though, "We Will Always Love You" has some seeeerious wasted potential.

I'm not even mad that they ... read more

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Added on: November 16, 2019