Caribou - Suddenly
Critic Score
Based on 33 reviews
2020 Ratings: #43 / 871
Year End Rank: #35
User Score
2020 Rank: #198
Liked by 93 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Guardian

Dan Snaith’s project returns after five years away to confront grief and family, beautifully warping songs that are drenched in melody.

100
The Arts Desk

From so many distinct elements, to create something so coherent and so individual is quite some achievement. Dan Snaith's unique craft has been well honed.

90
musicOMH

Suddenly finds Snaith in his element, writing beautifully endearing tunes and setting them to multi-layered production in a way only he can, and the results are spectacular.

90
Louder Than War

With Our Love, Caribou set a high bar for his next album. Thankfully Suddenly is a release that gleefully jumps over that bar, managing to deliver more of what fans have come to expect while also allowing Snaith to move in new directions.

90
Slant Magazine

What makes the album so spectacular, though, is Snaith’s voice.

90
Exclaim!

Suddenly is a fresh perspective shift that encourages listeners to examine the bigger forces at play that act as a catalyst for change.

90
The Sydney Morning Herald

He remains one of the best in the game, and his seventh record puts his diverse range on display, inviting both quiet contemplation and life-affirming celebration.

85
The Line of Best Fit

While Suddenly’s highlight tracks buzz with upbeat glamour, Snaith is smart enough to tone a portion of the LP with their contrasts.

85
Paste

Coupled with some of the loosest, most pop-minded production of Snaith’s career, Suddenly becomes a glimmer of optimism, immaculate music for communal grief and celebration. In that, it’s the most vital album of his career.

82
Pitchfork

Dan Snaith’s latest is as sly and layered as ever, but he finds ways to be more direct with his songwriting. There are no bum notes, no wasted motions, no corners of the audio spectrum left untouched.

81
GIGsoup

The excellent seventh studio album from Canadian Dan Snaith proves once more that he is operating at a level unlike most. Caribou's latest is perhaps his finest, and most danceable, in many years.

80
Spill Magazine

Suddenly is a great album, full of great songs and excellent musicianship.

80
Q Magazine

Dazzling in both scope and detail, Suddenly unscrolls like a mysterious tapestry.

80
Northern Transmissions

Delightfully nuanced with an innovative sonic make-up and very real human heart; ‘Suddenly’ offers itself up as the safe place we all crave when things get a little too much to bear.

80
The Independent

As beautiful as it is exciting, Suddenly is an uplifting album that embraces the change and shifting perspectives that life throws our way.

80
Record Collector

Suddenly is at its best when blending head, heart and feet to make another smart party album – among Caribou’s best yet.

80
God Is in the TV

Suddenly is a dense, complex piece of work that’s already shifted shape in the few days I’ve spent with it.

80
Crack Magazine

A record where Snaith has laid himself bare. The result is his richest, strangest album yet.

80
NOW Magazine

Across Suddenly, Snaith surrenders to the current. If you do, too, you’ll find a rich and rewarding listening experience.

80
Mojo

Suddenly shuttles between grown-up pop and sample-driven dancefloor tunes full of his trademark unpredictable turns.

80
Uncut

If anyone is still clinging stubbornly to their belief that electronic dance-pop lacks soul, these 12 luminous and inventive songs of a universally connective bent will surely haul them over the line.

80
Loud and Quiet

An album that’s as complex and compelling as anything he’s ever made and while it doesn’t provide the instant gratification of its predecessors, Suddenly still has that intangible quality that’s characterised every Caribou album to date.

80
Rolling Stone

Dan Snaith packs a triple-LP worth of twisted disco, sample-drunk collage, and psychedelic warmth into a 45-minute thrill ride.

80
The Skinny

On Caribou's seventh album, Dan Snaith finds his voice and brings his experimental side to the fore without sacrificing his perfectly lush melodies.

80
DIY

‘Suddenly’ is a treat and continues Caribou's knack of releasing albums that are both accessible and explorative.

80
No Ripcord

Suddenly isn't his strongest work—and at times it indirectly anthologies his entire oeuvre—but it does solidify his place as a thinking person's electronic artist who injects meaning and empathy into his music above all else.

80
NME

The more experimental and unsettling elements will reward longtime stans, while recent converts will be just as thrilled with its party-starting exuberance.

80
AllMusic

The album continues developing the language that Caribou has been working on for years, branching out from the clubby spirit and melancholic reflection of recent albums for more lighthearted sonic atmospheres.

80
PopMatters

Suddenly is Caribou's most willfully experimental album to date, his soft, distinctive vocals flow through every track, binding the whole thing together.

75
Spectrum Culture

Snaith synthesizes numerous elements and styles into a cohesive whole without losing the individual flavors of the reference points that inform him.

75
Under the Radar

Suddenly is a project laced, in almost every aspect, with these themes of change, upheaval, and humanity's insatiable appetite for progression.

70
The Needle Drop

While Suddenly is all a bit faint in typical Caribou fashion, it's nevertheless a sweet and heartfelt helping of indietronica.

60
The Observer

It can feel a little lacking in direction – honed down from more than 900 home experiments, it’s eclectic almost to a fault, though there’s enough to treasure among its dreamy meanderings.

Doublez
75

I'm not a big fan of electronic music, but Suddenly arrives like a real ray of sunshine to brighten up my day, especially because Caribou arrives with a disconcerting ease to offer a pure, luminous and terribly efficient music, totally summing up the extent of his talent

Usually, an "easy access" music is not often a good sign, since its value starts again as quickly as it charmed you at the beginning, yet Caribou has achieved some quite strong things, offering at the same time a ... read more

WhatTheFunk
53

The heart of the wave.

With his seventh album, "Suddenly", hemmed in with distorted synths, less flashy and more tormented than ever, the Canadian producer Dan Snaith intends to echo a complicated era. To the point of worrying about his carbon footprint.

Sometimes, life catches you off guard. It tells you via Skype about the death of a relative who was doing so well. It's the election of a delusional political outsider that everyone swears he was going to lose. It gives birth to ... read more

Plats
87

"Suddenly" is a commendable effort with a sound I've been itching for. The writing and lyrics aren't anything amazing and there are a couple of times where the mixing is a bit off, but everything else is creatively executed. The sampling on here is excellent, the tracks are catchy and the overall album is pretty consistent.

Fav Tracks: Ravi, Home, You and I, Never Come Back, New Jade, Lime, Magpie

Least Fav Track: Sister

Score:
8.7
Exceptional

TheSoundOfMuzak
70

Nice indielectronica album with great production but that doesn't flow as an album as well as previous projects from Caribou. Some songs are especially EDM-ish in comparison to his previous albums (for example, Never Come Back) which makes this album a bit less Indie and more cringe, but in general the album is a pleasant experience and is in no way a loss of time.

Kaoru_Izzy
87

Probably CARIBOU’s best and most memorable project yet. While there’s still some more work to be done when it comes to general stickiness and musicality, there’s a lot of songs here that really stick out in his catalogue. Generally too, it just feels super fun and playful with a lot of peaceful yet groovy moments to boot.

Fav Track: New Jade
Other Favs: ive been in an electronic mood lately idk why
Least Fav: Lime

Artificial
80

Some beautiful instrumentation throughout the album, especially with the piano. I can see this growing on me.

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Track List

1Sister
2:11
68
2You and I
4:03
78
3Sunny's Time
2:49
71
4New Jade
3:37
74
5Home
2:36
68
6Lime
2:55
67
7Never Come Back
5:05
81
8Filtered Grand Piano
0:53
59
9Like I Loved You
4:05
72
10Magpie
3:55
69
11Ravi
4:29
72
12Cloud Song
6:50
69
Total Length: 43 minutes
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Added on: December 4, 2019