Saint Cloud
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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
On the American singer-songwriter’s fifth album, Saint Cloud, luscious melodies are undercut by a lingering unease, sentimentality by steeliness.
100
Aided by unfussy, clean but never sterile production by Brad Cook – and perhaps the sobriety she has recently embraced – the haze has lifted and her songwriting can really be seen.
95
It holds the best batch of Waxahatchee songs yet, with Crutchfield at her most candid, raw and clear-eyed. This is the work of someone who’s begun to write a bold new chapter in her life, and it’s special stuff.
91
She embraces the messiness of growing up and taking responsibility for one’s actions and composes the apex of everything she’s accomplished thus far. Saint Cloud offers us the best possible version of Crutchfield she could possibly give us.
90
The tumult and churn of Out in the Storm must now feel worth it: this stunningly pretty ode to recovery is Crutchfield’s finest work, and possibly her masterpiece.
90
Saint Cloud offers guidance, accepting that not even something we idolise and long for in society is perfect, in most cases it is messy, complicated and difficult, whilst still hinting that it may all be worth it.
90
Saint Cloud is a refreshing listen from an exceptional singer-songwriter that shatters the myth of hard-living artists and proves that great artists can make great art without a drink.
90
Saint Cloud, like Car Wheels, finds an artist operating at the top of her game, embracing, as Crutchfield put it, "the contradictions and the unknown" to produce a thrilling and inspirational work.
90
‘Saint Cloud’ is the rousing of a regenerated spirit that chronicles not just the journey but the revelations of love, life and death that comes with it. A very special album indeed.
90
‘Saint Cloud’ is the refreshed, reformed and matured Waxahatchee – and it’s glorious.
90
Saint Cloud is the sound of Katie Crutchfield at her most conscious, comfortable and controlled.
90
She’s as lucid as we’ve ever heard her, stripping down to her emotional core and daring us to make eye contact.
90
Saint Cloud marks Crutchfield’s evolution from gifted songwriter into masterful storyteller, standing shoulder to guitar-slung shoulder beside Lucinda Williams and Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton. It is the sound of the rainbow that follows the storm.
87
With a shift in tone and tempo, Katie Crutchfield creates a vivid modern classic of folk and Americana. It’s the sound of a cherished songwriter thawing out under the sun.
85
No hiding behind layers of fuzz or buzzy guitars, Crutchfield puts herself out on full display with great aplomb and loads of insight.
80
Adopting a free and easy Americana style marked by both twangy guitars and dreamy keys, the songs here are at once deeply intimate and broadly accessible, like selections from an alternative universe where modern mainstream country radio isn’t all pandering, homogenized slop.
80
An elemental voice for our weary souls, Saint Cloud marks a moment of reckoning for Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee.
80
It’s a pleasure to hear one of America’s finest modern songwriters working in her brand new element.
80
Saint Cloud documents a journey towards self-acceptance; one woman’s reckoning with her past and its impact on the people she loves.
80
While alternating between regretful slower tracks, midtempo drawls, and livelier, foot-tapping fare, the album never moves off dirt roads and adjacent orchards, and proves to be her most carefree-sounding effort to date.
80
Especially in these trying times, records like this one are crucial to remind us of the universality of the human experience: pain, love, loss, forgiveness, endings and – most importantly – beginnings.
80
On her latest album Saint Cloud, the 31-year-old songwriter trades in the indie-rock neurosis of her previous work for a mellower, twangy sound that nods towards her roots in Birmingham, Alabama. But her piercing observations have only grown sharper with time.
80
While her output as Waxahatchee has always been brave, this album possesses a new kind of strength.
80
It’s the sound of a woman at peace with herself, and Crutchfield’s newfound serenity makes for a wonderful listen.
80
It’s her most consistently engaging album, with a rustic charm delivered by her sharp songwriting and choice of backup band, which consists of a strong cohort of experienced country-rockers.
80
‘Saint Cloud’ feels like the validation of a decade of supremely beautiful songwriting and is the work of someone newly at peace with themselves and assured in the quality of their beautifully exquisite songs.
80
Even as Crutchfield pushes her voice in her most beguiling melodic hooks yet, her words explore ongoing restlessness. The sense of warmth and uplift is all in the music, rich with bright chords and hooks, pulling her forward even as she sings of feeling pulled back.
11mo
80
This utterly beautiful balm of a record feels less like a confessional, and more a vessel for warmth, serenity and worldly wisdom.
9mo
80
With Saint Cloud, Katie Crutchfield (as Waxahatchee), has twisted a thick braid of an album, each song a bundle of strands interweaving with the next.
9mo
80
Distinctly quieter than her previous work, the Americana-tinged reflections act as a huge step-change for Waxahatchee and the record is all the stronger for it.
8mo
70
This more elusive, rootsy style suits Crutchfield well. It allows space to capture a clearer eyed vision of a life she’s still trying to balance, sort out and work through …just like the rest of us.
70
The further you get, the sharper the writing becomes and the more introspective and unique the album feels.
60
This album has a bloodied, ambitious heart on its sleeve. It wants the world to hear it beating.
40
Saint Cloud is an underwhelming take on indie country.
A healing record for hard times. Every masterfully chosen word, hell, every lilting, breaking, drawling syllable that escapes from Katie's lips is pure poetry. When the pandemic is over and you get to hug your friends again, it's going to feel like listening to this record.
While it seems that she knew how to chase away the demons around her, Saint Cloud resembles her victory lap, both musically and personally. Waxahatchee's discography was already well worth the detour if you're a fervent fan of 90s music sprinkled with a layer and aesthetic of traditional American music, but in addition to having offered an effort of a much higher level Saint Cloud is her most poignant album, without the slightest hesitation.
If Saint Cloud is synonymous with renewal for Katie ... read more
If Saint Cloud is synonymous with renewal for Katie ... read more
I've become more and more interested in Americana, folk, and especially the female singer-songwriter over the last few years. The vast majority of times an album that incorporates many if not all of these elements is sure to be a pleasing affair from my perspective and a solid win.
This album by Katie Crutchfield, otherwise known as Waxahatchee, does well in the pleasantness factor but doesn't quite achieve the win from my perspective.
One issue that I find with the album is a relative lack ... read more
This album by Katie Crutchfield, otherwise known as Waxahatchee, does well in the pleasantness factor but doesn't quite achieve the win from my perspective.
One issue that I find with the album is a relative lack ... read more
Katie Crutchfield releases a beautiful album with some of her most potent lyrics on the complicated relationship between love and loss. Each Waxahatchee record explores a slightly different melodic space. Where earlier records focused on lo-fi or alternative rock, Saint Cloud comfortably sits within the genre of Americana. Katie draws from artists like Neil Young (and a bit of Julia Jacklin's Crushing) more than ever while never losing her sharp perspective. For some reason, I find Saint Cloud ... read more
I have been a Katie Crutchfield fan for a long time, all the way back to the days of P.S. Eliot, so it pains me to say this but I find this really underwhelming. you have to go five songs in to "The Eye" before you reach a track that is recognizably hers. most of the album consists of the most benign kind of generic country pop songs that I always took her to be taking a stand against. all the things that she did "wrong" that made her uniquely awkward outsider sound click ... read more
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Year End Lists
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Track List
- Oxbow
- Can’t Do Much
- Fire
- Lilacs
- The Eye
- Hell
- Witches
- War
- Arkadelphia
- Ruby Falls
- St. Cloud
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3mo
just witnessed user score went up because of my honest 79 rating. fuck u fantano i have more power than you!!!!
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Added on: January 22, 2020