Ritual Union

Little Dragon - Ritual Union
Critic Score
Based on 32 reviews
2011 Ratings: #319 / 1031
User Score
Based on 143 ratings
2011 Rank: #208
Liked by 12 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

89
Beats Per Minute

It’s an imaginative album of contrasts loaded with subtleties and potentially alienating nuances that necessitate a long-term commitment.

80
Clash
It’s dark and downbeat, smoky and soulful, and if you can get past the Duffy-esque intro, ‘Ritual Union’ is the rich vindication of Little Dragon’s slow burning upturn.
80
Uncut

Ritual Union makes it three alums without a remotely duff--or dull--moment.

80
Rolling Stone

Their third set hits a sweet spot between the futuristic soul of their debut and the synth pop of 2009's Machine Dreams.

80
The Needle Drop

Rather than turning up the volume, Ritual Union brings things down to a low and sensual simmer. Every track here is backed up with simple, repetitive grooves that grow as the song progresses. The synths aren't as loud or bright as they were in '09, but they still sound fantastic.

80
musicOMH

Little Dragon clearly weren't broken, so they haven't tried to fix themselves; they have instead filed their art into an incisive point, and with Ritual Union stand at the top of their trade. This is far more than instantly-forgotten ad fodder.

67
Pitchfork

... resulting in a set of songs that come across like the ideal soundtrack to a night on the town in some exotic sci-fi city.

60
Drowned in Sound

An assured, polished and skilful album, but you're left restless for other far less coy contemporaries.

40
Consequence of Sound

Overly simplistic rhythms, melodies, and undertones are the downfall of this album.

LZGray
60

I really like Little Dragon on features, because I think that they are a unique voice that brings a lot of subtlety to a track, and the production is certainly interesting on this album, but I don't think there's a whole lot in the way of compelling song structure or progression to really carry it.

FunkyBlood9696
78

A pretty solid collection of synth heavy art pop tracks from an indie act that was really prevalent around the time that this album dropped
Try saying that 5 times fast lol
Production still goes hard a decade later, and Yukimi Nagano beautiful singing hasn't aged a single day, god her voice is angelic from front to back on this LP
The writing isn't my favorite part of the album, but it serves as a nice backbone for this album to base its sonic concepts on, most of which I vibe with quite a ... read more

i3su
74

Pretty solid, but you do lose interest at times.

62

i lost my interest a few times. After a while, I felt like I was always hearing the same rhythm.

FunkyBlood9696
78

A pretty solid collection of synth heavy art pop tracks from an indie act that was really prevalent around the time that this album dropped
Try saying that 5 times fast lol
Production still goes hard a decade later, and Yukimi Nagano beautiful singing hasn't aged a single day, god her voice is angelic from front to back on this LP
The writing isn't my favorite part of the album, but it serves as a nice backbone for this album to base its sonic concepts on, most of which I vibe with quite a ... read more

89

It’s less ethereal and subdued then machine dreams but it’s got bangers!

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Added on: July 6, 2011