Fading Frontier

Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
Critic Score
Based on 40 reviews
2015 Ratings: #134 / 1021
Year End Rank: #22
User Score
Based on 573 ratings
2015 Rank: #199
Liked by 24 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
NME
'Fading Frontier' - the most direct, unflinching album Deerhunter have ever made, and quite possibly the best - sometimes feels like the second part of a duology about breakdown and recovery, not only from the psychodrama of 'Monomania', but from the car accident Cox was hospitalised by last December.
91
A.V. Club

Deerhunter should be applauded for refusing to rest on its laurels by actively seeking to make a record with purpose and scope. The goals and the stakes are real for them, and in Fading Frontiers, the effort is blindingly evident.

90
Uncut
While matters are not necessarily so sunny throughout the album’s entirety, never before has Deerhunter’s brand of noise been such a joyful one.
90
Under the Radar

It's pretty amazing the band has followed Cox's lead with little difficulty. Or at least Fading Frontier makes it appear that way. Tight when they need to be but loose enough to explore the cosmos, Deerhunter sounds reinvigorated by the new attitude.

90
SPIN

Fading Frontier ... certainly belongs in any discussion of their best. It’s a portrait of the young men as adult artists; it’s the closest equivalent to a major-label debut for an era when a band might as well stay independent.

88
Paste

Instead of trying to make an experimental oddity for music nerds, he made an indie pop album for music fans. He went for our hearts rather than our heads.

84
Pitchfork

While Deerhunter's created a number of indelible songs over their career, Fading Frontier may have their first that could conceivably blend into real-deal classic rock radio.

83
Consequence of Sound

At nine songs and just over 36 minutes, Fading Frontier is a filler-free opus of experimental rock splendor that never lags and always intrigues. It’s pretty sharp for a noise or garage rock album with sleek bass lines and vibrant electronic add-ons. 

80
Slant Magazine
If this is the sound of a band coasting, then they're operating on such an elite plane that we should just appreciate that they bother handing in anything in at all.
80
NOW Magazine

In terms of brightness and accessibility, the album feels like an extension of their breakout record, 2008's Microcastle. Yet it's clear the band has matured in the intervening years - and they're better for it.

80
Mojo

Cox’s naked sensitivity and inability to filter himself have been constants through the band’s career; on Fading Frontier, they ensure Deerhunter’s most accessible songs yet are also their most affecting.

80
Record Collector

Fading Frontier seems to be Deerhunter’s most crystal-clear record to date. Nine times out of 10, it’s precisely this clarity that allows their miasma of messages to hit home the hardest.

80
The Guardian

There are so many straightforwardly commercial-sounding songs here that Fading Frontier could conceivably be an album that turns Deerhunter from cult concern into mainstream success.

80
Billboard

Ten years into that prolific career, the Atlanta quartet has produced its most accessible, consistent and possibly best work yet with sixth full-length Fading Frontier.

80
Loud and Quiet

‘Fading Frontier’ represents a conscious retreat from the scuzzy claustrophobia of ‘Monomania’ and a surge towards considered, contented songcraft.

80
The 405
The music is calmer, but his flare hasn't left with his anger, thus solidifying the album into the band's pristine legacy.
80
Drowned in Sound

Fading Frontier ... is the sort of record that only Deerhunter could make, a contradictory and even on paper somewhat illogical set of songs that nonetheless constitutes the most graceful set of music of the band’s career.

80
AllMusic
Musically and emotionally, this is one of Deerhunter's most powerful -- and delicate -- albums.
80
DIY
‘Fading Frontier’ draws a new line in the sand, and it could be the beginning of a more direct and big-thinking Deerhunter.
80
Sputnikmusic

The growth that is present in the album is one of ideology as opposed to sound. Deerhunter are looking at the world with a refined philosophical perspective. There’s a subtle undercurrent of optimism that directs the music.

80
The Skinny

Faded Frontier in contrast is a slow release and a desire for solitude.

75
Pretty Much Amazing
As tasteful and comfortable as this album is, the more I played it the more it felt like a bummer.
70
The Line of Best Fit

Bradford Cox has deeply embedded his maturing experience into Fading Frontier – the experience of a new-found settled lifestyle.

70
Rolling Stone
The elliptically pretty music often summons a sense of escape and freedom that's ringed with ambiguity.
70
Exclaim!

On Fading Frontier, Deerhunter focus on their ability as a band to hypnotize and confound, which make the explosive moments here stand out that much more.

70
musicOMH

It all means that Fading Frontier is probably Deerhunter’s fourth best album. It’s still an excellent record, but it’s just ever so slightly underwhelming.

70
Tiny Mix Tapes
In spite of the possibility that it represents a band that has reached the end of its “natural” creative arc and is now experimenting with whatever it can, it’s a remarkably consistent album that somehow joins a finely tuned pop sensibility with a crudely wayward adventurousness.
70
FasterLouder

Deerhunter always find a lot to exploit in the intersection of Cox’s gloomy visions and the band’s gravity-defying pop vistas, and for the most part Fading Frontier is a rewarding immersion in diverse layers of melody and meaning. But there’s still a nagging spottiness that keeps it from reaching its full potential.

60
Clash

'Fading Frontier' is by no means a poor album, and truth be told really doesn't possess a bad number on it. The real issue is that in a genre filled with imitators, many whom Deerhunter no doubt inspired, we need a bit more bang for our buck. 

60
The Needle Drop
Atlanta indie outfit Deerhunter returns with a high-fidelity album that's a bit of a mixed bag.
60
The Observer

Living My Life and the seductive Duplex Planet hark back to the dream-like delicacy of Halcyon Digest, but Leather and Wood is an amorphous mess. Thankfully, the best songs are saved until last.

60
PopMatters

Coming after the progressive and corrosive Monomania, Fading Frontier feels like a slight step back.

60
Q Magazine

The follow-up mostly reverts to the synth-oriented dream-poppiness of 2010's Halcyon Digest.

SnowyFighter
76

This album cover should be an ice cream flavor

Within Deerhunter’s career this is when they seem to get a little less experimental, and focus on just making catchy tunes. Sometimes that’s great, sometimes it can fall a little flat I feel. Luckily here there is definitely more good than bad though. I really enjoy the songs All the Same, which has a super catchy vocal melody, and Duplex Planet which has an extremely eargasmic instrumental section. Breaker and Take Care are good ones ... read more

FritoRio
60

This is the point where I think deerhunter lost their creativity

depechemode4lif
65

A decent but by the numbers Deerhunter album

Felix_96
50

5/10

meh

Fav track: Snakeskin

ElBufalo
55

duplex planet and take care are the only times I felt anything while listening to this tbh

RequireSauce
75

why is duplex planet the shortest song

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Added on: August 14, 2015