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Critic Reviews
80
It's brief enough to listen to as a complete piece, and is charming throughout.
8y
80
Christopher Owens may’ve stepped away from Girls, but he’s just as in touch with his sensitive side.
11y
80
Lysandre is an undeniably slight work from the prolific songwriter, but it’s fecund with ideas and charm.
12y
80
At only 28 minutes long, Lysandre is easily digestible in a single sitting, but that really just embellishes its true purpose – to temporarily whet our appetites till all those other Christopher Owens solo records appear.
13y
80
'Lysandre' frequently charms. It is a primarily low-key statement, but does enough to suggest that Owens' future post-Girls may be very promising.
13y
80
That Christopher Owens’ songs are so simultaneously vivid, immersive and indulgent is one thing, that he has crafted the character to execute them so expertly is quite another.
13y
75
Even with the thematic ties running throughout Lysandre, it isn’t overly ambitious
13y
75
Lysandre doesn’t contain a bad song (even the filler works!), and yet it fails to come together successfully.
11y
75
It's a much more intimate record, not in the sense of soul-bearing – there was plenty of that in Girls – but in that it's a record written not just for Owens, but for the girl of the album's title.
13y
70
These songs chart the narrative of a vulnerable man in strange and exciting new places, and they do so reasonably well, and with all the sincerity we’ve come to expect from Owens.
13y
70
It’s easy-listening music for deeply uneasy times.
11y
70
As a solo debut, Lysandre is a self-indulgent effort that succeeds in spite of itself; it also signals an artist shaking off the shackles of the past and embracing a wider range of sounds and ideas.
12y
70
For the most part Lysandre is a masterful exhibition of how to execute and relay truth and emotion.
13y
70
Fans of Girls may be surprised by how thoroughly Owen’s surf, punk and shoegaze influences have been whitewashed from the mix.
13y
70
‘Lysandre’ is an accomplished and confident first outing for a songwriter who already feels destined to nestle alongside Daniel Johnston and Elliott Smith as a master of the cult American songbook.
13y
69
The deftness and maturity with which Owens addresses the initial infatuation and eventual dissolution of the brief relationship with Lysandre is fascinating for a songwriter so often tied up in generalities.
13y
65
Now that Owens has completely escaped the slackerish, contrived lo-fidelity of the US indie scene which spawned Girls, the results are mixed.
9y
65
If the story of Lysandre is so significant to Owens that it demanded its own song cycle, his musical treatments don't always do the material justice.
13y
60
Sweet, but sorely in need of some contrasting sharpness.
5y
60
It recalls the wistfulness of Belle and Sebastian’s best, but not their wit or wordplay.
8y
60
Despite the misgivings, Owens’ talent as a songwriter is unmistakable and Lysandre is, on the whole, a promising start to his solo career, even if it feels like a transition album between Girls and his newly-found freedom, something made clear by the album’s introverted nature.
13y
60
Lysandre, his solo debut, tones down the dramatic fragility of Girls for something lighter and more assured.
13y
60
Too often, it just doesn’t seem like he was as ambitious with the craft of this one as he was with past efforts, however natural they may have sounded.
13y
58
I can’t help but think that this album would’ve been much better if it were a Girls album. And that’s the biggest problem with Lysandre: it sounds too much like Girls, but with a serious lack of the experimentation and adventure the band is loved for.
9y
55
As a summation of Owens’ life, with all its highs and lows, Lysandre is beyond criticism. As an album, it could have used a bit more living.
6y
55
Lysandre sounds a lot like a Girls record, only with a reappearing theme riff snuck in at the end of each song and the noticeable lack of at least one badass garage stomper.
13y
50
A surprisingly brief, half-an-hour effort, with the lavish, multi-part epics that showcased Girls at their most adventurous and proficient conspicuously absent.
13y
50
As it stands, the album is a decent attempt at a fresh start that won’t put off too many Girls fans, but until he figures out exactly what kind of singer/songwriter he wants to be, won’t likely earn him too many new fans.
13y
50
‘Lysandre’ does a solid job of creating a distinctive mood. However, as it tells the tale of former band Girls’ first major tour and the romantic relationship that intertwined it, it comes off as tiresome, syrupy and awkward.
11y
50
Though Owens takes precise measures to avoid it, the downfall of Lysandre ultimately comes down to this same-y-ness, as the majority of the album's tracks do very little to truly grab the listeners attention.
13y
20
Lysandre is full of problems/problematic things, and most of it rests on one of the album’s biggest problems: the insistent, ever-present “me.”
13y
Not as impressive of a solo debut as I was hoping for from him, but I don't think it's as bad as most critics are saying it is.
As a Girls fan in high school, I bought the cd the day it dropped at the campus record exchange when I was in college, and needless to say was vastly disappointed. I have a soft spot for it because I listened so many times tying to like it more; but the debut is not his best solo album, now in hindsight.
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wallver, patton, thisisabtlgrnd, philthy, Alejandro González, erik, d_ism, hARded2000Become a Subscriber
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Track List
| 1 | Lysandre's Theme 0:38 | |
| 2 | Here We Go 3:37 | |
| 3 | New York City 3:15 | |
| 4 | A Broken Heart 3:11 | |
| 5 | Here We Go Again 3:26 | |
| 6 | Riviera Rock 3:34 | |
| 7 | Love Is in the Ear of the Listener 2:15 | |
| 8 | Lysandre 2:54 | |
| 9 | Everywhere You Knew 2:17 | |
| 10 | Closing Theme 0:48 | |
| 11 | Part of Me (Lysandre's Epilogue) 2:38 |
Total Length: 28 minutes
