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Endless Arcade

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Endless Arcade
Studio album by
Teenage Fanclub
Released30 April 2021 (2021-04-30)
RecordedJanuary 2019–March 2020[1][2][3]
Studio
Genre
Length44:24
Label
  • PeMa (Europe)
  • Merge (North America)
ProducerTeenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub chronology
Here
(2016) 		Endless Arcade
(2021)
Singles from Endless Arcade
  1. "Everything Is Falling Apart"
    Released: February 20, 2019
  2. "Home"
    Released: November 11, 2020
  3. "I'm More Inclined"
    Released: January 25, 2021
  4. "The Sun Won't Shine On Me"
    Released: March 15, 2021
  5. "In Our Dreams"
    Released: April 13, 2021

Endless Arcade is the eleventh full studio album by Scottish band Teenage Fanclub. Released on 30 April 2021, it is the band's first record since the departure of co-founder Gerard Love in late 2018 and their first with former Gorky's Zygotic Mynci member Euros Childs. The album's title comes from co-founder Raymond McGinley's song of the same name, with McGinley envisioning an endless arcade as "a city that you can wander through, with a sense of mystery, an imaginary one that goes on forever. When it came to choosing an album title, it seemed to have something for this collection of songs."[5]

Background

After parting ways with Gerard Love following a series of late 2018 shows in which Teenage Fanclub performed the five recently reissued albums they had recorded for Creation Records during the Nineties in full,[6] the band regrouped in January 2019 with long-time member Dave McGowan switching over from playing keyboards and guitar to fill the bassist position vacated by Love. Euros Childs – who also collaborates with Teenage Fanclub co-founder Norman Blake in the side project Jonny – joined the band on keyboards.

When they started gathering material for a new album, Blake already had a song called "I'm More Inclined" ready to be presented to the rest of the band. Following approval of the song, they soon set about recording their new album.[7]

Recording

In January 2019 the new-look Teenage Fanclub relocated to Hamburg, Germany, a city that they had grown to love,[8] for recording sessions at Clouds Hill Recordings, a facility in which they had mixed their previous album, Here.[9] Following these sessions, they embarked on a tour of Asia, Australia, North America and Europe from February to April.[10] They would then return to Clouds Hill in late November 2019 for more recording.[1] Additional recording was also done at Raymond McGinley's home studio in Glasgow and at Rockfield Studios in Wales.[11]

As the remaining ever-present members of Teenage Fanclub, Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley maintained a pragmatic outlook towards the differences in recording with the new line-up, with McGinley commenting, "With Gerry not being there…it’s different. But then Dave is on bass and Euros is there. It’s an inspiring thing!"[8] Meanwhile, according to Blake, "I think some of the playing is a bit freer and looser than on recent albums. Dave and Euros’ playing is amazing, and Francis [Macdonald] on drums is really swinging."[12]

After plans to release the album in October 2020 and go on tour for the remainder of the year fell through, Blake and McGinley used the extra time caused by the enforced postponement for further work on mixing the album in Glasgow.[8]

Release

On 20 February 2019, Teenage Fanclub released the first taste of their recent recording session in the form of "Everything Is Falling Apart", which was written and sung by Raymond McGinley.[13]

In March 2020 the band announced that their new album, Endless Arcade, was to be released in October to coincide with a UK and Europe tour the following November and December.[1] However, in June they subsequently rescheduled the tour for April and May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the album's release also pushed back ahead of the new tour dates.[14]

On 11 November 2020, Teenage Fanclub announced Endless Arcade's release date of 5 March 2021, along with the album's track listing. They also released a single edit and video for "Home", the album's opening track which was penned and sung by Norman Blake.[15]

On 25 January 2021, Teenage Fanclub released Blake's song “I'm More Inclined” as a single. They also announced that Endless Arcade’s release date had been pushed back to 30 April 2021 due to “circumstances beyond our control.” The band's tour dates in support of the album were also postponed to September 2021 and April and May 2022.[16]

"The Sun Won't Shine on Me", another Blake-written song from the album, was released on 15 March 2021,[17] followed by the album's final single, McGinley's "In Our Dreams", on 13 April 2021.[18][19]

Reception

Endless Arcade currently holds a 7.5/10 score on Any Decent Music?, which has conglomerated 20 reviews from various publications,[20] and according to Metacritic, another review aggregation site, a score of 79/100 – based on 18 reviewers – indicates a "generally favorable" consensus.[21]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[22]
The Arts Desk[23]
Mojo[24]
MusicOMH[25]
The Observer[26]
Pitchfork7/10[27]
PopMatters7/10[28]
Record Collector[29]
Slant Magazine[30]
Uncut[31]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Home"Norman Blake7:04
2."Endless Arcade"Raymond McGinley3:25
3."Warm Embrace"Blake2:07
4."Everything Is Falling Apart"McGinley4:28
5."The Sun Won't Shine on Me"Blake2:40
6."Come with Me"McGinley3:27
7."In Our Dreams"McGinley4:15
8."I'm More Inclined"Blake3:20
9."Back in the Day"Blake3:49
10."The Future"McGinley3:06
11."Living with You"Blake2:55
12."Silent Song"McGinley3:48
Total length:44:24

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.[11]

Teenage Fanclub

Technical

  • Teenage Fanclub – producer
  • David Henderson – engineer
  • Linda Gerdes – assistant engineer (Clouds Hill)
  • Sebastian Muxfeldt – assistant engineer (Clouds Hill)
  • Stephen Black – engineer (credited with recording "some of Euros' backing vocals in Cardiff")
  • Salvador Daily – mastering
  • H. Hawkline – design

Charts

Chart performance for Endless Arcade
Chart (2021) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 57
Irish Albums (IRMA)[33] 51
Scottish Albums (OCC)[34] 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 95
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 11
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[37] 3

References

  1. ^ a b c Richards, Sam (3 March 2020). "Teenage Fanclub announce new album, Endless Arcade". Uncut. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  2. ^ Page, Gary (30 April 2021). "Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade, review". Something You Said. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  3. ^ Walker, Gary (16 April 2021). ""We've never stopped. This thing is our life and we don't know anything else": Teenage Fanclub on touring with Nirvana and new album Endless Arcade". Guitar.com. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Teenage Fanclub Sticks to Its Melancholic Jangle-Pop on 'Endless Arcade' (ALBUM REVIEW)". 4 March 2021.
  5. ^ Richards, Will (15 November 2020). "Teenage Fanclub announce new album 'Endless Arcade' with single 'Home'". NME. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  6. ^ Shepherd, Fiona (17 November 2019). "Gerry Love on leaving Teenage Fanclub: "I don't feel I was the victim, I had a part to play in it"". The Scotsman. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  7. ^ Blistein, Jon (26 January 2021). "Teenage Fanclub Drop Devotional New Song 'I'm More Inclined'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Murray, Robin (27 November 2020). "A Gradual Evolution: Teenage Fanclub in Conversation". Clash. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  9. ^ Blake, Norman (9 September 2016). "Teenage Fanclub on the making of new album Here". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  10. ^ Sigler, Gabriel (3 February 2019). "Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake on the band's revamped lineup, new music, and what they learned on the OK Computer tour". Bad Feeling Magazine. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  11. ^ a b Endless Arcade (Media notes). Teenage Fanclub. PeMa. 2021.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (11 November 2020). "Teenage Fanclub announce first album in four years Endless Arcade". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  13. ^ Reed, Ryan (20 February 2019). "Teenage Fanclub Unveil New Lineup in 'Everything Is Falling Apart' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  14. ^ Baines, Huw (12 June 2020). "Teenage Fanclub Reschedule UK and Ireland Shows For 2021". Stereoboard. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  15. ^ Deville, Chris (11 November 2020). "Teenage Fanclub – "Home"". Stereogum. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  16. ^ Gallagher, Alex (26 January 2021). "Teenage Fanclub share new single 'I'm More Inclined', postpone album and tour dates". NME. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  17. ^ Murray, Robin (15 March 2021). "Teenage Fanclub's 'The Sun Won't Shine On Me' Is A Gentle Waltz". Clash. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  18. ^ Leas, Ryan (13 April 2021). "Teenage Fanclub – "In Our Dreams"". Stereogum. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  19. ^ "VIDEO: Teenage Fanclub share new single "In Our Dreams" from new album "Endless Arcade"". The Rockpit. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Endless Arcade by Teenage Fanclub reviews | Any Decent Music". www.anydecentmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  21. ^ Endless Arcade by Teenage Fanclub, retrieved 19 July 2021
  22. ^ Collar, Matt (2021). "Endless Arcade Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  23. ^ Tyler, Kieron (26 April 2021). "Album: Teenage Fanclub‎ - Endless Arcade". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  24. ^ McNair, James (June 2021). "Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade". Mojo. p. 82. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  25. ^ Johnson, Steven (27 April 2021). "Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade". MusicOMH. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  26. ^ Empire, Kitty (2 May 2021). "Teenage Fanclub: Endless Arcade review – heartbreak and joy". The Observer. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  27. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (30 April 2021). "Teenage Fanclub: Endless Arcade". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  28. ^ Kearney, Kevin (30 April 2021). "Teenage Fanclub's Sunny Fatalism on Display in 'Endless Arcade'". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  29. ^ Goldsmith, Mike (25 February 2021). "Endless Arcade - Teenage Fanclub". Record Collector. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  30. ^ Winograd, Jeremy (20 April 2021). "Review: Teenage Fanclub's Endless Arcade Is a Welcome Reminder of Days Gone By". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  31. ^ Pinnock, Tom (10 May 2021). "Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade". Uncut. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  32. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  33. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 7 May 2021". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  34. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  35. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Teenage Fanclub – Endless Arcade". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  36. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  37. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
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