Rare Birds (album)

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Rare Birds
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 2, 2018 (2018-03-02)
StudioFive Star Studios
Length78:44
LabelBella Union
ProducerJonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson chronology
Slide By
(2014)
Rare Birds
(2018)
Dixie Blur
(2020)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.3/10[1]
Metacritic74/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
American Songwriter[4]
Dork[5]
Exclaim!7/10[6]
God Is in the TV9/10[7]
The Independent[8]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[9]
The Observer[10]
Under the Radar5.5/10[11]

Rare Birds is the third studio album by American musician and producer Jonathan Wilson. It was released on March 2, 2018 under Bella Union.[12]

Production[edit]

The album was self-produced by Wilson at his Five Star Studios, with Jeffertitti Moon ; in Echo Park, Los Angeles.[12][13]

Release[edit]

On December 5, 2017, Jonathan Wilson revealed the new album to be released on Bella Union on March 2, 2018. The album has appearances by Lana Del Rey, Laraaji and Father John Misty.[12] The first single to be released from the album, "Over The Midnight" is directed by Andrea Nakhla.[13]

Critical reception[edit]

Rare Birds was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 74, based on 13 reviews.[2] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 74 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 12 reviews.[14]

Thom Jurek from AllMusic explained that the album "is dizzying in ambition and (mostly) dazzling in execution. It offers hours of enjoyment to anyone who takes it on. It's sprawling at nearly 80 minutes, and lavishly packaged.".[3] Andy Gill from The Independent stated: "The lush opacity becomes claustrophobic over his eighty-minute default track length: though frequently sweet and beautiful, one’s ultimately left like Heliogabalus, drowned in rose petals.".[8]

Accolades[edit]

Accolades for Rare Birds
Publication Accolade Rank
Glide Magazine Glide Magazine's Top 20 Albums of 2018
N/A[15]
OOR OOR's Top 20 Albums of 2018
Uproxx Uproxx' Top 50 Albums of 2018 – Mid-Year

Track listing[edit]

Rare Birds track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Trafalgar Square" (featuring Jessica Wolfe and Holly Laessig)6:23
2."Me"4:49
3."Over the Midnight" (featuring Krystle Warren)8:15
4."There's A Light" (featuring Jessica Wolfe and Holly Laessig)4:57
5."Sunset Boulevard" (featuring Omar Velasco)5:44
6."Rare Birds" (featuring Jessica Wolfe, Holly Laessig and Omar Velasco)5:25
7."49 Hair Flips" (featuring Father John Misty and Krystle Warren)5:11
8."Miriam Montague" (featuring Father John Misty)4:41
9."Loving You" (featuring Laraaji)8:28
10."Living With Myself" (featuring Lana Del Rey)6:46
11."Hard To Get Over"6:32
12."Hi-Ho The Righteous"6:06
13."MulHolland Queen"5:21

References[edit]

  1. ^ "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  4. ^ Horowitz, Hal (February 26, 2018). "American Songwriter Review". American Songwriter. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  5. ^ Young, Martyn (March 6, 2018). "Dork Magazine Review". Dork. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  6. ^ Sylvester, Daniel (March 2, 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Page, Andy (March 2, 2018). "God Is in the TV Review". God Is in the TV. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Gill, Andy (March 8, 2018). "The Independent Review". The Independent. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  9. ^ Oinonen, Janne (February 21, 2018). "The hippie dream turns sour with some spectacular results on Jonathan Wilson's Rare Birds". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  10. ^ Mardles, Paul (March 4, 2018). "Jonathan Wilson: Rare Birds review – a rich, ambitious triumph". The Observer. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  11. ^ Watkins, Michael (March 6, 2018). "Under the Radar Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c Murphy, Sarah (December 5, 2017). "Jonathan Wilson Gets Lana Del Rey and Father John Misty for 'Rare Birds' LP". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Day, Laurence (December 5, 2017). "Jonathan Wilson announces third solo album Rare Birds and shares new song "Over The Midnight"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  14. ^ "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  15. ^ "Glide Magazine's 20 Best Albums of 2018". Glide Magazine. November 26, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  16. ^ "Album van het jaar". OOR (in Dutch). December 4, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  17. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2018 So Far". Uproxx. May 29, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  18. ^ "Ultratop.be – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  21. ^ "Lescharts.com – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  22. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  23. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  26. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  27. ^ "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  28. ^ "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  29. ^ "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  30. ^ "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.

External links[edit]