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Untitled

Simple Math is the third studio album from Atlanta-based indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. It was released on May 10, 2011 through independent label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings, itself distributed by Sony Music Entertainment.[2][3] The album was recorded with Dan Hannon who also produced the band's first album, and co-produced their second.[4]

Andy Hull, the band's lyricist and vocalist, has said that Simple Math is a concept album, telling a story from his own perspective; "It's a story about a 23-year old who questions everything from marriage to love to religion to sex. Sometimes even for myself, it’s difficult to decipher which one I’m actually talking to. Everything I’ve written in the past has been about those things. This album is the most realized form of my questioning.”[5] A week prior to its official release, the entire album was available for streaming on their official website.[6]

Lead by the title track and single "Simple Math", the album was a success for the band, obtaining praise from music critics and debuting at a career-high number twenty one on the Billboard 200 and number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart with opening week sales of 18,000 units.[7][8]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Andy Hull; all music is composed by Manchester Orchestra[9]

No.TitleLength
1."Deer"3:18
2."Mighty"3:39
3."Pensacola"3:36
4."April Fool"4:21
5."Pale Black Eye"4:17
6."Virgin"4:28
7."Simple Math"5:05
8."Leave It Alone"4:06
9."Apprehension"4:34
10."Leaky Breaks"7:14

Reception

Commercial performance

Simple Math was a moderate commercial success for the band. Opening week sales reached 18,000 units according to Nielsen SoundScan which debuted the album at number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and number twenty one on the main Billboard 200.[7][8] The album also entered the Billboard Alternative Albums chart at number five as well as the Billboard Tastemaker Albums chart at number nine. The Tastemaker chart is not decided by record sales, but compiled by ranking new albums based on "an influential panel of indie stores and small regional chains."[10] Overall, this marked an improvement compared to its predecessor Mean Everything to Nothing (2009), which reached number thirty seven on the main Billboard chart and number eleven on the Rock Albums chart.[11] In Canada, the album reached a peak of number fourteen on the Alternative Albums chart and also number seventy eight on the main Top 100 Albums Chart.[12]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk95%[13]
Alternative Press[14]
American Songwriter[15]
Blare[16]
Drowned in Sound7/10[17]
IGN9.5/10[18]
Pitchfork Media5.5/10[19]
Rock Sound9/10[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
Spin7/10[21]
CultureTease10/10[22]
Sputnikmusic3.5/5[23]
TMR [24]

Simple Math received positive reviews from music critics.[14] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a weighted average of 73, based on sixteen reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[14] Adam Pfleider of AbsolutePunk called the album a "shocking absorption" and awarded a near-perfect rating of 95%. He noted that, "in a year that's produced an overwhelming amount of great music, Simple Math is another outstanding painting worth the public's attention. When Hull sings "Believe me, all is brilliant," it really is once again for this band."[13] BBC Music journalist Mike Diver also gave a favorable review. Despite stating that, "it's 10 songs aren’t all of the level needed to propel its makers into the biggest indie-rock leagues", he was of the opinion that Simple Math, "contains some of their finest songs yet. There are moments of real beauty, though the prettiest arrangements come complete with necessarily ugly imagery."[25] Drowned in Sound critic Robert Cooked wrote, "What’s great about Manchester Orchestra is that they don’t quite fit into a box. Sadly, this makes them another one of those bands that don’t sell as many records as they deserve to." Awarding a score of seven out of ten, he added that the album is an "intelligent slab of thrilling, stadium-sized rock that does away with the genre’s dumb clichés. It’s hard not to get a kick out of hearing such an independent spirit raging through this album, even if commercially, Simple Math doesn’t quite add up."[17]

Ben Patashnik of Rock Sound magazine was full of praise as he awarded the album nine out of ten. He claimed that, "they're always a breath away from total fucking chaos or lullaby-soft crooning. And throughout, the highs are tinged with a sadness and the lows with hope, making Simple Math a complex and rewarding album that soars above the pack."[19] Spin writer David Menconi, in a favorable review said that Andy Hull has "been making shockingly precocious records for years. But his band's third full-length is an old-fashioned magnum opus of a concept album, detailing a nervous breakdown with epic glam-rock gestures. Hull's greatest skill is making his emotions sound as extravagant as they feel, especially when he screams."[21] Adam Knott, contributing writer for Sputnikmusic awarded the album a "superb" 4.5/5. He opined that "although situated largely in the seemingly mundane where its predecessor concerned itself (perhaps excessively) with abstract universalities, Simple Math might actually be the superior record. Its centrepiece, as with Mean Everything To Nothing's "I Can Feel A Hot One", is the most explicit illustration of the band's overflowing emotion, but the same level and intensity of fire can be found even on its most flippant tracks."[23]

Personnel

The following personnel contributed to Simple Math:[26]

Manchester Orchestra
Session musicians
String ensemble
  • Eddie Horst — conductor
  • Ben Talmi — string arrangements
  • Greg Martin — additional string arranging
  • Justin Burns — violin
  • Joy A. Christy — violin
  • Kenn Wagner — violin
  • Sheela Iyengar — violin
  • Olga Shpitko — violin
  • Sou-Chun Su — violin
  • Wesley P. Collins — viola
  • Tania Maxwell — viola
  • Joli Wu — viola
  • Karen Freer — cello
  • Charae Krueger — cello
  • Daniel Laufer — cello
School choir
  • Lyndsey Laborde — choir vocals
  • Eli Hannon — choir vocals
  • Jake Hannon — choir vocals
  • Emily Ammons — choir vocals
  • Grace Ammons — choir vocals
Production

Chart history

Chart postions

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Canada Albums Chart (Billboard)[12] 78
U.S Billboard 200[8] 21
U.S Rock Albums (Billboard)[8] 8
U.S Alternative Albums (Billboard)[8] 5
U.S Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[8] 9

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalogue # Ref.
United Kingdom May 9, 2011 Colombia, Favorite Gentlemen CD, digital download 88697743412 [27]
United States May 10, 2011 Colombia, Favorite Gentlemen CD, digital download 774341 [28]

Music Video

Synopsis

The music video, Simple Math, was filmed 22 – 27 February 2011 in Guntersville, Alabama and nearby Albertville, Alabama, with cast members from nearby Huntsville, Alabama joining the band members onscreen.[29]

The story begins with the band’s lyricist/vocalist, Andy Hull, swerving to avoid a collision between his truck and a deer crossing the otherwise-empty country road. His knee-jerk altruism, unfortunately, leads to an infinite rollover which in turn results in a tumble down Memory Lane, if you will, and the flashing of his early life before his eyes. In this flashback-cum-dream state, he hearkens back to the attentive father with whom he never truly connected and the unrequited feelings for a girl in whom he was interested...and considers that part of the difficulty and lost opportunities in his relationships may have been his own fault.

Filles that detonate, rampaging, milk-hating toy trucks, paterfamilias whose chests transmogrify into airbags, the ubiquitous, glassy-eyed head mount of an ungulate, backwoods hunting-interruptus, and the crashing, sing-while-you-spin band members, themselves, are part and parcel of the video’s hectic inventiveness and sprightly, surreal charm.

Background

The project, produced by Gaetano Crupi, Jr. of Machina Pictures[30], fell under the auspices of the California-based directing team known as the “DANIELS”—Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert[31]. The duo was previously best known for music videos for the bands FM Belfast (“Underwear”) and The Hundred in the Hands (“Commotion” and “Pigeons”). See Production Team and Cast information below.

In a recent online interview, Hull describes the video’s conception and M.O. In it, he expresses the initial meeting with The DANIELS (one of whom he discovered to be a fan), as well as his amused confusion at the video’s thematic thrust.

“...It was kind of incredible filming it, having no idea what these dudes were doing...just having full trust in them…At the beginning, I feel like you get this vibe that the dad’s kind of an a------, and by the end you realize I’m the a------. My dad’s been there the whole time. I was just too young to see it...”[32]

Video Premiere and Reception

The music video was released and premiered on IFC.com on Tuesday, 12 April 2011.[33] The cinematic prestidigitation of the Kwan-Scheinert team, as well as the haunting, wistful music of the band, received praise:

“...Brilliant, awesome, stupendous, tour de force...they are all massively overused phrases...But then, very occasionally, something comes along which fully justifies these descriptions, and a few more. The video for Manchester Orchestra’s ‘Simple Math” by [The] Daniels is one of those occasions…”[34]

“...The clip is both exorbitant and overtly dramatic—plus it looks like it cost a mint to create, which it very well might have since the band is on Columbia Records — but it's money well spent...”[35]

“...With...‘Simple Math,’ they have created their best work yet, and easily the best music video I’ve seen thus far in 2011. This video has already garnered heaps of praise as well as comparisons to works of Michel Gondry and Christopher Nolan for its technically incredible, emotionally powerful storytelling...Manchester Orchestra’s muscular post-emo indie rock provides just the right amount of emotional punch to accompany the stunning imagery. This is one you’ll want to watch again and again...” [36]

"...DANIELS haven’t just made a brilliant music video, they’ve made an impressive short film, and when paired with Manchester Orchestra’s raw, cacophonous punch, it makes for an intriguing, intelligent, incredible accompaniment."[37]

MTV VMA's

On 20 July 2011, it was announced that the music video was a Finalist for two MTV Video Music Awards (VMA’s), under the categories of “Best Special Effects” and “Best Editing.”[38]

Production Team and Cast

Crew
  • Directors: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (DANIELS)
  • Producer: Gaetano Crupi, Jr.
  • Production Company: PrettyBird
  • Executive Producer: Candice Ouaknine
  • Rep: Danielle Hinde
  • Director of Photography: Jackson Hunt[39]
  • Art Director: Sophie Kosofsky
  • Assistant Director: Justin Gaar
  • FX Supervisor: Jimmie Bradford
  • Commissioner: Bryan Younce
  • Casting: Hollywood Huntsville
  • Production Coordinator: Charles White[40]
  • Label: Columbia Records
Cast
  • Boy: Caleb Wimberly
  • Father: James (Jim) E. Zieliński
  • Girl: Lexi Williams

...and Manchester Orchestra...

References

  1. ^ Karan, Tim (28 February 2011). "Download Manchester Orchestra's new single "Simple Math"". Alternative Press. Retrieved 4 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Manchester Orchestra 'Simple Math' Release Date". Favorite Gentleman. Retrieved 26 January 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Simple Math: Manchester Orchestra". Amazon. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Dan Hannon Discography". Discogs. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  5. ^ Spicer, Nathan (26 January 2011). "Manchester Orchestra Announces New Album, Simple Math". Paste. Retrieved 4 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Karan, Tim (2 May 2011). "Manchester Orchestra to stream upcoming album, "Simple Math"". Alternative Press. Retrieved 4 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ a b Kaufman, Gill (18 May 2011). "Adele Takes #1 On Billboard Albums Chart For Eighth Week". MTV. Retrieved 19 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Simple Math - Manchester Orchestra". Billboard. Retrieved 19 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ Simple Math (Media notes). Favorite Gentlemen. 2011. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |bandname= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |publisherid= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  10. ^ Binkert, Lisa (23 October 2010). "Bruno Mars Live: Billboard Tastemakers". Billboard. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  11. ^ "Mean Everything to Nothing - Manchester Orchestra". Billboard. Retrieved 19 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ a b "Canadian Top 100 Albums Week Ending 12 May 2011". Nielson SoundScan (Jam! Showbiz). Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b Pfleider, Adam (3 May 2011). "Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  14. ^ a b c "Critic Reviews for Simple Math by Manchester Orchestra". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  15. ^ Temple, Emily (10 May 2011). "Manchester Orchestra: Simple Math". American Songwriter. Retrieved 11 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Rankin, Dan (10 May 2011). "REVIEW: Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math". BLARE Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  17. ^ a b Cooke, Robert (5 May 2011). "Manchester Orchestra: Simple Math". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  18. ^ Grischow, Chad (9 May 2011). "Manchester Orchestra: Simple Math Review". IGN. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  19. ^ a b c "Manchester Orchestra Simple Math [Columbia / Favorite Gentlemen; 2011]", Pitchfork Media, May 27, 2011 Cite error: The named reference "RS" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  20. ^ Hermes, Will (10 May 2011). "Simple Math by Manchester Orchestra". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ a b Menconi, David (23 April 2011). "Manchester Orchestra 'Simple Math'. Mega-convos with God, spouse over fuzz, strings". Spin. Retrieved 4 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ Merkel, Ryan (14 April 2011). "Manchester Orchestra 'Simple Math'". CultureTease. Retrieved 4 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ a b Wolfe, Matt (9 May 2011). "Manchester Orchestra: Simple Math". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  24. ^ http://tmr-music.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-37-manchester-orchestra-simple.html
  25. ^ Diver, Mike (5 May 2011). "Atlanta band's third album of melancholic musings contains some of their finest songs yet". BBC Music. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  26. ^ "Credits: Simple Math". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  27. ^ "Manchester Orchestra: Simple Math (2011) CD". HMV. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  28. ^ "Manchester Orchestra Simple Math CD". CD Universe. Retrieved 19 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "Simple Math - Behind the Scenes". Vevo. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  30. ^ Machina Pictures
  31. ^ DANIELS
  32. ^ Cameron Matthews (20 April 2011). "Manchester Orchestra's Andy Hull Relives His 'Tough' Marriage on 'Simple Math'". Spinner. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  33. ^ Melissa Locker (12 April 2011). "Premiere: Manchester Orchestra "Simple Math"". IFC. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  34. ^ "Manchester Orchestra's Simple Math by Daniels". David Knight. 15 April 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  35. ^ Ezra Ace Caraeff (13 April 2011). "Manchester Orchestra – "Simple Math" Video". The Portland Mercury. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  36. ^ Taylor Johnston (19 April 2011). "Video: Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math". Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  37. ^ Luke Grundy (15 June 2011). "Music Video: Simple Math by Manchester Orchestra". Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  38. ^ Gil Kaufman (20 July 2011). "Katy Perry, Adele, Kanye West Lead VMA Nominees". MTV. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  39. ^ Jackson Hunt
  40. ^ Tearlach Productions LLC
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