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Emotional Contracts

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Emotional Contracts
The band name and album title written in orange on a cream background
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 16, 2023 (2023-06-16)
Studio
  • Big Orange Sheep, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
  • Electric Delux Studio, Austin, Texas, United States
  • Tarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York, United States[1]
Genre
Length40:05
LanguageEnglish
LabelATO
ProducerDavid Fridmann
Deer Tick chronology
Live at Fort Adams
(2021)
Emotional Contracts
(2023)

Emotional Contracts is a 2023 studio album by American indie rock band Deer Tick, released on ATO Records.

Reception

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According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Emotional Contracts received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 from five critic scores.[3] Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, with critic Fred Thomas writing this album "finds Deer Tick operating at full power and making very few advancements from previous albums, seeing no need to fix what isn't broken with their meat-and-potatoes, blue-collar rock sound".[1] In Glide Magazine, Shawn Donohue writes that this album sounds similar to The Band and Los Lobos without being retro and states that "there is a lot to like" on this release.[2] At The Spill Magazine, the editors chose this as a pick and critic Tony Stuart rated it a 9 out of 10 for being "gloriously retro, but still looking forward" and writing that the "songs on the release all showcase different facets of the band, but the one consistent thread is that this is a very tight, well-rehearsed outfit".[4]

Uncut ranked this the 62nd best album of 2023.[5]

Track listing

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All songs written by John McCauley, except where noted.

  1. "If I Try to Leave" – 3:37
  2. "Forgiving Ties" (Ian O'Neil and Dennis Michael Ryan) – 4:10
  3. "Grey Matter" – 2:59
  4. "If She Could Only See Me Now" – 2:51
  5. "Running from Love" – 4:27
  6. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:42
  7. "Disgrace (O'Neil and Julian Veronesi) – 2:54
  8. "My Ship" – 2:19
  9. "A Light Can Go Out in the Heart" (O'Neil) – 3:07
  10. "The Real Thing" – 8:59

Personnel

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Deer Tick

  • John Joseph McCauley – lead vocals, guitar
  • Ian Patrick O'Neil – guitar, backing vocals
  • Christopher Dale Ryan – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Dennis Michael Ryan – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Thomas, Fred (n.d.). "Deer Tick – Emotional Contracts". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Donohue, Shawn (June 15, 2023). "Deer Tick Hit New Sonic Heights On David Fridmann Produced 'Emotional Contracts'". Glide Magazine. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  3. ^ "Emotional Contracts by Deer Tick Reviews and Tracks – Metacritic". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. n.d. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  4. ^ Stuart, Tony (June 14, 2023). "Spill Album Review: Deer Tick – Emotional Contracts". Album Reviews. The Spill Magazine. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  5. ^ Sacher, Andrew (November 9, 2023). "Uncut's Top 75 Albums of 2023". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved November 15, 2023. from the original in Uncut, January 2024 (ISSN 1368-0722
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