This Is for the White in Your Eyes

This Is for the White in Your Eyes is the debut studio album by Copenhagen-based Danish chamber pop band Choir of Young Believers, released in Denmark on September 1, 2008 on Tigerspring, in the United States and Europe on August 18, 2009 on Ghostly International, and in Japan on December 16, 2009 on art union.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	B+
Clash	7/10
Consequence of Sound	C+
The Guardian
Mojo
Prefix Magazine	9.0/10
Spin
Tiny Mix Tapes
Uncut

This Is for the White in Your Eyes received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. The sound of the album drew comparisons to artists such as Bon Iver and Sigur Rós. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Noel Murray of The A.V. Club gave the album a positive review, stating, "This Is for the White in Your Eyes is majestic and haunting in the best sense, as Makrigiannis uses strings, chopped-up percussion tracks, and his own multi-tracked voice to create the sense of a gradually unfolding moment. Makrigiannis lets notes hang, which, given the fragility of his voice, means he risks pushing a note so far that it cracks. And yet if there's one quality that unifies Choir of Young Believers' songs, it's precision. Makrigiannis' style makes a strong first impression, as his songs flow naturally from muted sorrow to booming emotion and back. He evokes the calm, the storm, and the aftermath."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hollow Talk"	Anders Rhedin Jannis Noya Makrigiannis	5:21
2.	"Next Summer"		3:45
3.	"These Rituals of Mine"		4:34
4.	"Action/Reaction"		4:36
5.	"Under the Moon"		4:19
6.	"Wintertime Love"		5:22
7.	"She Walks"		5:27
8.	"Why Must It Always Be This Way"		4:28
9.	"Claustrophobia"		4:51
10.	"Yamagata"		3:47
Total length:			46:30

Burn the Flag (EP)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Burn the Flag"	4:34
2.	"Sharpen Your Knife"	3:38
3.	"We Talk on the Phone"	5:59
4.	"Riot"	4:42
Total length:		18:53

"Claustrophobia" contains lyrics from "I Hold the Old" by Kim LAS.

Personnel

Main personnel

Jannis Noya Makrigiannis – arrangement, bass, guitar, keyboard, lyrics, percussion, piano, vocals, writing
Fridolin Tai Nordsø Schjoldan – arrangement, backing vocals, bass, drums, flute, keyboard, percussion, trumpet
Anders Rhedin – arrangement, backing vocals, drums, guitar, keyboard, percussion, lyrics (1)
Bo Rande – backing vocals, horns, keyboard
Cæcilie Trier – backing vocals, cello
Mette Sand Hersoug – backing vocals, flute, violin
Jakob Millung – bass
Casper Henning – drums, percussion
Frederik Nordsø – percussion
Lasse Herbst – percussion
Nicolai Kleinerman Koch – piano

Additional personnel

Jannis Noya Makrigiannis – engineering, mastering, production
Fridolin Tai Nordsø Schjoldan – engineering, mastering, production
Anders Rhedin – engineering, mastering, percussion, production
Frederik Tao – mixing, mastering
Nis Bysted – artwork
Nis Sigurdsson – artwork

In popular culture

"Hollow Talk" was featured in the opening and closing titles of Scandinavian television series The Bridge.

References

"Choir of Young Believers presents This Is for the White in Your Eyes". Ghostly International. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
^ "This Is for the White in Your Eyes – Choir of Young Believers". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ Murray, Noel (2009-08-18). "Choir Of Young Believers: This Is for the White in Your Eyes". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
Annan, Nick. Choir of Young Believers - This Is for the White in Your Eyes. Clash. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
Coplan, Chris (August 13, 2009). "Album Review: Choir of Young Believers - This Is for the White in Your Eyes". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
Dean, Will. Choir of Young Believers: This Is for the White in Your Eyes – review. The Guardian. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
^ "This Is for the White in Your Eyes". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
Wood, Mike. Album Review: Choir of Young Believers: This Is for the White in Your Eyes. Prefix Magazine. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
Modell, Josh. Choir of Young Believers, 'This Is for the White in Your Eyes' (Ghostly International). Spin. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
Suveg, Lukas. Choir of Young Believers - This Is for the White in Your Eyes. Tiny Mix Tapes. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
"DENMARK: This Is for the White in Your Eyes - Choir Of Young Believers". 200worldalbums.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

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