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M:FANS
Studio album by John Cale
Released	22 January 2016
Recorded	2013–2015
Studio	A.R.M. Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Genre	Experimental rock, industrial rock, electronic music
Length	53:43
Label	Domino/Double Six, Electric Drone
Producer	John Cale
John Cale chronology
Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood (2012) M:FANS (2016) Mercy (2023)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Line of Best Fit	(8/10)
Loud and Quiet	(8/10)
Pitchfork	(6.0/10)
Under the Radar	(8/10)

M:FANS is the sixteenth solo studio album by Welsh musician and composer John Cale. It was released in January 2016 on the Double Six Records imprint of Domino Recording Company. Produced by Cale, it features new versions of songs from his 1982 album Music for a New Society. "Close Watch" was the album's lead single. It was released in November 2015 and features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors.

Background

In a statement Cale recounted the process of making the album, and how the 2013 death of former bandmate and collaborator Lou Reed had informed it:

Losing Lou forced me to upend the entire recording process and begin again...a different perspective - a new sense of urgency to tell a story from a completely opposite point of view - what was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!!!

Accolades

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Cale; except where indicated.

1. "Prelude" – 2:17
2. "If You Were Still Around" (Cale, Sam Shepard) – 5:18
3. "Taking Your Life in Your Hands" – 5:43
4. "Thoughtless Kind" – 5:27
5. "Sanctus (Sanities Mix)" – 5:19
6. "Broken Bird" – 5:10
7. "Chinese Envoy" – 3:51
8. "Changes Made" – 3:54
9. "Library of Force" – 3:09
10. "Close Watch" – 5:15
11. "If You Were Still Around (Choir Reprise)" (Cale, Shepard) – 4:44
12. "Back to the End" – 3:34

Personnel

• John Cale – vocals, voice, noises, keyboards, organ, piano, electric piano, guitar, electric guitar, programmed guitar, bass, programming, synthesizer, drums, viola, samples, production, recording, mixing
• Dustin Boyer – guitar, guitar synthesizer, bass, loops, programming, drum machine, drum programming, drums, mixing, recording
• Deantoni Parks – keyboards, noises, loops
• Joey Maramba – synth bass
• Ralph Esposito – synth bass
• Alex Thomas – drums, samples
• Matt Fish – cello
• Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – viola
• Thomas Lea – viola
• Jessy Greene – violin
• Chris Bautista – trumpet
• Amber Coffman – vocals on "Close Watch"
• New Direction Church – choir
• Benjamin Goodman – choir director
• William Arthur George Cale – voice
• Margaret Cale – voice

Technical

• Adam Moseley – mixing, recording
• Nita Scott – mixing, executive producer

Charts

References

1. "M:FANS - John Cale". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
2. Deming, Mark. "M:FANS - John Cale". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
3. Oinonen, Janne (21 January 2016). "John Cale's M:FANS offers a refreshingly barbed take on the much-sampled 'classic album' concept". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
4. Wisgard, Alex (January 2016). "John Cale: M:Fans". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
5. Anderson, Stacey (25 February 2016). "John Cale: M:FANS / Music for a New Society - Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
6. Lucas, Dan (20 January 2016). "John Cale: FANS / Music For a New Society". Under the Radar. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
7. Grow, Kory (17 November 2015). "See John Cale Attend Dreamlike Masquerade in Eerie 'Close Watch' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
8. "John Cale Reworks Music for a New Society as M:FANS, Reissues Original Album". Pitchfork. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
9. "The Quietus Albums of the Year 2016". The Quietus. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
10. "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
11. "Ultratop.be – John Cale – Music for a New Society / M:FANS" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.

• John Cale albums
• Albums produced by John Cale
• 2016 albums
• Double Six Records albums