2016 studio album by Rival Consoles
| Night Melody | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Rival Consoles | ||||
| Released | 5 August 2016 (2016-08-05) | |||
| Genre | Electronic | |||
| Length | 33:43 | |||
| Label | Erased Tapes | |||
| Rival Consoles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 6.9/10 |
| Metacritic | 75/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10 |
| Exclaim! | 7/10 |
| Mixmag | 7/10 |
| Pitchfork | 8.0/10 |
Night Melody is the fourth studio album by British electronic musician Ryan Lee West, performing under his stage name Rival Consoles. It was released on 5 August 2016, Erased Tapes Records.
Production
Writing for Night Melody began in late-2015, at the same time West's third album Howl was released. West had just come out of a 13-year relationship, inspiring the release of his fourth studio album. In response to the release, West said: "I’ve been working on the mini album for four or five months straight. And I don’t mean that in the glamorous way. It’s been destroying my brain; there’s been a lot of problem solving. The ideas themselves always come quickly, it’s more the second stage of making things better and solving problems."
Critical reception
Night Melody 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 75, based on 6 reviews. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 72 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 7 reviews.
Writing for AllMusic, Paul Simpson said "The short album is relatively straightforward, with six tracks of subdued, atmospheric techno -- no filler, no beating around the bush. The album isn't quite as dark or sad as one might expect, given the context. It seems like a logical extension of the path he's been taking with his previous few recordings." Stephen Proski of Drowned in Sound wrote "Night Melody was developed as a result of the incarcerated experience of working in abject environments with digital technology: the haunting yet comforting background noise of a hard drive humming. West, when left alone to his devices, is able to transform emotion into the esoteric, colluding synthesis into vibrant, organic swaths of sound." The staff at Mixmag praised West for a richer and more complex sound than his previous releases.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pattern of the North" | 5:50 |
| 2. | "Johannesburg" | 7:22 |
| 3. | "Slow Song" | 3:52 |
| 4. | "Lone" | 5:55 |
| 5. | "Night Melody" | 5:22 |
| 6. | "What Sorrow" | 5:22 |
Charts
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Dance Albums (OCC) | 18 |
References
- ^ Simpson, Paul. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Proski, Stephen (6 August 2016). "Drowned in Sound Review". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- Sylvester, Daniel (3 August 2016). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- ^ "Mixmag Review". Mixmag. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- Scheim, Benjamin (5 August 2016). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
- ^ Kolada, Brian (9 June 2016). "Rival Consoles returns with new mini album, Night Melody". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- Protz, Adam. "Rival Consoles: Turning Darkness Into Melody". Headliner Magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2020.