America (Dan Deacon album)
| America | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Dan Deacon | ||||
| Released | August 27, 2012 | |||
| Genre | Electronic, experimental, 21st-century classical | |||
| Length | 43:05 | |||
| Label | Domino | |||
| Producer | Chester Endersby Gwazda, Dan Deacon | |||
| Dan Deacon chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | A- |
| Allmusic |   |
| Beats Per Minute | 84% |
| Consequence of Sound | |
| Drowned in Sound | 8/10 |
| Los Angeles Times |  |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Paste | 7.8/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Pitchfork | 7.1/10 |
America is the sixth studio album by American electronic musician Dan Deacon, released August 27, 2012 on Domino Records. The album cover is a photo of Lake Placid.
America was recorded using both electronic sounds and live recordings. An anechoic chamber was built in Baltimore to record the orchestral track "Rail." The reason Deacon decided to incorporate live instruments onto the album was that Deacon felt that electronic beats were limited by its lack of flaws and that he wanted the "slight imperfection in timing" human musicians have. Because he wanted the album to sound "more like a rock record" than an electronic one, Deacon enlisted King Crimson engineer Simon Heyworth to master the album.
In an interview with NPR, Deacon said that the album was inspired by the politics and geography of the United States, saying:
Deacon described the album as "political," saying that the lyrics were "[..] inspired by my frustration, fear and anger towards the country and world I live in and am a part of." However, Deacon also said that he did not want the political nature to be overt, arguing that people do not respond to overt political messages.
"Rail" was inspired by an empty train ride Deacon was on while traveling from Seattle to New York City. "Rail" was also inspired by an orchestral work Deacon wrote for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. "Manifest" was about "figuring out where I fit in regards to the way my mind perceives me," while "True Thrush" was "about confusion and loss of self" and the "homogenization of culture." The track "USA I: Is A Monster" took its name from the rock band The USA Is a Monster.
The first song from the album, "Lots," was uploaded to Soundcloud by Domino Records on May 29, 2012. A second song, "True Thrush," was released on July 10, 2012. On July 18, 2012, a music video for "True Thrush" was released. The music video, directed by Ben O' Brien and Deacon, featured teams of people playing a skit-based game of telephone. On August 21, 2012, the album was streamed in its entirety on The Guardian.
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