Wakin on a Pretty Daze
| Wakin on a Pretty Daze | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Kurt Vile | ||||
| Released | April 9, 2013 | |||
| Recorded | February 2012 & May–November 2012; New York City, California and Philadelphia | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, Psychedelic rock | |||
| Length | 69:03 | |||
| Label | Matador | |||
| Producer | John Agnello, Kurt Vile & the Violators | |||
| Kurt Vile chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Alternate cover | ||||
Deluxe Daze (Post Haze) cover art
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| The Guardian | |
| Mojo | |
| NME | 8/10 |
| The Observer | |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.5/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | 9/10 |
Wakin on a Pretty Daze is the fifth studio album by American indie rock musician Kurt Vile, released on April 9, 2013 on Matador Records. Produced by both John Agnello and Kurt Vile & the Violators, the album is the first not to feature contributions from long-time collaborator and former bandmate Adam Granduciel.
Regarding the album's thematic and lyrical content, Vile stated, "It’s just about my life, without thinking too much about it. I feel comfortable with the lyrics. I think myself and my bandmates, my close bandmates, Rob Laakso and Jesse Trbovich, they’re right there with me. We all live it." The album reached number forty-seven on the Billboard 200 and forty-one on the UK Albums Chart.
A deluxe edition of the album, entitled Wakin on a Pretty Daze: Deluxe Daze (Post Haze), was released on November 13, 2013. The re-release included a new EP, It's a Big World Out There (And I Am Scared), and new artwork by Steve Powers.
In 2011, Kurt Vile's fourth studio album, Smoke Ring for My Halo, was met with critical acclaim and its release significantly expanded his fan base. Reflecting on the extensive touring schedule which accompanied the album, Vile noted, "Things were going good and people were coming to our shows, which is nice, but it's also draining. And I have a family, so there are all kinds of psychological things weighing you down. So it's not like a cushy lifestyle — there's struggle and urgency in there in its own right. Ultimately you want some kind of struggle." Vile began writing tracks for his fifth studio album whilst on tour, practicing them during soundchecks: "The record was written all over the place, on tour," Vile elaborated "I was playing more gigs and more soundchecks and I was creating these sort of more epic tunes."
Following the album's release longtime collaborator and guitarist Adam Granduciel departed from The Violators to focus on his own musical project, The War on Drugs, with sometime studio collaborator Rob Laakso joining in his place. Vile stated, "My newest steady bandmate [is] Rob Laakso, I’ve known him longer than I’ve known other members of my band. He joined the band right after Smoke Ring came out. He’s like a wiz-kid with synthesizers and engineering in general and guitar. He can sync things up with sequences and all that kind of stuff that I like, but am too ADD to figure it out." At the close of the tour, drummer Mike Zanghi quietly departed from the band.
...
Wikipedia