Eucalyptus
Studio album by
Avey Tare
ReleasedJuly 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Recorded2017
GenreElectroacoustic
Length62:29
LabelDomino
Avey Tare chronology
Down There
(2010) 		Eucalyptus
(2017) 		Cows on Hourglass Pond
(2019)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.4/10[1]
Metacritic68/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubC+[4]
The Guardian[5]
The Independent[6]
Mojo[1]
The Observer[7]
PopMatters[8]
Pitchfork7.6/10[9]
Q[2]
Uncut5/10[1]

Eucalyptus is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Avey Tare. Released on July 21, 2017, it is Avey Tare's second album, following his 2010 debut Down There,[10] Recorded by fellow Animal Collective bandmate Joshua Dibb, it features past collaborators Eyvind Kang and Angel Deradoorian.

Production

A press release by Domino described the album as "an electroacoustic movement through leaves, rocks and dust. Written on sunlit bedroom afternoon in Los Angeles, practiced in the dark early hours of the California twilight, and slept on under Big Sur skies."[11]

Portner wrote the album by himself in 2014, but due to commitments with his band Animal Collective he set the material aside. In an interview with Stereogum, Portner elaborated on the writing of the album:[12]

...my process would just be pretty much: pick up my acoustic guitar, sit on my bed, just spend part of the afternoon or a couple of hours playing guitar and singing with my recorder — I record everything that I play. I like to find a good balance between intuitive creativity and something that's very thought out. And I feel like the most intuitive thing, the best idea, is just the first one that comes, often. So I just collected a bunch of that kinda stuff over the year basically.

His friend and bandmate Josh Dibb proposed properly recording the album in 2016. The two recorded the album together at their respective homes.[13]

Promotion

A week before properly announcing the album, Domino Records mailed out several packages to a handful of recipients. In the package was a tiny puzzle, which displayed the album art once assembled. The label on the box listed the track listing and personnel.[14]

Track listing

All tracks written by Avey Tare.

No.TitleLength
1."Season High"5:47
2."Melody Unfair"5:07
3."Ms. Secret"5:32
4."Lunch Out of Order Pt. 1"1:44
5."Lunch Out of Order Pt. 2"1:52
6."Jackson 5"3:47
7."DR aw one for J"3:12
8."PJ"4:13
9."In Pieces"3:05
10."Selection of a Place"6:07
11."Boat Race"2:16
12."Roamer"2:46
13."Coral Lords"8:03
14."Sports in July"4:46
15."When You Left Me"4:12
Total length:62:29

The track "Selection of a Place" also appears on Animal Collective's Meeting of the Waters EP, although it is listed on the EP as the "Rio Negro Version". The two tracks only share similarities in lyrics and chord progression.

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[15]

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[16] 15
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[17] 37

References

  1. ^ a b c "Eucalyptus by Avey Tare reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Eucalyptus by Avey Tare". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  3. ^ Donelson, Marcy (July 21, 2017). "Eucalyptus - Avey Tare". AllMusic. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Colburn, Randall. "Nine Inch Nails, Foster The People, and more in this week's music reviews". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  5. ^ Mumford, Gwilym. "Avey Tare: Eucalyptus review – invigorating reminder of Animal Collective's oddness". The Guardian. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  6. ^ Gill, Andy (July 20, 2017). "Album reviews: Dizzee Rascal – Raskit, Chris Robinson Brotherhood – Barefoot In The Head, Cornelius – Mellow Waves". The Independent. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Mardles, Paul (July 23, 2017). "Avey Tare: Eucalyptus review – brilliant, but infuriating, beats". The Observer. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  8. ^ MacDonald, Landon (September 5, 2017). "Avey Tare: Eucalyptus". PopMatters. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  9. ^ Rytlewski, Evan. "Avey Tare: Eucalyptus". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
  10. ^ "Avey Tare Details New Album *Eucalyptus*". Pitchfork.com. 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  11. ^ "Domino USA | News | Avey Tare announces new studio album Eucalyptus". Dominorecordco.us. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  12. ^ Rhoades, Lindsey. "Q&A: Avey Tare Talks Working With Old Friends On His Mysterious New Album Eucalyptus". Stereogum. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Hi I'm Avey Tare and I'm here for ya ears • r/indieheads". reddit. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  14. ^ "I got an interesting package from Domino today... : AnimalCollective". Reddit.com. 2017-05-24. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  15. ^ "Eucalyptus - Avey Tare | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  16. ^ "Avey Tare Eucalyptus: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  17. ^ "Avey Tare Eucalyptus: Independent Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
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