Suburban Light
Studio album by
The Clientele
Released28 November 2000 (2000-11-28)
Recorded1997–2000
Genre
Length44:15
LabelPointy
ProducerThe Clientele
The Clientele chronology
A Fading Summer
(2000) 		Suburban Light
(2000) 		Lost Weekend
(2002)
Singles from Suburban Light
  1. "What Goes Up" / "Five Day Morning"
    Released: June 1998 (1998-06)
  2. "Reflections After Jane" / "An Hour Before the Light"
    Released: March 1999 (1999-03)
  3. "Lacewings" / "Saturday"
    Released: September 1999 (1999-09)
  4. "I Had to Say This" / "Monday's Rain"
    Released: December 1999 (1999-12)
  5. "(I Want You) More Than Ever" / "6AM Morningside"
    Released: February 2000 (2000-02)

Suburban Light is the debut studio album by English indie pop band The Clientele. The album was released on 28 November 2000 by Pointy Records in the United Kingdom. In 2001, it was released by Merge Records in the United States. Suburban Light contains several tracks originally released on singles and compilations from 1997 through 2000, causing some websites such as Pitchfork to label it a compilation album.[1]

Release

The track "We Could Walk Together" first appeared on the Fierce Panda Records compilation Cry Me a Liver in November 1997.[2] Several other tracks were issued as 7-inch singles across various labels: "What Goes Up" / "Five Day Morning" on Pointy Records in June 1998, "Reflections After Jane" / "An Hour Before the Light" on Johnny Kane Records in March 1999, "Lacewings" / "Saturday" on Motorway Records in September 1999, "I Had to Say This" / "Monday's Rain" on Pointy Records in December 1999, and "(I Want You) More Than Ever" / "6AM Morningside" on Elefant Records in February 2000.[2] "Bicycles" first appeared on the March Records EP A Fading Summer in May 2000.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[4]
The Guardian[5]
Pitchfork9.1/10[6]
PopMatters9/10[7]
Spin7/10[8]
Under the Radar8/10[9]

In 2009, Suburban Light was ranked at number 80 on Pitchfork's list of the best albums of the 2000s.[10] In 2018, Pitchfork listed it at number 21 on its list of the 30 best dream pop albums.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alasdair MacLean and James Hornsey

Pointy Records release
No.TitleLength
1."I Had to Say This"3:34
2."Rain"2:34
3."Reflections After Jane"3:21
4."We Could Walk Together"2:34
5."Monday's Rain"5:05
6."Joseph Cornell"2:23
7."An Hour Before the Light"2:30
8."(I Want You) More Than Ever"3:03
9."Saturday"3:52
10."Five Day Morning"4:08
11."Bicycles"2:14
12."As Night Is Falling"5:13
13."Lacewings"3:44
Total length:44:15
Merge Records release
No.TitleLength
1."I Had to Say This"3:34
2."Rain"2:34
3."Reflections After Jane"3:21
4."We Could Walk Together"2:34
5."Monday's Rain"5:05
6."Joseph Cornell"2:23
7."What Goes Up"3:35
8."(I Want You) More Than Ever"3:03
9."6AM Morningside"1:51
10."Five Day Morning"4:08
11."From a Window"2:40
12."As Night Is Falling"5:13
13."Lacewings"3:44
Total length:43:45

Personnel

Credits for Suburban Light adapted from album liner notes.[2]

The Clientele

Additional musicians

Artwork and design

References

  1. ^ Pitchfork Staff (2 October 2009). "The 200 Best Albums of the 2000s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Suburban Light (liner notes). The Clientele. Pointy Records. 2000. POINT003 CD.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Suburban Light – The Clientele". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  4. ^ Brunner, Rob (25 May 2001). "The Clientele: Suburban Light". Entertainment Weekly. p. 80.
  5. ^ Clarke, Betty (17 November 2000). "The Clientele: Suburban Light (Pointy Records)". The Guardian.
  6. ^ Richardson, Mark (27 May 2014). "The Clientele: Suburban Light". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. ^ Elingburg, Scott (10 July 2014). "The Clientele: Suburban Light (Reissue)". PopMatters. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  8. ^ Fields, Gaylord (June 2001). "The Clientele: Suburban Light". Spin. 17 (6): 146. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  9. ^ Hamm, Ryan E. C. (16 May 2014). "The Clientele: Suburban Light (Merge)". Under the Radar. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  10. ^ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 100–51". Pitchfork. 30 September 2009. p. 3. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  11. ^ "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Pitchfork. 16 April 2018. p. 1. Retrieved 24 April 2018.

External links

The Clientele
Authority control databases
Categories