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The Art of Losing (The Anchoress album)

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The Art of Losing
Studio album by
The Anchoress
Released12 March 2021 (2021-03-12)
GenreAlt-pop
Length53:02
LabelKscope
ProducerCatherine Anne Davies
The Anchoress chronology
Confessions of a Romance Novelist
(2016) 		The Art of Losing
(2021)
Singles from The Art of Losing
  1. "Show Your Face"
    Released: 3 November 2020
  2. "Unravel"
    Released: 4 December 2020
  3. "The Art of Losing"
    Released: 22 January 2021

The Art of Losing is the second studio album by Welsh musician The Anchoress (birth name Catherine Anne Davies). It was released on 12 March 2021 by Kscope. Written and produced by Davies, the record has a dark alt-pop sound. Lyrically, it draws from grief, fury, and Davies's personal experiences. Upon release, the album was met with critical acclaim, with praise towards Davies's storytelling.

Background and release

[edit]
A black-and-white side-portrait of a woman
The Art of Losing derives its title from American poet Elizabeth Bishop's (pictured in 1934) poem "One Art".

The Art of Losing follows Davies's 2020 collaboration project In Memory of My Feelings with Bernard Butler,[1] that was written and recorded over 15 days.[2] It also marks her first full-length release since her 2016 debut album, Confessions of a Romance Novelist.[3] According to Davies, The Art of Losing was inspired by the works of musicians, such as Scott Walker, David Bowie, and the Manic Street Preachers.[3] It was written and produced by Davies, and features a guest appearance by frequent collaborator James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers.[4] The album derives its title from the opening line of American poet Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art" (1976) – "The art of losing isn't hard to master".[4][5] The album incorporates a dark alt-pop production.[5] The production features pianos, cellos, synthesizers, and drums.[6][7] Lyrically, the concept album is about the "sensation of loss".[8] It explores themes of grief, fury, trauma, and the singer's personal experiences.[5][6][7][8]

[...] There's actually something really joyous about listening to dark records. The challenge, in taking on a subject that naturally lends itself to downtempo, introspective ballads, was forcing myself to do something much more experimental, musically.

— Davies on the sound of the album, NME[3]

The record was announced in November 2020, alongside the cover-art and track list. The fourth track, "Show Your Face", was simultaneously served as the lead single from the album.[9] In the lead-up to the release of the album, "Unravel" was served as the second single on 4 December 2020,[10] while the title track was delivered as the third single on 22 January 2021.[4] The Art of Losing was released on 12 March 2021 by Kscope.[4]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash8/10[8]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[7]
Mojo[11]
musicOMH[6]
NME[5]
Uncut9/10[11]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 83, based on six reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[11]

Writing for The Line of Best Fit, Steven Loftin dubbed the album as "a collection of songs that each sits within the calloused hand of grief, desperately trying to unfurl its infuriatingly homely fingers with an embittered rage".[7] Reviewing for NME, El Hunt lauded Davies's "raw and unfiltered" lyricism and the production. Hunt described the album as both "painful and familiar" and wrote that it "captures the unpredictable, spinning chaos of grief with a searing precision that's hard to turn away from".[5] Similarly, Josh Gray of Clash praised Davies's "authorial voice and ability" to tell an honest story, as well as the album's sound.[8] musicOMH's Steven Murphy felt the album was "a palpable step up for Davies".[6] In FMS Magazine, Jimi Arundell described the "stoic yet stylish" record as "a true masterpiece which transforms her own tragedies into a universal language of pain".[12]

"The Art of Losing" which was named amongst the "Best Albums of 2021" by numerous publications including the Sunday Times,[13] Prog Magazine,[14] Record Collector,[15] The Line of Best Fit,[16] The Sun, Yorkshire Post,[17] and Classic Rock.[18]

Year-end lists

[edit]
The Art of Losing on year-end lists
Publication List Rank Ref.
Prog Top 20 Albums of 2021
1
 [19]
The Sunday Times The Sunday Times' 25 Best Albums of 2021 16 [20]
Record Collector Best New Albums of 2021 14 [21]
The Line of Best Fit Best Albums of 2021 36 [22]
The Yorkshire Post Albums of the Year 1 [23]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks were written and produced by Davies.[24]

The Art of Losing track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Moon Rise (Prelude)"2:51
2."Let It Hurt"3:37
3."The Exchange" (featuring James Dean Bradfield)4:19
4."Show Your Face"4:27
5."The Art of Losing"4:07
6."All Farewells Should Be Sudden"5:02
7."All Shall Be Well"1:40
8."Unravel"4:05
9."Paris"2:01
10."5AM"4:02
11."The Heart Is a Lonesome Hunter"4:06
12."My Confessor"3:56
13."With the Boys"5:57
14."Moon (An End)"2:52
Total length:53:02

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for The Art of Losing
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 31

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Murray, Robin (3 November 2020). "The Anchoress Announces New Album 'The Art Of Losing'". Clash. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  2. ^ Skinner, Tom (22 July 2020). "Catherine Anne Davies and Bernard Butler announce collaborative album 'In Memory of My Feelings'". NME. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Aubrey, Elizabeth (21 January 2021). "The Anchoress shares 'The Art Of Losing' video and tells us about her Manics-featuring new album". NME. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d O'Kenneally, Cerys (22 January 2021). "The Anchoress releases second album title-track "The Art of Losing"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e Hunt, El (12 March 2021). "The Anchoress – 'The Art of Losing' review: visceral pain and comfort in sound". NME. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Murphy, John (9 March 2021). "The Anchoress – The Art of Losing". musicOMH. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Loftin, Steven (8 March 2021). "The Anchoress processes grief in its many forms on the determined and rapturous The Art of Losing". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Gray, Josh (11 March 2021). "The Anchoress - The Art Of Losing". Clash. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  9. ^ O'Kenneally, Cerys (3 November 2020). "The Anchoress announces second album with lead single "Show Your Face"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  10. ^ O'Kenneally, Cerys (4 December 2020). "The Anchoress releases new track "Unravel"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  12. ^ "The Anchoress Transforms Personal Tragedy into Universal Language of Pain on Mesmerising Album, the Art of Losing". fms-mag.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  13. ^ Helm, Dan Cairns, Jonathan Dean and Jake. "25 best albums of 2021". The Times. Retrieved 25 January 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Ewing, Jerry (27 November 2021). "The Anchoress's The Art Of Losing voted Prog Magazine writers' Album Of The Year". Loudersound.com. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  15. ^ "RECORD COLLECTOR BEST ALBUMS OF 2021". Theanchoress.co.uk. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  16. ^ "The Best Albums of 2021 Ranked". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  17. ^ "The Yorkshire's Post albums of the year". Yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  18. ^ "The Anchoress". Theanchoress.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  19. ^ updated, Jerry Ewinglast (27 November 2021). "The Anchoress's The Art Of Losing voted Prog Magazine writers' Album Of The Year". loudersound. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  20. ^ "The Sunday Times' 25 Best Albums of 2021". Album of The Year. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Record Collector's Best New Albums of 2021". Album of The Year. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  22. ^ "The Best Albums of 2021 Ranked". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  23. ^ "Yorkshires Best Albums". Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  24. ^ "The Art of Losing – The Anchoress". Tidal. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  26. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
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