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We Are Sent Here by History

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We Are Sent Here by History
A drawing of a nude Black person with pitch black skin that resembles rubber, posed in front of a series of white concentric circles over a white-specked black background.
Studio album by
Shabaka and the Ancestors
Released13 March 2020 (2020-03-13)
Length63:58
LabelImpulse!
Shabaka and the Ancestors chronology
Wisdom of Elders
(2016)
We Are Sent Here by History
(2020)
Afrikan Culture
(as Shabaka)

(2022)

We Are Sent Here by History is a studio album by British-Barbadian musician Shabaka Hutchings, under his band Shabaka and the Ancestors. It was released on 13 March 2020 under Impulse! Records.[1][2]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8/10[3]
Metacritic84/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Guardian[6]
Pitchfork8/10[7]
The Skinny[8]

We Are Sent Here by History was met with universal acclaim reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 84, based on 11 reviews.[4]

As Rob Shepherd noted for PostGenre: "As much as history may have sent [the band] to this moment in time, one senses future generations will themselves be looking back to this music in forging their own artistic paths."[9]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Shabaka Hutchings and Siyabonga Mthembu.

We Are Sent Here by History track listing
No.TitleLength
1."They Who Must Die"10:10
2."You've Been Called"6:29
3."Go My Heart, Go to Heaven"6:41
4."Behold, the Deceiver"6:01
5."Run, the Darkness Will Pass"4:08
6."The Coming of the Strange Ones"6:28
7."Beast Too Spoke of Suffering"2:58
8."We Will Work (On Redefining Manhood)"5:24
9."'Til the Freedom Comes Home"7:06
10."Finally, the Man Cried"5:48
11."Teach Me How to Be Vulnerable"2:45

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for
We Are Sent Here by History
Chart (2020) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 81
Scottish Albums (OCC)[11] 90
UK Jazz & Blues Albums (OCC)[12] 3
US Top Contemporary Jazz Albums (Billboard)[13]
10
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[14]
23

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Spice, Anton (31 January 2020). "Shabaka Hutchings and The Ancestors announce new album We Are Sent Here By History". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  2. ^ Yates, Sian (31 January 2020). "Shabaka & the Ancestors announce new album We Are Sent Here By History". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  3. ^ "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  5. ^ Jurek, Thom. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  6. ^ Spencer, Neil (28 March 2020). "Shabaka and the Ancestors: We Are Sent Here By History review – shamanic lyricism". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  7. ^ Ismael Ruiz, Michael (28 March 2020). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  8. ^ Johnson, Eugenie (10 March 2020). "The Skinny Magazine Review". The Skinny. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Review: Shabaka and the Ancestors' 'We Are Sent Here by History'". 27 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Shabaka and the Ancestors – We Are Sent Here by History" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Official Jazz & Blues Albums Chart Top 30". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Contemporary Jazz Albums Charts". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Tastemaker Albums Chart". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2020.