AZD (album)

AZD (pronounced "Azid") is the fifth studio album by British electronic musician Actress (real name Darren Cunningham). It was released on 14 April 2017 on Ninja Tune Records.[13][14] Upon its announcement, the video for the lead single "X22RME" was released on Ninja Tune's YouTube channel.[15][16] AZD is Actress's fifth album. The preceding album, Ghettoville, had been suspected to have been his last.[17]

AZD
Studio album by
Actress
Released14 April 2017
Genre
Length55:15
LabelNinja Tune
ProducerDarren Cunningham
Actress chronology
Ghettoville
(2014)		 AZD
(2017)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[1]
Metacritic81/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubA[4]
Financial Times[5]
The Guardian[6]
NME[7]
The Observer[8]
Pitchfork7.9/10[9]
Q[10]
Record Collector[11]
Resident Advisor4.2/5[12]

As an artist, Actress has always been considered vague in regards to the intentions behind his actions and albums. Christian Eede of The Quietus writes that while a common theme of Cunningham's albums reportedly experienced by listeners is death and a downbeat vibe, AZD shows Actress in a more humorous and open light.[17]

Cunningham tends to give vague titles to his music works to give his audience a glimpse of what the concept of the pieces are instead of fully revealing his thoughts on his songs.[17]

The album has a central concept of the sound associated with 'chrome'.[18] Chrome can represent futuristic ideals while also conveying coldness which in turn could represent human dissociation. Even with this, AZD is a big change in terms of energy from past albums. Its energy is described and felt as higher, as it is not as gloomy or dark as his others.[17]

Track listing

Track listing adapted from Ninja Tune's website.[19]

All tracks are written by Darren Cunningham.

No.TitleLength
1."NIMBUS"0:54
2."UNTITLED 7"5:13
3."FANTASYNTH"5:02
4."BLUE WINDOW"3:42
5."CYN"3:18
6."X22RME"5:04
7."RUNNER"5:12
8."FALLING RIZLAS"2:25
9."DANCING IN THE SMOKE"6:21
10."FAURE IN CHROME"6:02
11."THERE'S AN ANGEL IN THE SHOWER"7:33
12."VISA"4:29
Total length:55:15
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References
  1. "AZD by Actress reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  2. "Reviews and Tracks for AZD by Actress". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  3. Kellman, Andy. "AZD – Actress". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  4. O'Neal, Sean (14 April 2017). "Actress reemerges and reclaims himself on the enjoyably idiosyncratic AZD". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  5. Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (14 April 2017). "Actress: AZD — 'tenuous application to melody'". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  6. Petridis, Alexis (13 April 2017). "Actress: AZD review – a brilliantly twisted, introverted take on dance music". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. Cooper, Leonie (12 April 2017). "Actress – 'AZD' Review". NME. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  8. Mackay, Emily (16 April 2017). "Actress: AZD review – electronic maverick gets playfully deep". The Observer. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  9. Ballard, Thea (12 April 2017). "Actress: AZD". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  10. Yates, Steve (July 2017). "Actress: AZD". Q (373): 104.
  11. Bowler, Paul (June 2017). "Actress – AZD". Record Collector (467). Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  12. Finlayson, Angus (12 April 2017). "Actress – AZD". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  13. "Actress returns with fifth album, AZD". Fact Magazine. 14 March 2017.
  14. "Actress announces new album AZD, shares video for new track "X22RME"". Tiny Mix Tapes. 14 March 2017.
  15. "Actress - 'X22RME'". Ninja Tune. 14 March 2017.
  16. "New Actress album, AZD, coming out on Ninja Tune". Resident Advisor. 14 March 2017.
  17. Eede, Christian (13 April 2017). "Christian Eede On Actress' AZD". The Quietus. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  18. Petridis, Alexis (13 April 2017). "Actress: AZD review – a brilliantly twisted, introverted take on dance music". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  19. "Actress AZD". Ninja Tune. 14 March 2017.


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