A Black Mile to the Surface

A Black Mile to the Surface is the fifth studio album from Atlanta-based indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. It was released on July 21, 2017[2] through Loma Vista Recordings and the band's own independent label, Favorite Gentlemen. The album was produced by both the band and Catherine Marks, along with John Congleton, Johnathan Wilson and long-time collaborator Dan Hannon. It was recorded at the band's Favorite Gentlemen Studio in Atlanta, as well as at Echo Mountain in Asheville and Elmwood West in Dallas.[3] The album also features guest vocals from Nate Ruess, formerly of The Format and fun.; as well as Christian Zucconi of Grouplove.

A Black Mile to the Surface
Studio album by
Manchester Orchestra
ReleasedJuly 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Studio
Genre
Length49:07
Label
ProducerCatherine Marks
Manchester Orchestra chronology
Hope
(2014)		 A Black Mile to the Surface
(2017)
Singles from
A Black Mile to the Surface
  1. "The Gold"
    Released: June 9, 2017 [1]

Background

The album’s title, as well as much of the imagery presented throughout is in reference to the town of Lead, SD, which is an old gold mining town that is now the site of The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). DUNE is a leading-edge, international experiment for neutrino science and proton decay studies. Discoveries over the past half-century have put neutrinos, the most abundant matter particles in the universe, in the spotlight for further research into several fundamental questions about the nature of matter and the evolution of the universe.

“A Black Mile to the Surface” is specifically a reference to this project taking place a mile underground. Imagery that relates the story of the album to this area is scattered throughout the album.

Reception

Commercial performance

A Black Mile to the Surface was a moderate commercial success for the band. It debuted the album at number thirty-three on the main Billboard 200. The album also entered the Billboard Alternative Albums chart at number five as well as the Billboard Rock Albums chart at number seven. Overall, this marked a slight drop in success compared to its predecessors Simple Math (2011) and Cope (2014), which reached number twenty-one and number thirteen on the main Billboard respectively.[4]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10[5]
Metacritic79/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Alternative Press[7]
The A.V. ClubC[8]
Exclaim!9/10[9]
The Guardian[10]
The Irish Times[11]
Kerrang!5/5[12]
Pitchfork7.0/10[13]
PopMatters8/10[2]
Q[14]

A Black Mile to the Surface was well-received by contemporary critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 20 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

In a positive review for Alternative Press, Brian Shultz wrote that the band "forge a newly lush, cinematic sound, unraveling detailed tales of characters with abstractly personal references" and highlighted the album's musicality: "Layers upon layers, from acoustic guitars to programmed beats, create a gorgeous and restrained, immersive landscape, culminating in beautifully serene moments like 'The Alien' and 'The Sunshine'."[7] Adam Feibel of Exclaim! praised the album's "sonic story arc — a story about love, marriage, fatherhood and life's constant way onward — complete with an introduction, rising action, climax and falling action that finally wind down to a conclusive, satisfying end."[9] PopMatters writer Chris Ingalls remarked that the album's sound "doesn’t derive from the airtight punk influences of decades past; rather, there’s an anthemic, widescreen feel to nearly every song ... inviting comparisons to altruistic, mid-period U2, or even Coldplay."[2]

Other critics were less enthusiastic. Randall Colburn of The A.V. Club found that despite the band's stated intent to "strip back" their sound, "they seem to have gone in the opposite direction—with all the layering, samples, and shout-alongs, A Black Mile to the Surface is bombastic to the point of exhaustion."[8] Carl Purvis was also critical of the album in his review for No Ripcord, writing that "For a band where constructing songs into rocket-fueled crescendos is their biggest strength, too often does A Black Mile to the Surface fail to take advantage of any momentum it builds, often taking the wrong fork on an ascent to a splendid finale."[15]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andy Hull.

No.TitleLength
1."The Maze"2:58
2."The Gold"4:33
3."The Moth"4:35
4."Lead, SD"4:53
5."The Alien"5:28
6."The Sunshine"1:57
7."The Grocery"5:12
8."The Wolf"4:26
9."The Mistake"3:54
10."The Parts"4:12
11."The Silence"6:59

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.[3]

Manchester Orchestra
  • Andy Hull – guitar, producer, vocals
  • Robert McDowell – engineer, guitar, keyboards, producer, vocals
  • Andy Prince – bass
  • Tim Very – drums
Technical
  • Paul Blakemore – mastering
  • John Congleton – additional production
  • The Daniels – package design, photography
  • Mike Dempsey – package design, photography
  • Jim Georgeson – assistant engineer
  • Dan Hannon – additional production
  • Brian Manley – layout, package design
  • Catherine Marks – engineer, producer, mixing
  • Clay Miller – assistant engineer
  • India Watne – A&R
  • Ryan Whalley – A&R
  • Jonathan Wilson – additional production

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] 59
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 73
UK Albums (OCC)[18] 93
US Billboard 200[19] 33
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[20] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[21] 7
gollark: Bigints.
gollark: Ah, an opaque pointer you can't poke the numeric value of, right.
gollark: What's Star Wars? What's a reference?
gollark: I don't like raw snow, but it looks nice crafted into snow bricks.
gollark: I've got this. SAYING WORDS BACKWARDS. Unbreakable.

References
  1. https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/-announces-new-album-to-drop-late-july-releases-fi.html
  2. Ingalls, Chris (August 2, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface". PopMatters. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  3. Collar, Matt. "A Black Mile to the Surface – Manchester Orchestra". AllMusic. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  4. "Manchester Orchestra - Chart History". billboard.com. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  5. "A Black Mile To The Surface by Manchester Orchestra reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  6. "Reviews and Tracks for A Black Mile to the Surface by Manchester Orchestra". Metacritic. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  7. Shultz, Brian (June 28, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile To The Surface". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on July 11, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  8. Colburn, Randall (July 28, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra's latest is overproduced and exhausting". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  9. Feibel, Adam (July 26, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  10. Gibsone, Harriet (July 27, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface review – grownup indie rock". The Guardian. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  11. Murphy, Lauren (July 27, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface – rising US band show their depth". The Irish Times. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  12. De Freitas, Ryan (July 15, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface". Kerrang!: 50.
  13. Cohen, Ian (August 7, 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  14. Garner, George (September 2017). "Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface". Q (376): 113.
  15. Purvis, Carl (August 23, 2017). "Quick Takes (July 2017)". No Ripcord. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  16. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  17. "Swisscharts.com – Manchester Orchestra – A Black Mile to the Surface". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  18. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  19. "Manchester Orchestra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  20. "Manchester Orchestra Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  21. "Manchester Orchestra Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
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