Girl with Basket of Fruit

Girl with Basket of Fruit is the eleventh album by American experimental band Xiu Xiu, released on February 8, 2019.[1] It follows the band's 2017 album Forget and was co-produced by member Angela Seo and Deerhoof's Greg Saunier. The album is supported by the lead single "Scisssssssors", which was released with an accompanying music video.[1] A second single, entitled "Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy", was also released with a music video on January 15, 2019.[2]

Girl with Basket of Fruit
Studio album by Xiu Xiu
Released	February 8, 2019 (2019-02-08)
Studio	Nurse (Jamie Stewart's home studio in Los Angeles)
Length	36:35
Label	Polyvinyl
Producer	Angela Seo Greg Saunier
Xiu Xiu chronology
Forget (2017) Girl with Basket of Fruit (2019)
Singles from Girl with Basket of Fruit
"Scisssssssors" Released: December 6, 2018 "Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy" Released: January 15, 2019 "It Comes Out as a Joke" Released: April 5, 2019

Background and lyrics

The record is said to feature "themes and references" of and to "ritual, mythology, mundane and divergent belief, film, music, and resurrected motifs from preceding Xiu Xiu videos".[1] It was also noted to be "imbued with the agitation, tension, sorrow and anger that has permeated the daily lives of so many over the last few years".[3] The title is a reference to Caravaggio's Boy with a Basket of Fruit, with the gender switch being crucial to the record: "When this title is a boy it is fey and lovely. When it is a girl is worrisome and rife with danger. Male martyrs are almost always surrounded by nurses, their mothers, adoring angels and other loving disciples wrapping their crushed and holy bodies in strips of herb soaked cloth and weeping rapturously. Female martyrs are almost always depicted having their skin flayed, breasts branded or ripped off with tongs or being stabbed and they are always, always alone save for her murderers. There is never anyone by their sides celebrating their spiritual life, only fiendishly reveling in their torture of her. It is perilous to be a 'girl.'"[4]

Jamie Stewart, alongside a selection of images connected to each of the album's songs and Angela Seo's favorite and least-favorite lyrics, wrote of Girl with a Basket of Fruit: "Generally, Xiu Xiu songs are narratives about the internal effects of external events. For this record [...] the lyrics were taken largely from the internal effects of internal events: reactions to and explorations of other people's TEXTS [...] and images."[4]

Music

Lead single "Scisssssssors" was called "ritualistic-sounding" and its video described as featuring "cult-like imagery" by The Fader.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.8/10[6]
Metacritic	75/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The Line of Best Fit	3.5/10[9]
Pitchfork	6.0/10[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Sputnikmusic	4/5[12]
Under the Radar	[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[14]

Girl with Basket of Fruit received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the album holds a score of 75/100 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Angela Seo and Greg Saunier. Credits adapted from Tidal.[15]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Girl with Basket of Fruit"	Daniel Brevil Gordon McChesney Smith James Cyrus Stewart	4:16
2.	"It Comes Out as a Joke"	Stewart	3:01
3.	"Amargi ve Moo"	Devin Hoff Stewart	4:51
4.	"Ice Cream Truck"	Stewart	2:38
5.	"Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy"	Carl Elliot Reed Stewart Angela Seo[4]	5:01
6.	"The Wrong Thing"	Hoff Stewart	4:55
7.	"Mary Turner Mary Turner"	Stewart	3:48
8.	"Scisssssssors"	Brevil Smith Stewart	4:27
9.	"Normal Love"	Hoff Stewart	3:38
Total length:			36:35

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[16]

• Daniel Brevil – percussion
• Devin Hoff – double bass, bass violin, bass guitar
• Emmanuel Obi – percussion, experimental percussion, vocals
• Ayo Okafor – percussion
• Elliot Reed – percussion, experimental percussion, vocals
• Eugene Robinson – vocals
• Greg Saunier – organ, production
• Angela Seo – piano, vocals, electronic percussion, organ, harmonium, production
• Ches Smith – percussion
• Ace Stewart – vocals
• Jamie Stewart – vocals, synthesizers, guitar, experimental percussion, viola, recording[lower-alpha 1]
• River Stewart – vocals
• Tara Jane O'Neil – additional recording
• John Congleton – mixing
• Lawrence English – mastering

Notes

1. Credited as "Butch Jenny Stewart".

References

1. Gottsegen, Will (December 6, 2018). "Xiu Xiu Announce New Album Girl With Basket of Fruit With 'Scisssssssors'". Spin. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
2. https://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/xiu-xiu-share-video-new-track-pumpkin-attack-mommy-and-daddy-tour-dates
3. Bruce-Jones, Henry (December 6, 2018). "Xiu Xiu share 'Scisssssssors' from new album Girl with Basket of Fruit". Fact. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
4. Stewart, Jamie. "A Guide to Xiu Xiu's Girl with Basket of Fruit". Talkhouse. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
5. Maicki, Salvatore (December 6, 2018). "Xiu Xiu return with 'Scisssssssors' off new album Girl With Basket Of Fruit". The Fader. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
6. "Girl With Basket Of Fruit by Xiu Xiu reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
7. "Girl with Basket of Fruit by Xiu Xiu Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
8. allmusic
9. Lilly, Evan (February 6, 2019). "Xiu Xiu - Girl with Basket of Fruit". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
10. Haver Currin, Grayson. "Xiu Xiu: Girl With Basket of Fruit". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
11. Stasis, Spyros (February 5, 2019). "Xiu Xiu: Girl With a Basket of Fruit (album review)". PopMatters. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
12. "Review: Xiu Xiu - Girl with Basket of Fruit". Sputnikmusic. February 12, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
13. Adcock, Lee (February 6, 2019). "Xiu Xiu: Girl with Basket of Fruit (Polyvinyl)". Under the Radar. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
14. "Xiu Xiu - Girl with Basket of Fruit". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
15. "Credits Girl with Basket of Fruit / Xiu Xiu – TIDAL". Tidal. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
16. Girl with Basket of Fruit (Media notes). Xiu Xiu. Polyvinyl Record Co. 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)