Multi-Love

Multi-Love is the third studio album from the band Unknown Mortal Orchestra. It was released on 26 May 2015.[1] The track "Can't Keep Checking My Phone" was featured by EA Sports on FIFA 16.

Multi-Love
Studio album by Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Released	26 May 2015 (2015-05-26)
Recorded	2015
Genre	Psychedelic rock indie rock indie pop psychedelic soul
Length	41:03
Label	Jagjaguwar
Producer	Ruban Nielson Kody Nielson Jacob Portrait
Unknown Mortal Orchestra chronology
Blue Record (2013) Multi-Love (2015) Sex & Food (2018)
Singles from Multi-Love
"Multi-Love" Released: 5 February 2015 "Can't Keep Checking My Phone" Released: 20 April 2015

The title Multi-Love is a reference to the polyamorous relationship frontman Ruban Nielson had with his wife and a younger woman from Tokyo, Japan for a year, before her visa expired and the relationship ended. The topic is a prevalent theme in the album's lyrics.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.7/10[3]
Metacritic	78/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The Guardian	[6]
The Irish Times	[7]
NME	9/10[8]
The Observer	[9]
Pitchfork	7.1/10[10]
Q	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Spin	8/10[13]
Uncut	9/10[14]

Multi-Love received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 25 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[4] Jeremy D. Larson of Pitchfork labeled it as Nielson's "most accomplished album".[10]

Nina Corcoran of Consequence of Sound gave the album a favorable review, stating, "By deconstructing traditional geometries of desire, they’ve made their most fully realized album yet."[15] Mack Hayden of Paste praised the album, stating, "Unknown Mortal Orchestra can now sit back and smile at the fact they’ve written an album which could just as easily be this year’s Channel Orange as it could be its Lonerism. But then again, what makes it even better is how it’s still so distinctively UMO’s that it really can only be 2015’s Multi-Love."[16] In October 2019, Multi-Love placed at no.18 on Happy Mag's list of "The 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s".[17]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank
Consequence of Sound	Top 50 Albums of 2015	2015	32[18]
The Guardian	The Best Albums of 2015	2015	18[19]
NME	NME's Albums of the Year 2015	2015	10[20]
Uncut	Uncut's Best Albums of 2015	2015	12[21]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Multi-Love"	Ruban Nielson Kody Nielson	R. Nielson K. Nielson^[a]	4:10
2.	"Like Acid Rain"	R. Nielson K. Nielson	R. Nielson K. Nielson^[a]	2:02
3.	"Ur Life One Night"	R. Nielson	R. Nielson K. Nielson^[a] Jacob Portrait^[a]	4:27
4.	"Can't Keep Checking My Phone"	R. Nielson Portrait	R. Nielson	4:16
5.	"Extreme Wealth and Casual Cruelty"	R. Nielson Chris Nielson	R. Nielson Portrait^[b]	6:04
6.	"The World Is Crowded"	R. Nielson K. Nielson	R. Nielson K. Nielson^[a] Portrait^[a]	4:19
7.	"Stage or Screen"	R. Nielson K. Nielson	R. Nielson	3:26
8.	"Necessary Evil"	R. Nielson K. Nielson C. Nielson	R. Nielson	5:17
9.	"Puzzles"	R. Nielson	R. Nielson	7:02
Total length:				41:03

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer.

Personnel

• Ruban Nielson – guitar (all tracks), synthesizer (all tracks), vocals (all tracks), bass (tracks 1-5, 7-9), percussion (tracks 3, 4), sitar (track 1), hurdy gurdy (track 5), strings (track 9); production (all tracks), engineering (all tracks), mixing (all tracks); layout
• Kody Nielson – drums (all tracks), piano (tracks 1, 2, 6, 7), percussion (tracks 4, 5), synthesizer (tracks 3, 5), bass (track 6), backing vocals (track 9); co-production (tracks 1-3, 6), additional engineering (tracks 4, 8)
• Jacob Portrait – bass (track 4); co-production (tracks 3, 8), additional production (track 5), additional engineering (tracks 3, 4, 6)
• Riley Geare – additional drums (tracks 5, 9), percussion (track 3); additional engineering (track 5)
• Chris Nielson – horns (tracks 4, 5, 8)
• Duke Aipolani – percussion (track 5)
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Marla Celeste – cover image
• Miles Johnson – layout

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22]	45
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23]	70
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24]	158
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25]	37
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[26]	14
UK Albums (OCC)[27]	44
US Billboard 200[28]	98
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[29]	7
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[30]	12
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[31]	5

References

1. Coplan, Chris (5 February 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra announce new album, Multi-Love". Consequence of Sound.
2. Hutchinson, Kate (2015-06-09). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: 'I can't tell what I'm supposed to keep private now'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
3. "Multi-Love by Unknown Mortal Orchestra reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
4. "Reviews for Multi-Love by Unknown Mortal Orchestra". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
5. Sendra, Tim. "Multi-Love – Unknown Mortal Orchestra". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
6. Jonze, Tim (21 May 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Multi-Love review – a breakup record with a difference". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
7. Murphy, Lauren (22 May 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Multi-Love | Album Review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
8. Homewood, Ben (8 May 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra – 'Multi-Love'". NME. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
9. Empire, Kitty (24 May 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Multi-Love review – a squelchy update of UMO's nagging groove". The Observer. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
10. Larson, Jeremy D. (26 May 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Multi-Love". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
11. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Multi-Love". Q (347): 113. June 2015.
12. Exposito, Suzy (24 July 2015). "Multi-Love". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
13. Brown, Harley (27 May 2015). "Review: Unknown Mortal Orchestra Welcomes the Private Into Public on the Kaleidoscopic 'Multi-Love'". Spin. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
14. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Multi-Love". Uncut (217): 79. June 2015.
15. Corcoran, Nina (20 May 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
16. Hayden, Mack (May 26, 2015). "Unknown Mortal Orchestra: Multi-Love Review". Paste. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
17. "The 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s". Retrieved 2019-10-16.
18. "Top 50 Albums of 2015". Consequence of Sound. December 2, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
19. "The Best Albums of 2015". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
20. "NME'S Albums of the Year 2015". nme.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
21. "Uncut's Best Albums of 2015". Uncut. December 18, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
22. "Australiancharts.com – Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
23. "Ultratop.be – Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
24. "Ultratop.be – Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
26. "Charts.nz – Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
27. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
28. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
29. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
30. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
31. "Unknown Mortal Orchestra Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 June 2015.