The Order of Time (album)

The Order of Time is the fourth full-length album by American singer and songwriter Valerie June. Produced by Matt Marinelli, it was released on March 10, 2017. "Astral Plane" and "Shakedown" are the lead singles of the album. The Order of Time was well received by critics and was included on several yearly best-of lists of albums.

The Order of Time
Studio album by
Valerie June
ReleasedMarch 10, 2017 (2017-03-10)
Studio
  • Guilford Sound
  • Brooklyn Recording
  • Seaside Lounge
  • Reservoir
  • Rayzor
Genre
Length43:28
Label
ProducerMatt Marinelli[3]
Valerie June chronology
Pushin' Against a Stone
(2013)		 The Order of Time
(2017)

Background

According to Paste, Matt Marinelli was the third producer that June approached for The Order of Time.[4] June and Marinelli met at the 2014 Newport Folk Festival, where June was performing and Marinelli was working as Norah Jones's road manager.[4] June hired Marinelli as her own road manager and accompanist after she had found out that he formerly lived with her fiddler Mazz Swift.[4]

"Astral Plane" and "Shakedown" are the lead singles of the album. "Shakedown" features vocals by June's father, who died in November 2016.[5] She recalls her father in a few of the songs on the album.[4]

June said that the title of the album means that it is "about life cycles and journeys".[6] She recalled to The Globe and Mail that she met her new baby nephew for the first time, when she left the hospital in which her father died that night.[6]

Writing and recording

June had originally written around a hundred songs, as reported by Elle, and she narrowed them down to twelve that ended up on the album.[3] June told Elle that Marinelli would refer to the hundred songs as "a freaking encyclopedia".[3] According to MTV News, several of the songs on the album were sketched out in the early 2000s, while June was living in Memphis, Tennessee.[7]

Recording took place in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Oregon, and Guilford, Vermont, all in 2015.[3][4][8] A song was mixed at Exile Recording, Long Island City, New York, while all other songs were mixed at Guilford Sound, Guilford, Vermont.[8] An overdubbing session took place during a holiday visit to June's family home in Tennessee.[8]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.8/10[9]
Metacritic89/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
American Songwriter[2]
The Austin Chronicle[11]
The Guardian[12]
The Independent[13]
PopMatters9/10[14]
Slant Magazine[15]
Spectrum Culture[16]

The album was critically acclaimed. Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the album an averaged Metascore of 89 based on ten professional reviews, indicating a "universal acclaim".[10]

The New Yorker's Hua Hsu was "captivated by the album's ethereal slowness", and wrote that it is "almost psychedelic wandering".[5] Referring to the "spectral organ and densely layered acoustic guitars [guiding] songs like 'The Front Door', 'Two Hearts' and 'Astral Plane'", Jonathan Bernstein of the American Songwriter said that the "ethereal, contemplative and meandering narratives provide a counterbalance to the controlled catharsis of June's soul".[2] The Guardian's Dave Simpson found the "gloriously ethereal atmosphere" of "Astral Plane" reminiscent of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.[12] Josh Hurst of Slant Magazine wrote, "[The] mingling of the earthbound and the otherworldly is crucial to the album, and June makes it sound like the most natural thing in the world."[15]

June's songwriting also received praise. Emily Zimmerman of Exclaim! wrote that "her persona as a creator is both spellbinding and well versed in the ways of the world".[17]

Accolades

Rolling Stone ranked the album at No. 24 on their "50 Best Albums of 2017" list and at No. 3 on their "40 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2017" list, with Will Hermes of Rolling Stone saying that "June perfected her handsomely idiosyncratic brand of Americana", and calling "If And" and "Got Soul" the "headiest moments" of the album.[1][18]

Jon Pareles of The New York Times ranked the album at No. 9 on his list of best pop albums of 2017.[19] He wrote: "Rootsy, leisurely, genre-blurring Americana grooves roll along and evolve behind Valerie June’s assorted voices — nasal, clear, cracked, breathy — in songs with a casual, conversational surface."[19]

The Order of Time was ranked No. 10 on Cosmopolitan's "The 10 Best Albums of 2017" list.[20] Calling the album "maybe the most underrated gem of 2017", Eliza Thompson of Cosmopolitan wrote, "Whether she's a joyous hand-clapper as on 'Shakedown' or a dreamy balladeer as on 'Astral Plane', her voice is so mesmerizing you'll never want to stop listening."[20]

In The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, a poll regarding the best albums of the year as voted by more than 400 American music critics, The Order of Time tied with Laura Marling's Semper Femina at the 89th spot.[21]

The album was included on the "Top 20 albums of 2017" list for The Sydney Morning Herald.[22]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Valerie June.

No.TitleLength
1."Long Lonely Road"3:56
2."Love You Once Made"3:37
3."Shakedown"2:46
4."If And"3:30
5."Man Done Wrong"3:06
6."The Front Door"4:14
7."Astral Plane"3:38
8."Just In Time"3:50
9."With You"2:42
10."Slip Slide On By"4:04
11."Two Hearts"3:53
12."Got Soul"4:12
Total length:43:28

Personnel
  • Peter Apfelbaum[23] – tenor saxophone
  • Steven Bernstein[23] – alto horn, trumpet
  • John Bollinger[8] – drums, percussion
  • Greg Calbi – mastering
  • Clark Gayton – trombone
  • Matthew Hall – assistant engineer
  • Emerson Hockett[24] – background vocals
  • Jason Hockett[24] – background vocals
  • Patrick Hockett[24] – background vocals
  • Marika Hughes[8] – cello
  • Norah Jones[12] – background vocals
  • Aurélien Jubault – assistant engineer
  • Valerie June – banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals
  • Arthur Kell – double bass
  • Dan Lead – pedal steel guitar
  • Andy MacLeod[8] – drums, twelve-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • Matt Marinelli[23] – eight-string bass guitar, ARP synthesizer, bass guitar, engineer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mixing, percussion, piano, producer, sound treatment, vibraphone, xylophone
  • Matt Marshall – A&R
  • Nick Nagurka – assistant engineer
  • Dan Reiser[8] – drums, percussion
  • Colin Stetson – contrabass clarinet, bass saxophone
  • Daniel Stewart – assistant engineer
  • Mazz Swift[8] – drums, percussion, violin, background vocals
  • Richard Swift[8] – bass guitar, drums, engineer, keyboards, mixing, producer
  • Andy Taub[8] – engineer
  • Adam Tilzer – assistant engineer
  • Douglas Wielselman – clarinet, bass clarinet, horn arrangements, baritone saxophone
  • James Yost – assistant engineer

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[25] 111
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[26] 5
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[27] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[28] 20
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[29] 25
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[30] 30
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References
  1. "50 Best Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone. November 27, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  2. Bernstein, Jonathan (March 2, 2017). "Valerie June: The Order Of Time " American Songwriter". American Songwriter. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  3. Hyman, Dan (March 13, 2017). "From Kickstarter to Critical Acclaim: The Winning, Genre-Bending Music of Valerie June". Elle. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  4. Himes, Geoffrey (March 17, 2017). "Valerie June Wants to Be Set Free". Paste. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  5. Hsu, Hua (May 3, 2017). "Valerie June's Music Is a Reminder That Life Goes On". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  6. Wheeler, Brad (April 14, 2017). "Valerie June arrives in her own time". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  7. St. Félix, Doreen (March 29, 2017). "Album Review: Valerie June, 'The Order of Time'". MTV News. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  8. Schultz, Barbara (March 21, 2017). "Valerie June And The Order Of Time". Mix. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  9. "The Order Of Time by Valerie June reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  10. Metacritic (March 10, 2017). "Critic Reviews for The Order of Time". CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  11. Freeman, Doug (March 17, 2017). "SXSW 2017 - Review: Valerie June - Music". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  12. Simpson, Dave (January 26, 2017). "Valerie June: The Order of Time review – glorious, ethereal, sublime". The Guardian. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  13. Gill, Andy (March 8, 2017). "Album reviews: The Shins The Magnetic Fields Valerie June, Sir Was, Les Amazones d'Afrique". The Independent. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  14. Driver, Richard (March 1, 2017). "Valerie June: The Order of Time". PopMatters. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  15. Hurst, Josh (February 26, 2017). "Valerie June: The Order of Time | Album Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  16. Beaudoin, Jedd (March 19, 2017). "Valerie June: The Order of Time". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  17. Zimmerman, Emily (March 8, 2017). "Valerie June The Order of Time". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  18. "40 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone. December 7, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  19. Pareles, Jon (December 6, 2017). "The Best Albums of 2017". The New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  20. Thompson, Eliza (December 13, 2017). "The 10 Best Albums of 2017". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  21. "Pazz & Jop: It's Kendrick's and Cardi's World. We're All Just Living in It.". The Village Voice. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018
  22. Mathieson, Craig (December 14, 2017). "Top 20 albums of 2017: From proven stars to those starting out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  23. "Got Soul - Peter Apfelbaum, Steven Bernstein, Valerie June, Matt Marinelli, Dan Rieser, Mazz Swift, Doug Wieselman & Valerie June Song". BBC Music. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  24. "When Valerie June Writes Music, It Begins With A Voice In Her Head". NPR. March 25, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  25. "Valerie June Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  26. "Valerie June Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard.
  27. "Valerie June Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
  28. "Valerie June Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  29. "Valerie June Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard.
  30. "Valerie June Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard.
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