By the Fire
| By the Fire | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 25, 2020[1] | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 81:58 | |||
| Label | Daydream Library Series | |||
| Thurston Moore chronology | ||||
| ||||
By the Fire is the seventh solo album by Thurston Moore.[2][3]
Moore claimed the album and its release were a political act saying "I put out By the Fire as a political move. Any time you put out a record, a book, a fanzine, a blog, a cassette, a CD, whatever you're doing, that's a political move. You're actually engaging in a social world. I called it By the Fire because of that. [It's] the idea of people sitting around a fire and dialoguing."[4]
Reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Exclaim! | 5/10[2] |
| NME |   [1] |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10[5] |
Ron Hart of Spin called the album "his most direct solo outing since his 1995 debut, Psychic Hearts."[4] Stuart Berman of Pitchfork praised the album and said of the almost 90 minutes length of the album "it's a record that justifies and even demands the extra space to explore."[5]
Daniel Sylvester of Exclaim! was less effusive calling the album "boring and tedious" and said of it "much of the material sounds like Sonic Youth, even if the quality isn't there."[2]
Track listing[edit]
All tracks are written by Thurston Moore and Radieux Radio[5]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hashish" | 5:45 |
| 2. | "Cantaloupe" | 4:43 |
| 3. | "Breath" | 10:50 |
| 4. | "Siren" | 12:15 |
| 5. | "Calligraphy" | 5:18 |
| 6. | "Locomotives" | 16:43 |
| 7. | "Dreamers Work" | 4:52 |
| 8. | "They Believe in Love (When They Look at You)" | 7:46 |
| 9. | "Venus" | 13:46 |
Personnel[edit]
- Thurston Moore – vocals, guitars
- James Sedwards – guitars[5]
- Debbie Googe – bass guitars[5]
- Steve Shelley – drums[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Buchanan, Rhys (September 24, 2020). "Thurston Moore – By The Fire review: love and healing from the Sonic Youth man". NME. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b c Sylvester, Daniel (September 28, 2020). "Thurston Moore Is a Pale Imitation of His Former Self on By the Fire". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ "OFFICIAL BIO". Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ a b Hart, Ron (November 5, 2020). "Thurston Moore on New LP, 2020 Election, Meeting Our Publication's Founder". Spin. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Berman, Stuart (September 29, 2020). "Thurston Moore: By the Fire". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 5, 2021.