| New Album | ||
|---|---|---|
 Cover for New Album. Cover for New Album 2009 below. | ||
| Studio album by Boris | ||
| Released | March 16 2011 | |
| Recorded | 2009 - 2011 at Sound Square in Tokyo, Japan | |
| Genre | Shoegaze, Alternative Rock, Pop | |
| Length | 45:39 | |
| Producer | Boris, Shinobu Narita | |
| Boris chronology | ||
| Klatter (2011) |
New Album (2011) |
Attention Please (2013) |
| Alternative Cover | ||
| ||
New Album is the fifteenth studio album by the Japanese experimental band Boris. The album was released in Japan on 16 March 2011, on CD through Tearbridge (an imprint of major label Avex) and on double LP through Daymare Recordings, and was released worldwide with a different mix and track list through Sargent House on 25 November 2011.[1] The CD and LP feature different versions of several tracks.[2]
Background[]
Development and Release[]
Work would begin on Heavy Rocks in 2009 through 2010. Signing with Sargent House in early 2011, Boris would announce three albums, the first being New Album and then Attention Please and Heavy Rocks.[3] The album's sound would shift to a drastically different sounds, with elements of electronica, J-Pop and shoegaze. Recordings had been done through 2009 with an album's worth of material completed (later released in 2021 as New Album 2009) but would be shelved and never intended for release. These ideas however would be used to to build upon three different albums, along with other releases such as Golden Dance Classics.[4]
New Album would be initially released in March 2011 via Tearbridge Records on CD and via Daymare Recordings on vinyl, the latter featuring different mixes of several songs. American label Sargent House would release the album on 25 November 2011 on CD and 2LP,[5] with a full stream via SPIN four days later.[6] Notably, the Sargent House version has a different mix of the song "Flare", renames "Dark Guitar" to "Les Paul Custom '86" and replaces "Black Original" with an alternate rendition of "Luna", which previously appeared on Chapter Ahead Being Fake (A split with Torche) and Metal Swim, a compilation curated by Williams Street Records.
The label released the song "Party Boy" prior to the album, which also appears in an altered form on Attention Please. Other tracks shared with that album are "Hope" and "Spoon". The album also shares the tracks "Jackson Head" and "Tu, La La" with Heavy Rocks. "Black Original" has appeared on Japanese Heavy Rock Hits with different instrumentation than the two versions used for this release.
Reception[]
New Album attained mostly positive reception, with many critics noting the drastic shift in sound. A review of Tiny Mix Tapes would award the album a 4/5 score though reviewed it as such before the album's international release, stating "after getting their feet wet and having thoroughly tested their pop hypotheses, the Boris of New Album never hesitate and seldom falter, realizing the potential they’ve left untapped for years.".[7] A review via Scene Point Blank, awarding a 7.5/10 score, would state "Despite the overlap with some of their other albums, New Album is absolutely enjoyable and definitely worth listening to. It greatly reworks the lacklustre pop music that fouled Attention Please and improves on the weaker sections of Heavy Rocks, all while defining its own distinct sound in the Boris canon.".[8] Consequence would also notably give a "B" score and state that the band "had gone unabashedly pop".[9]
Some critics would not be as receptive of New Album, however. Pitchfork would score the album with a 6.5/10, and while stating that "All of the Attention Please and Heavy Rocks tracks sound better here" they would also cite some of the ideas as hollow and forced.[10] Under The Radar Magazine would award a 6/10, stating "There are some duds, but overall it’s a fun divergence for this group, now enjoying a year full of divergences.".[11]
New Album 2009[]
On 2 April 2021 Boris would release New Album 2009, a studio album of material recorded in 2009, most of which used as a template for this iteration of New Album, Heavy Rocks, Attention Please, Japanese Heavy Rock Hits and Golden Dance Classics. Boris recorded this session in 2009 and had never intended to release it but would release it in April for Bandcamp Fridays.[12][13]
Tracklist[]
Tearbridge Records CD[]
- 1. Party Boy (3:49)
- 2. 希望 (Hope) (3:43)
- 3. フレア (Flare) (4:21)
- 4. Black Original (4:27)
- 5. Pardon? (5:59)
- 6. Spoon (4:28)
- 7. ジャクソンヘッド ("Jackson Head") (3:12)
- 8. 黒っぽいギター ("Dark Guitar") (4:09)
- 9. Tu, la la (4:15)
- 10. Looprider (7:13)
Daymare Recordings LP[]
- 1. フレア (Flare) (5:02) (features introduction quoting the end of "Looprider")
- 2. 希望 ("Hope") (3:40)
- 3. Party Boy (3:43) (Vinyl Version)
- 4. Black Original (4:33) (Vinyl Version)
- 5. Pardon? (5:54)
- 6. Spoon (4:23)
- 7. ジャクソンヘッド ("Jackson Head") (3:09)
- 8. 黒っぽいギター ("Dark Guitar") (4:06) (Vinyl Version)
- 9. Tu, la la (4:11)
- 10. Looprider (6:59) (Vinyl Version)
Sargent House Version[]
- 1. Flare (5:04)
- 2. Hope (3:43)
- 3. Party Boy (3:48)
- 4. Luna (8:29)
- 5. Spoon (4:29)
- 6. Pardon? (6:00)
- 7. Jackson Head (3:11)
- 8. Les Paul Custom '86 (4:10)
- 9. Tu, la la (4:15)
- 10. Looprider (7:01)
New Album 2009[]
- 1. 8 (4:12) (Album Version)
- 2. Luna (10:02) (Album Version)
- 3. Leak -本当の反対の反対の反対の反対/Truth, yesnoyesnoyes- (4:30)
- 4. また来週 -See You Next Week- (4:32)
- 5. トーキョーワンダーランド -Tokyo Wonder Land- (5:38)
- 6. 16時47分52… -16:47:52...- (7:33) (Takeshi Vocal Version)
- 7. 黒い点滅 -Black Original- (0:41)
- 8. Missing Pieces (14:37)
- 9. 扉 -Key- (1:46)
- 10. あきらめの花 -Akirame Flower- (5:54) (Album Version)
Personnel[]
- Takeshi - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
- Atsuo - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
- Wata - Guitar, Keyboard, Vocals
- Fangs Anal Satan - Engineer, Design
- Shinobu Narita - Mixing, Producer
- Souichirou Nakamura - Mastering
- Xhxix - Illustration