American Dream (LCD Soundsystem album)
American Dream (stylized in all-lowercase on digital releases)[1] is the fourth studio album by American rock band LCD Soundsystem, released on September 1, 2017, by DFA and Columbia. It was announced on January 5, 2016, the day after it was revealed that the band was reuniting after a disbandment lasting nearly five years. It is the band's first album in seven years, following This Is Happening (2010). This album reached number 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart and was LCD Soundsystem's first record to top the US Billboard 200.
American Dream
September 1, 2017
October 2015 – May 2017
- DFA (New York City)
- Lanark (London)
- Strongroom (London)
- The Church (London)
- B-Side (Portland, Oregon)
68:38
Prior to release, LCD Soundsystem performed at large music festivals as well as smaller shows to promote their reunion. "Call the Police" and "American Dream" were released together as the album's lead single on May 5, 2017, and "Tonite" was released as the second single on August 16, 2017. "Oh Baby" was later released as a single on September 20, 2018. The album received widespread acclaim from music critics, appeared on many year-end lists, and was named "Album of the Year" by Mojo and Uncut. The album performed well commercially and became the band's first number-one album in the United States, Canada, and Portugal. At the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and "Tonite" won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
Background[edit]
LCD Soundsystem's third and previous studio album, This Is Happening, was released in 2010.[2] After the album's release, the band announced their breakup in early 2011 and also announced that they would end with a show at Madison Square Garden on April 2, 2011. Due to the raising of ticket prices by scalpers, the band made plans to perform warm-up shows at Terminal 5 in Manhattan, New York.[3] After their final show, they released a documentary film in 2012, which followed the band prior to the show and featured footage of the actual performance.[4] The album The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live at Madison Square Garden, which contained the audio from the show, was released in 2014 as a Record Store Day release.[5]
In October 2015, online publication Consequence of Sound reported that "multiple sources" could confirm that LCD Soundsystem would be reuniting in 2016 and that they would be headlining "high-profile music festivals in the US and UK." This report was later confirmed by Billboard.[6] However, DFA Records label manager Kris Petersen stated that LCD Soundsystem would not be reuniting. DFA co-founder Jonathan Galkin also confirmed this in a Pitchfork article.[7] Two months afterward, the band released the Christmas-themed track "Christmas Will Break Your Heart",[8][9] acting as their first piece of new material since their cover of Franz Ferdinand's "Live Alone", released in 2011.[10] Consequence of Sound and Pitchfork both reported again, after the release of the Christmas single, that multiple sources could confirm a reunion in 2016.[11][12]
On January 4, 2016, it was announced that LCD Soundsystem would be headlining the 2016 Coachella Festival.[13][14] The following day, the band announced that they would be releasing a new album some time in 2016, although they were not yet entirely finished with the album.[15] It was later revealed that the band signed with Columbia Records.[16][17] Following a backlash by some online users against the reunion,[18] Murphy explained his reasoning for the reunion in a post on the band's website. He stated that he did not want to release a solo album with live performances including LCD Soundsystem members, nor did he want to release an LCD Soundsystem album with entirely different people playing live, that is, if the original members did not want to create a new record. He had invited past members Nancy Whang and Pat Mahoney to his apartment to talk about releasing new material, where they both agreed on making a new LCD Soundsystem record together.[19]
Recording[edit]
The band recorded the album in multiple locations.[20] Like previous albums Sound of Silver[21] and This Is Happening,[22] one of the recording locations was DFA Studios in New York City.[20] Murphy announced after finishing recording that American Dream would be the last record to be recorded at the original DFA Studios building.[23] Recording also took place at the Lanark, Strongroom, and Church studios in London and B-Side Studios in Portland, Oregon.[20] The band were forced to cancel tour dates for shows in Asia and Australia dated during the near-end of 2016 in order to complete work on the album. After this was revealed, it was suggested that the release date for the album would be moved into 2017, as opposed to the original prediction of 2016, as the recording was predicted to take another few months.[24] It was noted in April 2017 that the band had been working on the album for 18 months.[25] In a Facebook post released in May, Murphy announced that the album was finished and that it was prepped for mastering.[23]
Composition[edit]
Musically, American Dream has been described as dance-punk,[26] new wave,[27] post-punk,[28] synth-pop,[27] art rock[27] and dance-rock.[29] Critics noted the album as similar to David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy.[30][31] The album's lyrics deal with depression, social issues,[32] fear,[33] and ending of friendship and love.[34]
The album's closing track, "Black Screen" is an homage to Bowie.[35][36] Murphy wanted to get Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen to perform a spoken word piece at the end of the track, but Cohen died only a few days after he came up with the idea.[37]
Packaging[edit]
The cover art for American Dream was revealed on August 4, 2017. The artwork, which has been labeled as "straightforward"[38][39] and having a "simple aesthetic",[40] is a painting titled UP done by Murphy's friend Robert Reynolds.[20][41] It consists of a blue sky with a few clouds and a white-hot sun in the middle. The band's name and the album title are aligned on top of the painting. It has also been labeled as the band's most colorful artwork to date.[39] People thought of the artwork as a possible homage to the front cover of the 1996 David Foster Wallace novel Infinite Jest,[42] a book with which James Murphy was known to have long been familiar.[43] Reynolds, however, dismissed any intentional similarity to the novel in an interview.[44] After the artwork was revealed, it attracted criticism from users on Twitter.[45] One user jokingly stated that they considered cancelling their vinyl pre-order of the album due to their dislike of the cover art. Other users compared it, quality-wise, to a preset for a slide on Microsoft PowerPoint as well as the cover art for Kasabian's 2017 album For Crying Out Loud.[46] Billboard's Tatiana Cirisano listed the album cover as one of the worst of 2017, stating that it "looks like it could have been concocted using a stock photo and some toying with Microsoft Word".[47]
The vinyl release of the album features a gatefold containing two vinyl records, both weighing 140 grams each. A code that grants the buyer with a digital download of the album was also included with the purchase of the vinyl release. The gatefold jacket and inner sleeves are both done in full color.[48] The cassette release includes custom silk-screened cases and shells. The case contains a five-sided insert that is also done in full color and the cassette shell is clear-colored.[49]