| Bunny | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Matthew Dear |
| Cover: | Matthew Dear - Bunny.png |
| Length: | 61:54 |
| Label: | Ghostly International |
| Prev Title: | Beams |
| Prev Year: | 2012 |
| Next Title: | Backstroke |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
Bunny is the sixth studio album by American DJ and producer Matthew Dear. It was released on October 12, 2018 under Ghostly International.[1] It is Dear's first album in six years following from Beams in 2012.
On July 3, 2017, the first single "Modafinil Blues".[2] The track was written with Frank Ocean collaborator Troy Nōka.[3]
The second single "Bad Ones" was released on August 29, 2017. The single features a collaboration with Canadian duo Tegan and Sara.[4]
On August 8, 2018, Dear announced the release of the new album. He explained the reasoning for title: "I'm calling this one Bunny. As always, it’s got a little bit of everything that makes me who I am. Why Bunny? Fundamentally, I love the way the word looks and sounds. I love the way it rolls off the mind and onto the tongue".[5] Alongside the album, single "Bunny's Dream" was also released.[6]
The next single "Horses", which featured Tegan and Sara in the second collaboration, was released on September 18, 2018.[7]
Bunny was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 76, based on 14 reviews. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 70 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 14 reviews.[8]
Paul Simpson from AllMusic explained that the album is "as sprawling and ambitious as his other long-players", admiring that it "features some of [Dear's] most forthright songwriting and catchiest hooks". Simpson also noted the album "seems more like an album to mentally pick apart than dance to, yet it's not hard to lose one's self in the rush of Dear's inventive rhythms. Jill Guthrie from Clash said of the album: "in its entirety is quintessentially disparate, a fleeting repertoire of the avant, and a keeper of both the nostalgic and the progressive", explaining that the songs drift from "the ethereal" to the "gritty reality". Skye Butchard from Loud and Quiet explained that the album "goes just about everywhere in its hour-long runtime, from ’80s Bowie camp to shimmering alt-pop, to ’90s guitar rave. He’s been tinkering with club music and alt-rock his whole career, but this is by far his most bubbly outing. Despite that, his oddball baritone stays intact, which sadly makes for a mixed bag of experiments". Ben Devlin from MusicOMH said the album "is a worthwhile return for Matthew Dear, showcasing the production chops that have made him a familiar name for 15 years now. It sags in places, but this isn’t such a crime when the album also contains highlights like Electricity, Horses, Modafinil Blues and Bunny’s Dream, which are highly recommended for any electronic music fan.
Musicians
Production