| In Prism | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Polvo |
| Cover: | PolvoInPrism.jpg |
| Released: | September 8, 2009 |
| Genre: | Indie rock, math rock, progressive rock |
| Length: | 49:22 |
| Label: | Merge Records |
| Producer: | Brian Paulson, Polvo |
| Prev Title: | Shapes |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Siberia |
| Next Year: | 2013 |
In Prism is Polvo's fifth studio album, and their first since 1997's Shapes. It was recorded by Brian Paulson and was released on Merge Records on September 8, 2009.[1] The track "Beggar's Bowl" was streamed online.[2]
In Prism received a Metacritic score of 79 based on 14 reviews, indicating a generally favorable critical reception. Jason Lymangrover of AllMusic writes: "Polvo's first studio album since 1997's Shapes, 2009's In Prism is a solid return to mathy form. Although 12 years is a long hiatus, it's hardly noticeable that time has passed, with the exception of a few machinery and personnel updates [...] Along with getting mathy and ultra-precise, the band takes the opposite approach and elongates passages, stretching songs into psychedelic space rock territory and surpassing the eight-minute mark on several occasions. As an album, In Prism may not quite live up to the explosiveness of Today's Active Lifestyles -- it's more like the calmer (and produced) Shapes. But even if it's not their best ever, it's a valid comeback that should appease longing fans." Despite a middling score, John Everheart of Under the Radar called it "a sprawling, psychedelic masterwork, rife with knotty tangles of discordance and serpentine riffs." Stuart Berman of Pitchfork wrote: "In Prism could be the first Polvo album where the melodies leave as lasting an impression as the noise around them, with Bowie tapping into a more guileless mode of expression that rarely revealed itself before."
Polvo are credited as the primary artists & producers. The remaining credits are adapted from AllMusic: