In the Silence | |
Type: | studio |
Artist: | Ásgeir |
Cover: | In-the-Silence-album-by-Asgeir.jpg |
Released: | 28 October 2013 |
Studio: | Hljóðriti Studios, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland |
Genre: | Folktronica |
Language: | English |
Label: | One Little Indian |
Producer: | Guðmundur Kristinn Jónsson |
Prev Title: | Dýrð í dauðaþögn |
Prev Year: | 2012 |
Next Title: | Afterglow |
Next Year: | 2017 |
In the Silence is the second studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Ásgeir, and is his first all-English album. It was released digitally on 28 October 2013 and physically on 27 January 2014.
The album includes the same tracklist as his highly successful debut album Dýrð í dauðaþögn in the Icelandic language, but with translated or new English-language lyrics by John Grant (from original lyrics in Icelandic by Einar Georg Einarsson, Ásgeir's father).
The album has charted in Belgium and the Netherlands and the debut single, "Going Home", has charted in France.
While promoting the record, Ásgeir played acoustic cover versions of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" on Dutch 3FM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Q6MyquNeU and, to more acclaim, Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" on the French radio station OUI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5mv0rARZZE, adding the latter to his live setlists, and eventually releasing it on the deluxe edition of the album.
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, In the Silence received an average score of 78, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". The Independents Andy Gill remarked "In the Silence has a charm and presence that marks the young Icelander out as a significant talent, the appeal of its fragile hymns to nature and the numinous growing through the intervening months […] A natural wonder" rating the album four stars out of five.[1] ] "There is a constant hint of melancholy that resides in the beauty of Ásgeir's high-pitched and unnervingly emotive vocals, which is brought out in the more brooding moments of the record," said Scott Kerr of AllMusic.[2] The Guardians Alexis Petridis was less complimentary, judging the album to be "acoustic indie-folk of whimsical bent [...] [the record contains] very pretty songs, albeit of a kind that seem predestined to waft gently in the background of TV ads or romcoms." Drowned in Sounds Paul Faller awarded the record four stars, declaring "The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink promotional campaign--an appearance on Made In Chelsea here, a cover of 'Wrecking Ball' on Dutch radio there—might smack of desperation. Fortunately, In the Silence is more than good enough to dispel any such impressions."
Musicians[3]
Track numbers beginning with 3 refer to the bonus CD in the deluxe edition.
Recording personnel[4]
Original version artwork
Deluxe edition artwork
Peak position | |
Australian Albums (ARIA))[5] | 8 |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[6] | 42 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[7] | 102 |
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[8] | 36 |
French Albums (SNEP)[9] | 32 |
Position | ||
Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi)[10] | 82 |
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