| Squaring the Circle | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Sneaker Pimps |
| Cover: | Sneaker Pimps Squaring The Circle 2.jpg |
| Studio: |
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| Length: | 01:07:40 |
| Label: | Unfall Productions |
| Producer: | Sneaker Pimps |
| Prev Title: | Bloodsport |
| Prev Year: | 2002 |
Squaring the Circle is the fourth studio album by English electronic band Sneaker Pimps, released on 10 September 2021.
After a hiatus of 18 years, it is the fourth album in the Sneaker Pimps discography. It includes songs that had been sitting incomplete for decades, and collaborations with singer Simonne Jones.[1] [2] This returned the group to a trio of founders Liam Howe and Chris Corner alongside a female vocalist, reflecting their most commercially successful period in the mid-1990s when they worked with Kelli Ali.[3]
The album was recorded at Sawtooth Studios, Pioneertown, California and the Tower Studios, London.[4] It features Corner playing acoustic guitar on several tracks; Corner has said he has been influenced by Spanish guitar music and Simon and Garfunkel.[5] The title comes from squaring the circle, a seemingly impossible process, which describes the relationship between Howe and Corner and the unlikeliness of them reforming.[6]
The title track and "Fighter" were released as singles ahead of the album in July 2021,[7] which was released on 10 September.[5]
Howe's solo venture as Ape Mink Press (AMP) remixed several tracks from the album, including "Alibis", "Fighter" and "So Far Gone".[8]
The album received a mixed review from Dana Alward of mxdwn.com, who appreciated the duo wanted to move on from previous work, but found the resulting work "fails to create a cohesive thematic atmosphere".[6] Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of Popmatters appreciated tracks like "Tranquility Trap", "Child in the Dark" and "Immaculate Hearts" which showed them as "a latter-day Depeche Mode" and praised Corner's acoustic guitar work, but criticised the lack of input from Jones, adding the founding duo "haven't learned from past mistakes".[3]