Volcanic Sunlight Explained

Volcanic Sunlight
Type:	studio
Artist:	Saul Williams
Cover:	Saul Williams - Volcanic Sunlight.png
Genre:	Dance-pop
Label:	Columbia Records
Producer:	Renaud Létang
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Volcanic Sunlight is the fourth solo studio album by Saul Williams.^[1] It was released by Columbia Records in 2011.

The album features a different approach than his previous albums, embracing a dance-pop direction,^[2] with various influences from funk, disco, '60s garage rock, new wave, and dubstep.

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73% based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Alexander Heigl of PopMatters gave the album 6 stars out of 10, calling it "a solid, finely-tuned album that reveals new turns and tricks with every listen." Dylan Grier of Okayplayer gave the album an 85 out of 100, writing: "this album is, in many ways, much simpler than many of his previous offerings, but may leave listeners more confounded than ever."

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

• Saul Williams – lead vocals, songwriting, arrangement, guitar (3), bass guitar (13), keyboards (2–5, 7–11, 13), percussion (3)
• Renaud Létang – production, arrangement, keyboards (1–8, 10–13), guitar (1–5, 7, 8, 10–13), bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 12), percussion (3, 6), tambourine (13), piano (13), mixing
• David Sztanke – keyboards (1, 5–11, 13)
• Vincent Taeger – drums (1, 2, 4–9, 12, 13), tambourine (13)
• Vincent Taeger – percussion (1, 12)
• Lippie – backing vocals (2)
• Julien Chirol – brass (2, 9, 10, 13), trombone (3), flute (3)
• Lionel Segui – brass (2, 9, 10, 13), trombone (3), tuba (3)
• Misha Cliquennois – brass (2, 9, 10, 13), trumpet (3), horn (3)
• Mamané Thiam – percussion (3, 4)
• Denis Teste – keyboards (4)
• Saturn – backing vocals (6, 8)
• Deep Cotton – backing vocals (12)
• Janelle Monáe – backing vocals (12)
• Thomas Moulin – recording
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

Notes and References

1. Web site: Saul Williams to Take 'Volcanic Sunlight' on North American Tour. Exclaim!. Gregory. Adams. December 21, 2011. October 9, 2018.
2. Web site: Brown. Marisa. A Different Kind of Dance: Saul Williams' Volcanic Sunlight. The Huffington Post. 2012-01-24. October 2, 2012.