Lightning (album)
Lightning | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Matt & Kim chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Lightning | ||||
|
Lightning is the fourth
Lightning was released on October 2, 2012, and was promoted with an autumn tour, a giveaway, and a 2013 remix album. Although Lightning sold well enough to reach number 50 on the Billboard 200 among a few other US Billboard charts, it was met with a varied critical reception, holding an aggregate score of 59 out of 100 from Metacritic as of March 2014. Some reviewers criticized the lack of introduction of any new type of music, unlike Sidewalks, while other's thought the album was an improvement from the previous album.
Production
Work on Lightning was done between January 1 and July 2012,
Matt's vocals were recorded using a Brent Averill 1073, JDK R24 EQ, and a Shure SMB7 microphone. Vocal tracks were compressed three or four times, and filtering techniques with blankets and a sE Electronics Reflexion filter were used to cut out background noises of the
Composition
Matt describe the songs from the album as "slightly…. Umm, I'm not going to say they're dark, but while everything has maintained an upbeat quality, there are some tracks that are a little darker that are related to just… I don't know it's weird. People tend to say, “The more success you have, the easier things will be,” and that's not always the case. Sometimes it's more like, “The more success you have the harder things become.”"[4]
"Let's Go" includes instrumentation of
"I Said" includes elements of EDM, and a fuzzy bass that "dominate the song even more than his [Matt's] repetitive chorus of “I said I said I said it's real / I said I said I said take the wheel / But you said you said you said no deal.”"
Release and promotion
To promote the album, a tour ran from October 3 until November 17, 2012.
In popular culture
Since at least 2017, "It's Alright" has appeared on TV ads for Buick in the United States.[12]
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Pitchfork Media | 5.1/10[16] |
Punknews | [17] |
PopMatters | 6/10[5] |
Rolling Stone | [18] |
Lightning was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Metacritic reports a "mixed to average" aggregate score of 59 out of 100 based on 13 critical reviews.[13] Some reviews felt the album didn't introduce any new type of music from the group, unlike the group's previous album Sidewalks, while other reviews thought the album was an improvement from Sidewalks.
On the more positive side,
In 2012,
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Let's Go" | 3:30 |
2. | "Now" | 4:05 |
3. | "It's Alright" | 3:23 |
4. | "Not That Bad" | 3:17 |
5. | "Overexposed" | 2:46 |
6. | "I Said" | 4:14 |
7. | "Tonight" | 3:06 |
8. | "I Wonder" | 2:50 |
9. | "Much Too Late" | 2:12 |
10. | "Ten Dollars I Found" | 1:55 |
Chart positions
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200[24] | 50 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[24] | 10 |
US | 21 |
References
- ^ SPIN. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- ^ a b c Schifino, Kim (October 2, 2012). LIGHTNING - OUT TODAY. mattandkimmusic.com. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- ^ a b Weiss, David (October 1, 2012). Matt & Kim: Underwear Recording, and other Home Studio Scandals. SonicScoop. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- ^ Consequence of Sound. Accessed from July 10, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Conaton, Chris (2012-10-03). "Matt & Kim: Lightning". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ a b c Baer, Drake (2012-10-02). "Matt & Kim: Lightning". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ LIGHTNING TOUR. mattandkimmusic.com. July 30, 2012. Accessed from July 11, 2013.
- ^ Ten Days of Giveaway. mattandkimmusic.com. September 18, 2012. Accessed from July 11, 2013.
- ^ "2017 Buick Enclave Premium TV Spot, 'Instruments' Song by Matt and Kim [T2]". iSpot.tv. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Lightning Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ a b Mincher, Chris (2012-10-02). "Matt and Kim: Lightning". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ a b Maerz, Melissa (2012-10-01). "Lightning - review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ a b "Matt and Kim - Lightning". Punknews.org. October 9, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
- ^ Catucci, Nick (2012-10-02). "Lightning review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-12-08.
- ^ Lau, Melody (October 3, 2012). Matt & Kim - Lightning. Exclaim!. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
- ^ Under the Radar. October/November 2012 issue. p. 129.
- Alternative Press. November 2012 issue. p. 92. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
- ^ Magnet. October 10, 2012. No. 92. p. 56. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
- Complex. September 24, 2012. Accessed from July 10, 2013.
- ^ Allmusic. Accessed from July 10, 2013.