Heart Like a Levee

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Heart Like a Levee
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 7, 2016 (2016-10-07)
Length42:55
1:10:00 (Deluxe)
LabelMerge
ProducerM.C. Taylor
Bradley Cook
Hiss Golden Messenger chronology
Lateness of Dancers
(2014)
Heart Like a Levee
(2016)
Vestapol
(2016)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic81/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Classic Rock Magazine[3]
DIY Magazine[4]
Pitchfork8.2/10[5]

Heart Like a Levee is the seventh studio album by American band Hiss Golden Messenger. It was released on October 7, 2016, under Merge Records.[6]

The album was produced by M.C. Taylor and Bradley Cook (Megafaun) in Durham, North Carolina.[7]

Critical reception[edit]

Heart Like a Levee was met with universal acclaim reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81, based on 12 reviews.[1]

Accolades[edit]

Accolades for Heart Like a Levee
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
American Songwriter Top 50 Albums of 2016 24 [8]
The Independent Top 20 Albums of 2016 18 [9]
Paste Top 50 Albums of 2016 45 [10]

Track listing[edit]

Heart Like a Levee track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Biloxi"2:51
2."Tell Her I'm Just Dancing"3:01
3."Heart Like a Levee"3:52
4."Like a Mirror Loves a Hammer"4:23
5."Smoky's Song"1:20
6."Cracked Windshield"5:07
7."As the Crow Flies"3:14
8."Happy Day (Sister My Sister)"5:28
9."Say It Like You Mean It"2:52
10."Ace of Cups"4:48
11."Highland Grace"5:58
iTunes Deluxe Edition[11]
No.TitleLength
1."Blackeyed Boy"5:04
2."After the Colors"3:02
3."Together's Just a Word"3:23
4."Living Above the Waterline"2:47
5."Strawberry Girl Reel"2:27
6."Little Rain"3:52
7."John the Gun"2:51
8."Vestapol"3:39

Personnel[edit]

  • MC Taylor - lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin
  • Phil Cook - acoustic and electric guitars, piano, Wurlitzer, clavinet, organ, banjo, synths, background vocals
  • Brad Cook - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, synths, background vocals
  • Matt McCaughan - drums, percussion, background vocals
  • Chris Boerner - baritone and electric guitars ("Happy Day (Sister My Sister)"), background vocals ("Tell Her I'm Just Dancing")
  • Josh Kaufman - electric guitar ("Tell Her I'm Just Dancing", "Highland Grace")
  • Ryan Gustafson - electric guitar ("Like a Mirror Loves a Hammer")
  • Michael Lewis - saxophone, background vocals
  • Matt Douglas - saxophone, baritone saxophone
  • Rob Moose - strings
  • Alexandra Sauser-Monnig - background vocals
  • Tift Merritt - background vocals
  • Sonyia Turner - background vocals

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Heart Like a Levee
Chart (2016) Peak
position
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[12] 19
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[13] 49
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] 37

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  2. ^ Jurek, Thom. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  3. ^ Bell, Max (September 27, 2016). "Classic Rock Review". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  4. ^ Cooper, Tim. "DIY Magazine". DIY Magazine. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  5. ^ Snapes, Laura (October 11, 2016). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  6. ^ Menconi, David (October 3, 2016). "Hiss Golden Messenger New Album 'Heart Like a Levee". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Strauss, Matthew (July 12, 2016). "Hiss Golden Messenger Announce New Album With Bon Iver, Megafaun Members". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  8. ^ "American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2016". American Songwriter. December 1, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  9. ^ O'Connor, Roison (November 30, 2016). "Best Albums of 2016: Our 20 favourite releases from an incredible year of music". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  10. ^ Saunders, Hilary (November 30, 2016). "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Paste. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  11. ^ "Heart Like a Levee (Deluxe Edition) by Hiss Golden Messenger". Apple Music. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "Hiss Golden Messenger Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  13. ^ "Hiss Golden Messenger Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "Hiss Golden Messenger Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 24, 2020.