Monument (Molchat Doma album)

Molchat Doma's second studio album, Etazhi (Floors), was released in September 2018. Throughout the next year, the album slowly gained popularity on YouTube through an unofficially uploaded stream of the album, which gained roughly two million listens before being taken down due to a copyright notice, as well as recommandations and playlists on the platform.[1][2][3] While touring in 2019, the band performed the then-unrecorded songs "Не смешно" (Not Funny) and "Ответа нет" (No Answer), both of which would later appear on Monument.[4]

The band later signed with American independent record label Sacred Bones Records in January 2020.[5] Around the same time, one of the songs from Etazhi, "Судно (Борис Рыжий)" (Vessel (Boris Ryzhy)), began gaining popularity on the video sharing platform TikTok as a result of it being used frequently as background music in videos on the platform;[6] this would cause the song to eventually reach No. 2 on the Spotify worldwide Viral 50 chart[7] and No. 1 on the United States Viral 50 chart.[1] Molchat Doma were set to tour North America, alongside American singer-songwriter Chrysta Bell,[5] in 2020, but were forced to postpone their tour dates when the COVID-19 pandemic had severely impacted the continent.[6] While isolating in their home town of Minsk due to the severity of the pandemic, they began recording a new album.[4]

Monument was officially announced as Molchat Doma's third studio album on 15 September 2020. On the same day, they released the lead single from the album, "Не смешно".[8] A music video for the song was released on 29 September.[9] A second single from the album, "Дискотека" (Discotheque), was released on 14 October, with a music video also being released on the same day.[10] The third and final pre-release single for the album, "Ответа нет" was released on 29 October, with an accompanying lyric video also being released for it. The band also performed the song live on the Russian late night talk show Evening Urgant.[11]

Monument was released on 13 November 2020 through Sacred Bones Records, the band's first release through the label. It received releases on digital platforms for download and streaming as well as physical releases. It received standard releases as a CD, cassette, and black 12-inch vinyl.[4] The album also received multiple exclusive vinyl releases. Through Sacred Bones' website, a blue vinyl limited to 2,000 copies, "blue ice" vinyl limited to 1,000 copies, and blue vinyl with deluxe packaging limited to 400 copies were made available. Members of Sacred Bones' Record Society club were also able to exclusively order a "purple stardust" vinyl through the website.[4] Exclusive versions were also sold by Rough Trade in the United Kingdom as a "black and clear splatter" vinyl,[12] Newbury Comics in the United States as a silver vinyl,[13] and Seasick Records in the United States as a "blue stardust" vinyl.[14]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[15]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]
Loud and Quiet	8/10[17]
musicOMH	[18]
Pitchfork	7.0/10[19]
PopMatters	[20]
Spectrum Culture	80%[21]

Monument received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15] AllMusic's Paul Simpson felt that Monument sounded "brighter and more polished" than Etazhi as well as "more overtly danceable than their earlier records". Simpson further stated that the album contained "some of their most hook-filled songs to date".[16] Nick Soulsby of PopMatters wrote that "the album's clearest virtue is its precision: nine songs, no filler, no visible weaknesses — Monument is as solid as the monoliths to which it harkens".[20]

Matt Cotsell of musicOMH complimented the album's title and overall imagery, adding that "Molchat Doma are having a blast reclaiming their heritage and proving themselves to be a more than an entertaining chip off the old Bloc".[18] Writing for The Quietus, Laviea Thomas wrote that "in so many ways, Monument encapsulates everything Molchat Doma has to offer", feeling that it was a proper finish to a successful year for the band that included a signing to Sacred Bones Records and an uptick in streams.[22] Pitchfork's Ashley Bardhan felt the album's performances sounded "more confident" with the music sounding "less muddy", also complimenting the band's decision not to "[pander] to the audience attracted by their improbable TikTok breakthrough".[19]

In the United States, Monument failed to enter the Billboard 200, the primary album chart for the country, although it entered other Billboard charts. On the Top Album Sales chart, which counts only pure album sales, the album entered at No. 97.[23] On the World Albums chart, which ranks the best-selling world music albums, the album entered at No. 12.[24] Additionally, it peaked at No. 14 on the Top Tastemaker Albums chart[25] and number 21 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.[26]

Personnel adapted from album liner notes.[27]

Notes

References

• Monument at Discogs (list of releases)
• Monument (Adobe Flash) at Spotify (streamed copy where licensed)