The Common Task

The Common Task is the fourth studio album by American experimental rock band, Horse Lords. The album was released on March 13, 2020 through Northern Spy Records.

The Common Task
Studio album by
Horse Lords
ReleasedMarch 13, 2020 (2020-03-13)
GenreExperimental rock
Length41:13
LabelNorthern Spy
Horse Lords chronology
Interventions
(2016)		 The Common Task
(2020)
Singles from The Common Task
  1. "Fanfare for Effective Freedom"
    Released: January 23, 2020
  2. "People's Park"
    Released: February 19, 2020

Release and promotion

Singles

Two singles were released ahead of The Common Task, the lead single, "Fanfare for Effective Freedom" was released on January 23, 2020 in conjunction with the album's announcement.[1][2] The second single, "People's Park" came out a month later, on February 19, 2020.[3]

Music video

On February 18, 2020 the music video for "People's Park" was released, a day prior to the release of the single.[4] The video features ice skaters skating on a rink. The video was directed by Corey Hughes with cinematography undertaken by Melissa Ivester. The music video was recorded at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Maryland.[5]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Album of the Year80/100[6]
Metacritic83/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
Dusted[9]
Mojo[7]
The Needle Drop8/10[10]
Pitchfork7.8/10[11]
PopMatters[12]
The Quietus[13]
Tom Hull – on the WebB+ ((1-star Honorable Mention))[14]
The Wire[7]

The Common Task was well-received by contemporary music critics. On review aggregator website, Metacritic, The Common Task has an average rating of 83 out of 100 based on six critic reviews indicating "universal acclaim".[7]

Matthew Ismael Ruiz, writing for Pitchfork gave the album a 7.8 out of 10. In describing The Common Task, Ruiz said "often the most pleasurable way to listen to a record like Horse Lords’ fourth LP, The Common Task, is to surrender, to shed those expectations and follow the music where it takes you. If it sounds similar to the way the human brain responds to certain psychedelics, it's no accident—the band's perspective was shaped in no small part by formative experiences with psychotropic drugs. The record's tension is rooted in anticipation, the only relief the relinquishing of control".[11]

Dusted Magazine writing, Ian Forsynthe, gave the album four stars out of five, praising the fluidity and composition of the record. Forsynthe said that "their nearly ten-year core pivots rhythmic and tonal ideas athletically, and their ability to pull elements from anywhere and everywhere is seemingly more fluid with each record. With The Common Task, Horse Lords simultaneously stay within their own signature pocket and poach outside elements, expanding how large that pocket seems."[9]

Paul Simpson of Allmusic praised the band's expansive sound on The Common Task, comparing the sound to krautrock and Saharan desert blues. Simpson said that The Common Task "lay a complex, polyrhythmic form of music that incorporates just intonation, algorithmic composition, and microtonal harmonies. The Common Task is their fourth studio album, and it's easily their most vibrant, dazzling recorded effort to date".[8]

Track listing

All music is composed by Andrew Bernstein, Max Eilbacher, Owen Gardner, and Sam Haberman

No.TitleLength
1."Fanfare for Effective Freedom"7:22
2."Against Gravity"7:49
3."The Radiant City"3:04
4."People's Park"4:20
5."Integral Accident"18:38
Total length:41:13

References
  1. "Horse Lords announce 'The Common Task' LP + share new single 'Fanfare for Effective Freedom'". Culture Addicts. January 28, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  2. Worrall, Sean (January 28, 2020). "Horse Lords? Fanfare for Effective Freedom? Thing of Day? The Common Task? The edges of experimental rock music? Critical social thought?". Organ Thing. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  3. "Horse Lords - People's Park - Reviews". Album of the Year. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  4. Eede, Christian (January 28, 2020). "PREMIERE: Horse Lords Share Video For 'People's Park'". The Quietus. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  5. Hughes, Corey (February 18, 2020). "Music Videos: Horse Lords "People's Park"". CoreyHughes.info. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  6. "Horse Lords - The Common Task - Reviews". Album of the Year. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  7. "Critic Reviews for The Common Task". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  8. Simpson, Paul. Review of The Common Task at AllMusic. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  9. Forsythe, Ian (March 26, 2020). "Horse Lords — The Common Task (Northern Spy)". Dusted Magazine. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  10. Fantano, Anthony (March 27, 2020). Horse Lords - The Common Task ALBUM REVIEW (YouTube). Connecticut: The Needle Drop.
  11. Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (March 14, 2020). "Horse Lords: The Common Task Album Review". Pitchfork. Conde Nast. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
  12. Ingalls, Chris (March 11, 2020). "Horse Lords Create a Loud, Disciplined Roar on 'The Common Task'". PopMatters. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  13. Willis, Eve (March 12, 2020). "Uncommon Pleasures: New Horse Lords Reviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  14. Hull, Tom (July 27, 2020). "Streamnotes". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
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