Trip9love

The album was written and recorded in Tirzah's and Levi's home studios, as well as in southeast London and Kent,[1] over about a year's time.[2]

Trip9love was surprise-released digitally on 5 September 2023 without any prior singles.[3][1] Tirzah had said she would be "sharing the record next week" on 29 August.[4] Along with the digital release, a physical release by Domino Recording Company was announced to follow on 17 November.[1] The album tease in August came with the announcement of tour dates in Europe and North America,[4] but the North American leg was cancelled after Tirzah contracted pneumonia.[5]

The central instruments of the album are the piano and drum machine.[6][7] Most songs on the album are built on the same drum beat, with different mixing and distortion applied to each to differentiate them, while a few are drumless ballads.[6][8] The piano's tone is also very consistent track to track.[6] The two instruments contrast with each other, with Pitchfork's Philip Sherburne calling the piano "distant and mournful" and the drums "confrontational, in your face, charged with latent violence."[6]

Trip9love ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	85/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	7/10[7]
Jenesaispop	[10]
The Line of Best Fit	9/10[11]
Mojo	[12]
MusicOMH	[13]
Pitchfork	7.8/10[6]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Trip9love received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 from 6 critic scores.[9] Sherburne called the album "tender as a bruise, the kind of bruise you press down on now and again, just to confirm that it still hurts—and to take secret pleasure in the ache."[6] Clash's Ana Lamond wrote that "it is within the intricacies of Tirzah and Levi's union that the record truly gleams."[7] Resident Advisor's Kiana Mickles wrote that "The effect of a wrong note pressed, a one-take vocal run or a perfectly misplaced guitar screech might seem inconsequential because, at this point, it's so indisputably Tirzah. But real care goes into her rule-breaking, which is what makes it sound so immaculate."[14] Bandcamp Daily's Diamond Sharp wrote that Tirzah's "delicate vocals pair well over the warbled 808s and distorted beats", and called the album "raw and ever-changing."[15]

Critics emphasised the need for multiple listens to fully grasp the album.[7][8] Sherburne said it took him "a dozen or more listens" to notice the repeated drum pattern.[6]

• Tirzah – vocals
• Mica Levi – producer