Indigo
| Wild Nothing
Indigo
Indigo is the second studio album by American indie rock act Wild Nothing, released on August 31, 2019 by Captured Tracks.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Jack Tatum’s Los Angeles album finds him expanding his ambitions, but neither his songwriting nor his mood-setting measure up to the polish or the scale of his aspirational, accessible indie pop. 6.3/10.
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The Revue
His story of moving across the country to start a new life and in the process evolve. No longer is he just the master of bedroom intimacy, but Tatum has scored a brilliant piece of cinematic pop.
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Paste Magazine
All the groups that Wild Nothing evoke on Indigo had something in common: they wrote memorable songs. The sound was a product of its time, but the strength of the melodies and lyrics made them timeless. Tatum and his collaborators nailed the sounds, but they don’t come close to finding tunes that resonate.
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Pop Matters
Indigo's strength is the blend of instrumentation and the replication of a bygone musical era. Wild Nothing's endeavor is certainly not revolutionary, but it does provide a musical comfort as it returns listeners to the new wave era. In doing so, Tatum easily expresses his own creativity while channeling a familiar, yet fresh, direction for Wild Nothing. 7/10.
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Drowned in Sound
Some would argue that the lionising of Tatum following his debut was premature, but when his recipe comes to fruition, it’s exceedingly difficult to cast him off. As Tatum evolves as an artist, hopefully he will eventually be able to wed his sonic wanderlust to the adhesive lifeblood of his earlier work. 6/10.
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Sputnik Music
Indigo embraces a slick, 80s-inspired studio production style that sounds more polished than any of their previous albums, but it suits the music well, unlike the warm 60s sound of Life Of Pause; and in all honesty, it’s not *that* different from Nocturne.
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Slant Magazine
Trite lyrical moments blemish the otherwise pristine musicality of Wild Nothing’s Indigo. 3/5.
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Music OMH
This highlight arguably sums up the limitations of Indigo – when it gets the dynamics right, it’s undoubtedly a work of considerable skill, but it’s hard to escape the sense that what we’re hearing is essentially a well-crafted pastiche of other artists, rather something truly memorable in its own right. 3/5.
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Under the Radar Mag
Balancing technology and "the human touch" isn't easy, but embracing this balance takes a certain gumption that Wild Nothing's Jack Tatum has only grown into over his releases. Poised to continue such explorations, be rest assured that Wild Nothing's sound will only continue to evolve as the artist behind the controls does too. 8/10.
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Clash Magazine
A confident, polished return from Jack Tatum's project.
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Riff Magazine
Oozing retro style, Indigo’s bright pop sheen is irresistible, resulting in a glittery celebration of synth-pop situated somewhere between M83 and Depeche Mode. Wild Nothing hits his musical stride, embracing change and using a larger sound to create a dynamic, exciting sense of motion.
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Loud and Quiet
‘Indigo’ is technically perfected, and thus lacks a trace of the unpredictability that makes music fun in the first place. 4/10.
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DIY Mag
With just about enough sonic variation to keep things interesting, there’s a more pristine, altogether more polished feel to this collection of tracks no doubt the result of an artist who’s getting closer to refining their craft. 3/5.
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Too Many Blogs
Jack Tatum’s venture into melodic, airy soundscapes that fuses a magnitude of instruments pays off. ‘Indigo’ is their boldest effort yet and breathes new life not only into the band and their sound but into the ever-growing dream-pop genre itself.
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KTSW
It is clear that Tatum’s goal for the record was not to make something timeless. Although the sound of Indigo places listeners in the ‘80s, the lyrics say otherwise. The record has an underlying theme of technology in our modern world and the way which humans behave with it. With Tatum entering his 30s newly married, he takes time on this record to reflect on his personal life. After a decade of making music, Wild Nothing is able to create a record written from a humanistic point of view all while staying influenced by a prominent ‘80s sound.
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Soundblab
Indigo doesn’t break new ground, but as a paean to a simpler but synth driven time it hits its velvet glove mark. The most modern nod here is the clarity of the production at the hands of Jorge Elbrecht, who dismisses any thought of the tape hiss backing track of the day. If this is what Tatum has been building towards, it’s a letter perfect culmination of consistency.
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The Student Playlist
Jack Tatum’s fifth Wild Nothing album ‘Indigo’ sees him revisit themes from his 2010 debut, and is a mature take on ’80s-influenced pop. 7/10.
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Exclaim!
Jack Tatum's dream pop project Wild Nothing puts a unique harmonic spin on '80s synth-pop with new record Indigo, a record defined by rich production and hypnotic beats. 7/10.
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All Music
Indigo is another block in the impressive body of work Tatum has built over the decade, and it's some of the best retro '80s (but not stuck in the past) music anyone is making in the 2010s. 4/5.
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A.V. Club Music
Emotionally rich and full of depth, Indigo is easily Wild Nothing’s best album to date. A-
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Vanity Fair
On Indigo, Wild Nothing’s philosopher of pop returns with an 80s movie-worthy gem.
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Northern Transmissions
On Indigo, Jack Tatum’s fourth and latest album as Wild Nothing, he continues refining full-breathed dance pop. Indigo is an incandescent midnight drive over 11 gleaming tracks. However, the album follows few bends over its course. 6.5/10.
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Treble Zine
In this collection of tracks, Tatum relishes the creation, taking a moment to savor the fresh sound of music he has nurtured to its full potential—aided perhaps by devices and meant to be heard on them, but not defined by them.
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Spectrum Culture
Despite its flaws, Indigo is everything you could want in a summer album: it’s an effervescent and satisfying listen that feels designed for driving with the windows down on a cloudless day, or dancing with your friends in your living room on a Saturday night. Summer’s nearly over: make your time with this one count. 3.25/5.
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Kid With A Vinyl
Tatum doesn’t really attempt to fight back against the unrelenting, ever evolving digital presence during Indigo. Instead, he respectfully acknowledges it, even to the point where he seems to humors himself by blurring the lines of man and machine – especially considering how meticulous and stylized it is this time around. Yet he also seems to retaliate the only way he knows how, something that he did even back during the haze of his debut: making sure to include the human feeling of euphoria in between all the computerized beeps and boops. 7.5/10.
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Gig Goer
This is a monumental step for Wild Nothing and feels like a celebration of his journey thus far. It feels like the right time and space for something like this to be shared. There is always a place for glorious indie-pop and as he continues to push those boundaries it leaves us wanting more. 4/5.
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The Fire Note
Wild Nothing is less chill and better for it. 3.5/5.
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From Sophia With Love
Indigo shines as an 80’s throwback with some nice reflections on memory, love, and dreams. If you can’t get with the mood and lyrics, then at least the 80’s new wave exploration is enjoyable, adding some fun and vintage romance to the record.
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Vinyl Reviews
Over the past few years, Jack Tatum (the brains behind Wild Nothing) has put out a handful of LPs and EPs that feature a sound I like to call “the pretty, stereotypical lo-fi dream-pop.” Indigo takes this sound and goes bolder and more refined, evoking 80’s pop tones that make you feel as if you’ve woken up in a John Hughes film.
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QRO Magazine
Jack Tatum is no longer a new face, and his ‘glo-fi’ mixture of shining synths and fuzzy, lo-fi guitars isn’t new either. That hasn’t meant that his sound need diminish, as 2016’s Life of Pause (QRO review) indicated. But while Indigo is another nice release, it doesn’t expand his style (save for, at times, being perhaps too eighties).
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Foul Beast
At the end of the day, the music is enjoyable to listen to. Its very clean, bright, and definitely tips its hat to 80's pop music. However, it doesn't feel like an album to revisit over and over again. The first listen was just as memorable as the fifth listen. Its that album that is quietly playing at the party that you ask 'who it is?' but never actually look it up yourself. 6/10.
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Flood Magazine
Indigo doesn’t quite reach the heights of Gemini or Nocturne, but remains an interesting entry in Wild Nothing’s discography nonetheless. Every album so far has been something an ’80s homage, but this time Tatum has started to utilize the shinier tools needed to honor the decade’s actual sentiments.
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Pitch Perfect PR
From the opening drum beat, chiming guitar, and sweeping synth of “Letting Go” to the driving, wide-open skies and epic beat of album closer “Bend,” it’s clear Indigo is at once vintage Wild Nothing and a bold, new leap into a bigger arena.
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Dork
Tatum’s crestfallen croon cuts through the Marr-ish jangle and waves of backing vocals on ‘Shallow Water’, while an almost buoyant ‘Through Windows’ skips along on saxophone and cool, phased guitars. If you’re a fan, Tatum barely puts a foot wrong here - ‘...Windows’ and the closing ‘Bend' are as good as anything we’ve heard before - while others can rest assured that if they like the sound of this, there’s plenty more like it. 3/5.
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Ultimate Guitar
To sum it up, Wild Nothing managed to take some steps further with their fourth full length, even tough those were baby steps. Some fillers damage the track list a little, not taking advantage of the improvement in the production and the confidence of the vocals to hit the listener as it possibly could. Even so, there is a lot to love and appreciate in “Indigo”, be it the catchy choruses, the subtle used experimentation or simply the overall solid compositions, painting the dazzling and dreamy soundscapes that probably drew the listener to their music in the first place. 7/10.
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The Thin Air
Fast forward eight years and three albums later, Indigo shows a significant improvement in production, having the professionally polished sound and composure of an actual studio album. However, while Tatum’s songwriting has indeed morphed with time to be more conscious of lyricism, it fails to come close to the same honesty and heart of its predecessors.
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Earbuddy
If there is a definitive bad about Indigo, it’s that Tatum seems to be settling. However, the press release for the album paints a different story with Tatum obsessively going over every piece of Indigo. It sounds pristine as Tatum intends, but this is more of a cosmetic change than really mixing things up. Hate to say it, but I doubt Wild Nothing progresses much from here. 6.8/10.
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Brighton's Finest
Jack Tatum's fourth record is far more exploratory than his previous releases, which has resulted in a terrific listen.
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Words on the Word
The production is excellent on the album, the melodies are catchy, and all the instrument parts are interesting. It’s got a sweet vibe. I still like 2012’s Nocturne better—it feels a little more effortless—but Indigo is still a great record.
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Austin Town Hall
In the end, Indigo, is a well written record about love and being deep in the waters of it. Unencumbered by irony and disdain in an otherwise bitter world, the soaring pop of this album makes for a sincere feel-good (and just damn good) eleven tracks of escape, though far from devoid of introspection. Tatum has found his stride, crafting a collection of songs that youll find hard to turn from. Indigo is both intimate and lofty, hoisting you up with each track as it flies to new heights for dream pop. 4/5.
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Beatroute Magazine
Indigo is a stellar recording with a lot of mysterious qualities. With a second listen all the way through you beign to grasp its depth, so smash that repeat button!
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Mystic Sons
Sometimes there are moments where he gets too carried away with his intentions, which sometimes makes the record a little too diverse to be enjoyed from start to finish. But despite that, 'Indigo' is thoroughly enjoyable release that keeps the Wild Nothing sound moving ever forward. 7/10.
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Stereoboard
There is no problem with setting out to write songs inspired by a particular time, place and genre. The problem here is a little more circumstantial: this is Wild Nothing’s fourth album and by now the band needs a sound that is less ersatz. An ensemble who have excelled in this area is Haim, due to the distinctive line-up of the group and bonafide AAA songwriting. Nonetheless, ‘Indigo’ is a good album with some soaring moments. 4/5.
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Merry Go Round Magazine
Though INDIGO wears its victory lap status on its sleeve, at least Wild Nothing’s career has been an enduring triumph.
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The Peak
Indigo sounds more refined than Wild Nothing’s signature dorm-recorded works; upon first listen, long-time fans may be disappointed by the lack of lo-fi sound. This change, however, isn’t necessarily bad. The album soars right away with its opener “Letting Go,” and the quality carries itself through every song, hitting peaks with “Wheel of Misfortune” and “Canyon on Fire.” However, Indigo sadly doesn’t contain the same lyrical depth as albums like Gemini and 2012’s Nocturne.
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Indie For Bunnies
"Indigo" is a pleasant journey and an album that you can listen to willingly, able to lull us and make us dream, without losing the always appreciated melodic touch of Tatum that we have already known for a long time.
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GIGsoup
With ‘Indigo’ Wild Nothing successfully expand upon the sound and textures prevalent on their previous albums. Yet in doing so they lose a certain edge that made their earlier material so engaging. In sacrificing that element of the music Wild Nothing have created a record that, while undoubtedly a tremendous achievement in terms of production, is somewhat shallow and does not hold up to repeat listens.
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Kampaz
This album is great. I think the best way to listen to it is to just close your eyes and lie down.
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Josey Records
On one hand, it is a return to the fresh, transcendent sweep of his debut, 2010’s Gemini, and on the other, a culmination of heights reached, paths traveled, and lessons learned while creating the follow-ups, Nocturne and Life of Pause.”
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Noisey
Indigo is Tatum’s return to the Wild Nothing moodboard. Some might even say it’s a crowd-pleaser, which isn’t a bad thing when it comes to the rich, lovelorn textures for which Wild Nothing is most known.
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Erie Reader
Despite flaws in the work, album takes more risks than previous release.
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