Volcanic Sunlight is the fourth solo studio album by Saul Williams.[1] It was released by Columbia Records in 2011.

Volcanic Sunlight
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 10, 2011 (2011-05-10)
GenreDance-pop
Length55:16
LabelColumbia Records
ProducerRenaud Létang
Saul Williams chronology
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
(2007)
Volcanic Sunlight
(2011)
MartyrLoserKing
(2016)

The album features a different approach than his previous albums, embracing a dance-pop direction,[2] with various influences from funk, disco, '60s garage rock, new wave, and dubstep.[3]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Okayplayer85/100[5]
PopMatters          [6]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73% based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

Alexander Heigl of PopMatters gave the album 6 stars out of 10, calling it "a solid, finely-tuned album that reveals new turns and tricks with every listen."[6] Dylan Grier of Okayplayer gave the album an 85 out of 100, writing: "this album is, in many ways, much simpler than many of his previous offerings, but may leave listeners more confounded than ever."[5]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Saul Williams, except "Girls Have More Fun" by Williams and CX KiDTRONiK

No.TitleLength
1."Look to the Sun"4:08
2."Patience"3:52
3."Explain My Heart"4:15
4."Triumph"6:03
5."Diagram"3:47
6."Girls Have More Fun" (also known as "Girls on Saturn")2:27
7."Give It Up"4:12
8."Dance" (featuring Janelle Monáe)3:35
9."Volcanic Sunlight"3:56
10."Rocket"3:52
11."Fall Up"4:17
12."Innocence"5:43
13."New Day"5:14

Personnel

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Credits adapted from liner notes.

  • Saul Williams – lead vocals, songwriting, arrangement, guitar (3), bass guitar (13), keyboards (2–5, 7–11, 13), percussion (3)
  • Renaud Létang – production, arrangement, keyboards (1–8, 10–13), guitar (1–5, 7, 8, 10–13), bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 12), percussion (3, 6), tambourine (13), piano (13), mixing
  • David Sztanke – keyboards (1, 5–11, 13)
  • Vincent Taeger – drums (1, 2, 4–9, 12, 13), tambourine (13)
  • Vincent Taeger – percussion (1, 12)
  • Lippie – backing vocals (2)
  • Julien Chirol – brass (2, 9, 10, 13), trombone (3), flute (3)
  • Lionel Segui – brass (2, 9, 10, 13), trombone (3), tuba (3)
  • Misha Cliquennois – brass (2, 9, 10, 13), trumpet (3), horn (3)
  • Mamané Thiam – percussion (3, 4)
  • Denis Teste – keyboards (4)
  • Saturn – backing vocals (6, 8)
  • Deep Cotton – backing vocals (12)
  • Janelle Monáe – backing vocals (12)
  • Thomas Moulin – recording
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering

References

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  1. ^ Adams, Gregory (December 21, 2011). "Saul Williams to Take 'Volcanic Sunlight' on North American Tour". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  2. ^ Brown, Marisa (2012-01-24). "A Different Kind of Dance: Saul Williams' Volcanic Sunlight". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Volcanic Sunlight - Saul Williams". AllMusic. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Volcanic Sunlight by Saul Williams". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Grier, Dylan. "Saul Williams". Okayplayer. Archived from the original on November 19, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Heigl, Alexander (November 30, 2011). "Saul Williams: Volcanic Sunlight". PopMatters. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
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