Britpop (A. G. Cook album)

Some of the material from Britpop was teased in mixes before the album's release, such as tracks "Soulbreaker" and "Equine". The early stages of the album's design began in 2020, when Cook lived in Montana with his partner Alaska Reid during COVID-19 lockdowns. Cook said, "I was the only British person there and having that sense of being a bit of an alien... So a way of digging into what an A. G. Cook album could be was to use this as a strange launching pad, finding this thing that's slightly too loaded." Cook released "Silver Thread Golden Needle" 1 January 2024. The song was previously premiered in 2021 at Eckhaus Latta's Spring 2022 New York showcase. Britpop was announced alongside the release of the title track on 23 February. Cook announced the Britpop Roadshow: a series of mini residencies in Los Angeles, London and New York City across April and May to promote the album. He additionally teased the track list on TikTok in late March. Cook also launched the sites Witchfork, Wandcamp, and Wheatport as an alternate reality project that parodied Pitchfork, Bandcamp, and Beatport. These sites were made inactive after a few weeks of regular posts. "Soulbreaker" was released as a single on 17 April, alongside an animated music video directed by Gustaf Holtenäs. == Music and lyrics ==

Disc one focuses on the 'Past' of Cook's "playful electronic" sound. It has been described as the "closest to what [people know to be] PC Music." The 'Present' disc features mostly "delicate, close-mic vocal" guitar-oriented tracks. == Critical reception ==

Chal Ravens of Pitchfork described Britpop as "a rangy triple album full of shiny synths, inside jokes, and gently sentimental vocal pop" and felt that it "opens a practical portal between Cook's old universe—hard, bright, aggressively contemporary—and a seductively oppositional dimension of folklore, fantasy, fuzz rock, and magic". Year-end lists == Track listing ==

All tracks written by Alexander Guy Cook, except where noted. Credits adapted from TIDAL. Notes • "Silver Thread Golden Needle" contains samples from "Show Me What" from Cook's 7G album. • "Britpop" interpolates "Lipgloss" by Charli XCX. • "Without" interpolates "BIPP" by Sophie. • "Soulbreaker" interpolates "6 Miniatures: I. Lord Jesus Christ is Born", Leoš Janáček's arrangement of the traditional Czech Christian hymn Narodil se Kristus Pán. == Personnel ==

• A. G. Cook – vocals, performer, producer, mixing engineer • Charli XCX – vocals ("Britpop", "Television", "Lucifer") • Cecile Believe – vocals ("Prismatic") • Alaska Reid – vocals ("Luddite Factory Operator", "Pink Mask") • Ellen Roberts – vocals ("Bewitched") • Addison Rae – vocals ("Lucifer") • Caroline Polachek – vocals ("Equine") • Alex Evans – mixing engineer • Geoff Swan – mixing engineer • Robin Schmidt – mastering engineer == References ==