Bringing the Backline
| Bringing the Backline | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2 July 2018 | |||
| Recorded | March 2017 | |||
| Studio | JT Soar, Nottingham | |||
| Length | 34:57 | |||
| Producer | Patrick Hyland | |||
| Trust Fund chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Bringing the Backline | ||||
| ||||
Bringing the Backline is the fourth studio album by British band Trust Fund. It was released on 2 July 2018. Following the album's release, the band announced it would be their last.
Background and release
Trust Fund released their first two albums No One's Coming for Us and Seems Unfair in 2015, and their third album We Have Always Lived in the Harolds in 2016.
Bringing the Backline was mostly recorded in Nottingham in March 2017.[1] The single "Carson McCullers", named after the author Carson McCullers, was released on 17 May 2018.[2] Bringing the Backline was released on 2 July 2018 on LP, cassette (sold by DIY record label Hidden Bay Records), and as a digital download under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 license.[1]
Following the release of the album, band leader Ellis Jones announced that it would be Trust Fund's last, for "various non-dramatic reasons."[3] Trust Fund went on to release another album Has It Been a While? in 2024.[4]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Clash | 8/10[5] |
| No Ripcord | 7/10[6] |
| Pitchfork | 6.9/10[3] |
Emma Garland of Vice wrote that "on the surface, Bringing The Backline feels like a mic drop from someone who has absolutely had it – someone who kind of hates music and has responded by making a really, really, really good album about it."[7] In a 6.9/10 review for Pitchfork, Calum Marsh wrote that "If these songs have an overarching theme, it's how deeply disenchanted Jones feels with making music...Occasionally his lyrics convey nothing short of despair."[3]
Clash compared Bringing The Backline to Trust Fund's previous album We Have Always Lived in the Harolds, calling it "another future classic."[5] No Ripcord wrote that the album "does suffer from throwing in too many ideas at once."[6]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blue X" | 3:05 |
| 2. | "Jonathan" | 3:40 |
| 3. | "embarrassing!" | 2:29 |
| 4. | "Carson McCullers" | 3:00 |
| 5. | "a song" | 3:25 |
| 6. | "King of CM" | 3:10 |
| 7. | "Alexandra" | 3:37 |
| 8. | "Wipe it down" | 4:14 |
| 9. | "Abundant" | 4:57 |
| 10. | "The mill" | 3:14 |
| Total length: | 34:57 | |
Personnel
- Patrick Hyland – production, mixing, mastering
References
- ^ a b
Bandcamp releases:
- "Bringing the backline", trustfund.bandcamp.com, retrieved 2025-04-24
- "Bringing the Backline (Hidden Bay)", hiddenbayrecords.bandcamp.com, retrieved 2025-04-24
- ^ Tom Breihan (2018-05-17), "Trust Fund – "Carson McCullers"", Stereogum, retrieved 2025-04-24
- ^ a b c Calum Marsh (2018-08-01), "Bringing the Backline – Trust Fund", Pitchfork, retrieved 2025-04-24
- ^ Fred Thomas. Has It Been A While? Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ^ a b Nick Roseblade (2018-08-02), "Trust Fund – Bringing The Backline", Clash, retrieved 2025-04-24
- ^ a b Juan Edgardo Rodriguez (2018-08-22), "Quick Takes (July 2018)", No Ripcord, retrieved 2025-04-24
- ^ Emma Garland (2018-08-13), "Trust Fund's Final Album is the Best Thing You'll Ever Hear About Hating Music", Vice, retrieved 2025-04-24