(Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality
| (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
_Consensus_Reality.jpg) | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 12, 2023 | |||
| Genre | Electronic[1] | |||
| Length | 41:12 | |||
| Label | Temporary Residence | |||
| Producer | Matthew Robert Cooper | |||
| Eluvium chronology | ||||
| ||||
(Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality is a studio album by American composer Matthew Robert Cooper under the pseudonym Eluvium. It was released on May 12, 2023, through Temporary Residence Limited. It received universal acclaim from critics.[2]
Background
Matthew Robert Cooper, also known as Eluvium, is an American composer.[3] (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality took inspiration from T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Richard Brautigan's "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace".[3] He created the album remotely with members of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), Golden Retriever, and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra.[3] It is his first album to feature a full live orchestra.[4]
The album was released on May 12, 2023, through Temporary Residence Limited.[5][6]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 84/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 8/10[8] |
| MusicOMH |  [9] |
| Spectrum Culture | 70%[10] |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 from 4 critic scores.[2]
Jack Bray of The Line of Best Fit praised the album's "commitment to opposing ideas and the curveballs it throws your way in pursuit of them."[8] He added, "Where one song might see Cooper deal with the onward march of technology, another will see him harken back to the kind of loneliness and isolationism many of us will recognise from our time in lockdown."[8] Fred Thomas of AllMusic wrote, "Though his inspirations might have been dystopic thoughts of algorithms and robotic interaction, the buoyant strings and inspiring compositions ultimately mirror human nature's endless questing more than anything else."[7]
Accolades
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| AllMusic | Favorite Electronic Albums | — |
Track listing
All tracks are written by Matthew Robert Cooper.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Escapement" | 1:36 |
| 2. | "Swift Automatons" | 2:36 |
| 3. | "Vibration Consensus Reality (for Spectral Multiband Resonator)" | 8:00 |
| 4. | "Scatterbrains" | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Phantasia Telephonics" | 5:55 |
| 6. | "The Violet Light" | 2:30 |
| 7. | "Void Manifest" | 4:10 |
| 8. | "Clockwork Fables" | 2:16 |
| 9. | "Mass Lossless Interbeing" | 3:43 |
| 10. | "A Floating World of Demons" | 3:04 |
| 11. | "Endless Flower" | 3:45 |
| Total length: | 41:12 | |
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.[12]
- Matthew Robert Cooper – piano, synthesizer, voice, virtual instruments, modular synthesis, sampler, orchestration, production, mixing
- Ben Russell – violin
- Jonathan Sielaff – bass clarinet
- Charlotte Mundy – vocals, noise, screaming
- Ben Shafer – horn
- Budapest Scoring Orchestra – additional instrumentation
- Conor Abbott Brown – orchestration, additional orchestra assistance
- Denes Redly – Budapest Scoring Orchestra recording
- Viktor Szabo – Budapest Scoring Orchestra recording
- Rafael Anton Irisarri – mastering
- Craig McCaffrey – sleeve
- Jeannie Lynn Paske – cover art ("A Substitute for Any Larger Form of Thought")
References
- 1 2 "Favorite Electronic Albums | AllMusic 2023 in Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "(Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality by Eluvium". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 19, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Doherty, Kelly (November 16, 2022). "Eluvium to release (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality next May". The Vinyl Factory. Archived from the original on November 17, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ Orzeck, Kurt (May 11, 2023). "Eluvium, (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality". Flood Magazine. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ Hussey, Allison (November 15, 2022). "Eluvium Announces New Album, Shares New Songs: Listen". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "(Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality". Temporary Residence Limited. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 Thomas, Fred. "(Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality - Eluvium". AllMusic. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Bray, Jack (May 15, 2023). "Eluvium presents a restless rapture on (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ Johnson, Steven (May 7, 2023). "Eluvium – (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality". MusicOMH. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ Simpson, J (May 16, 2023). "Eluvium: (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality". Spectrum Culture. Archived from the original on June 12, 2026. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "(Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality | Eluvium". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ Eluvium (2023). (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality (vinyl liner notes). Temporary Residence Limited.
Further reading
- Sawdey, Evan (May 11, 2023). "The Nuanced History Eluvium's Many Clockwork Fables". PopMatters. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
External links
- (Whirring Marvels In) Consensus Reality at Discogs (list of releases)