Angel Milk


Angel Milk is the second album from French electronic group Télépopmusik. It was released on June 21, 2005. The album was met with positive reviews from music critics, who praised the record's production and Angela McCluskey's guest vocals. Additionally, the album spawned a single, "Into Everything."

Background

Prior to their recording of Angel Milk, Telepopmusik had achieved some mainstream success with "Breathe." The song was used in a Mitsubishi advertisement and became a top 50 hit in the UK, also entering the Billboard Hot 100. The song's parent album, Genetic World, also proved a success, charting in both the US and the UK.
For their second record, Telepopmusik reunited with Angela McCluskey, who had provided vocals on several of the tracks on the group's debut, including "Breathe." They also enlisted English rapper Mau and English vocalist Deborah Anderson. The final two songs on the record include long gaps of silence, which drew criticism.

Release

Ahead of the album's release, the group released "Into Everything," featuring Anderson, as the lead single. Though the song had an accompanying music video, it failed to chart. The album, which was released on 21 June 2005 by Capitol Records, experienced similarly disappointing chart performance. The album also spawned a second single, "Don't Look Back."

Critical reception

The album garnered generally positive reviews upon its release. On review aggregate site Metacritic, the album holds a score of 68/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." IGN's W. Fry stated that if he "had to choose one adjective for Telepopmusik's it would be: chill," going on to criticize the last two tracks on the album for their silence but concluding that "the tracks go down effortlessly, leaving you with a nice taste in your mouth." PopMatters' Justin Cober-Lake singled out Angela McCluskey's vocals as a highlight, commenting that she "steals the show," but noting that the other vocalists don't "fare as well as McCluskey." Cober-Lake concluded that "The music’s not flawless, but it serves its role as come-down music quite nicely," and awarded the album 6 stars out of 10.
However, some critics were more negative towards the album. AllMusic's David Jeffries awarded the album 2 out of 5 stars and felt, although the album has "beautiful backing tracks," that the music was unoriginal. Spin's review was similarly critical of the album; they gave it a "B-" and, though likening it to Moby and Bjork, felt that the album was ultimately nondescript. Drowned in Sound's Julian Ridgeway gave the album a 6/10 and, though praising the record's production and stylistic range, concluded that "it’s a record that feels like it’s missing something vital. It might be a bit of heart."

Track listing

  1. "Don't Look Back" – 0:11 + 3:50
  2. "Anyway" – 2:34
  3. "Into Everything" – 4:25
  4. "Love's Almighty" – 4:28
  5. "Last Train To Wherever" – 0:23 + 5:02
  6. "Brighton Beach" – 4:23
  7. "Close" – 3:18
  8. "Swamp" – 2:05
  9. "Ambushed" – 1:34
  10. "Tuesday" – 1:26
  11. "Another Day" – 5:35
  12. "15 Minutes" – 1:05 + 15:38 of silence

    Japanese edition