Boat Songs

Boat Songs is the third solo album by American musician MJ Lenderman. It was released on April 29, 2022, by Dear Life Records.^[3] The album was listed on several publications' lists of the best albums of 2022.

Boat Songs
Studio album by MJ Lenderman
Released	April 29, 2022 (2022-04-29)
Studio	Drop of Sun, Asheville, North Carolina
Genre	Indie rock alt-country
Length	33:40
Label	Dear Life
Producer	MJ Lenderman
MJ Lenderman chronology
Ghost of Your Guitar Solo (2021) Boat Songs (2022) And the Wind (Live and Loose!) (2023)
Singles from Boat Songs
"Hangover Game" Released: January 2022[1] "TLC Cage Match" Released: March 2022[2]

Release

On January 25, 2022, Stereogum managing editor Chris DeVille announced the release date of the album alongside the music video for "Hangover Game," comparing the album to Jason Molina, Uncle Tupelo, and Pinegrove.^[4] In March, Stereogum senior editor Tom Breihan posted the music video for second single "TLC Cage Match." The song is named after the tables, ladders, and chairs WWE match style, which it uses as a metaphor for self-destructive behavior.^[5]

On April 29, 2022, Boat Songs was released on Dear Life Records via Bandcamp in digital form, CD, vinyl, and cassette.^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Pitchfork	8.3/10[6]
Uncut	[7]

Sasha Geffen at Pitchfork praised Lenderman's alt-country songwriting for its "disarming insights into the fray of living" delivered with fuzzy, lo-fi distortion, "loping, lackadaisical melodic phrasing," and "gentle, unhurried deadpan."^[6] Dillon Riley, writing for Flood Magazine, characterized Lenderman's writing as economical, yet low-brow compared to the more literary writing of his Wednesday bandmate Karly Hartzman.^[8] Uncut's Erin Osmon described Boat Songs with comparisons to John Prine, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and Drive-By Truckers's Patterson Hood, praising Lenderman's "refreshing and thoroughly unpretentious perspective" that, by imbuing working-class signifiers with depth and importance, blurs the boundary between high and low art.^[7]

Year-end lists

Boat Songs on year-end lists

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
The A.V. Club	30 Best Albums of 2022	27	[9]
The Alternative	Top 50 Albums of 2022	4	[10]
The Bitter Southerner	(22) Best Southern Albums of 2022	9	[11]
Consequence	Top 50 Albums of 2022	49	[12]
Paste	50 Best Albums of 2022	10	[13]
Pitchfork	50 Best Albums of 2022	35	[14]
The Ringer	33 Best Albums of 2022	12	[15]
Rolling Stone	100 Best Albums of 2022	98	[16]
Stereogum	50 Best Albums of 2022	11	[17]

Track listing

Boat Songs track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hangover Game"	MJ Lenderman	2:16
2.	"You Have Bought Yourself a Boat"	Lenderman	2:51
3.	"TLC Cage Match"	Lenderman	3:52
4.	"Toontown"	Lenderman, Andrew James	3:56
5.	"SUV"	Lenderman	1:57
6.	"Under Control"	Lenderman	2:19
7.	"Dan Marino"	Lenderman	2:15
8.	"You Are Every Girl to Me"	Lenderman	3:50
9.	"Tastes Just Like It Costs"	Lenderman	3:47
10.	"Six Flags"	Lenderman	6:36
Total length:			33:40

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's Bandcamp release page.^[3]

• Xandy Chelmis – pedal steel
• Alex Farrar – guitar on "You Are Every Girl to Me", recording, mixing, production
• Colin Miller – production, mastering, bass, keys, trumpet
• Lewis Dahm – guitar on "You Are Every Girl to Me"
• Andrew James – writing on "Toontown", album art
• Jon Samuels – layout
• MJ Lenderman – production, all other instruments and writing