Crooked Shadows

Crooked Shadows is the seventh studio album by American rock band Dashboard Confessional. It was released on February 9, 2018 through Fueled by Ramen and Dine Alone Records.^[1] It is their first studio album in nine years, following 2009's Alter the Ending.

Crooked Shadows
Studio album by Dashboard Confessional
Released	February 9, 2018 (2018-02-09)[1]
Genre	Alternative rock[2]
Length	29:37
Label	Fueled by Ramen
Dashboard Confessional chronology
Covered and Taped (2017) Crooked Shadows (2018) All the Truth That I Can Tell (2022)

The album debuted at number 53 on the Billboard 200, as well as number four on both the Billboard Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts.^[3]

Release

On November 15, 2017, "We Fight" premiered on Beats 1. Alongside this, Crooked Shadows was announced for release in February the following year.^[4] On December 18, a music video was released for "Belong",^[5] directed by Joe Zohar.^[6] Two days later, a music video was released for "We Fight", directed by David Mack.^[7] In early January 2018, the band performed the track on Conan.^[8] On January 19, "Heart Beat Here" was made available for streaming.^[9] Crooked Shadows was released on February 9 through Fueled by Ramen.^[10]

In February and March 2018, the group embarked on a headlining US tour with support from Beach Slang.^[11] In August, they went on a co-headlining US tour with All Time Low.^[12] A second leg was planned to follow in September and October,^[13] however, the day before this was to start, the band pulled out of a few days due to Carrabba dealing with a family emergency.^[14] Four days later, the group pulled out of the second leg entirely.^[15] On November 15, a music video was released for "Just What to Say",^[16] directed by Ryan Hamblin.^[17]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	57/100[18]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[19]
Clash	8/10[20]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[21]
Exclaim!	6/10[2]
Pitchfork	4.7/10[22]
Rolling Stone	[23]

Crooked Shadows was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 57, based on 9 reviews.^[18] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the album 60 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 9 reviews.^[24]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"We Fight"		3:25
2.	"Catch You"		3:06
3.	"About Us"	Carrabba Jonathan Clark Ross Copperman Ryan Follese	3:36
4.	"Heart Beat Here"		3:27
5.	"Belong" (with Cash Cash)		2:58
6.	"Crooked Shadows"	Carrabba Armon Jay Cheek Jonathan Howard	2:49
7.	"Open My Eyes" (featuring Lindsey Stirling)	Carrabba Mark Webb	3:43
8.	"Be Alright"	Carrabba Corey James Bost Clark	3:02
9.	"Just What to Say" (featuring Chrissy Costanza of Against The Current)	Carrabba Cheek	3:31

All tracks are written by Chris Carrabba, except where noted.

Personnel

Dashboard Confessional

• Chris Carrabba – lead vocals, guitar, keyboard
• Benjamin Homola – drums, percussion
• Armon Jay – guitar, backing vocals
• Scott Schoenbeck – bass, keyboard

Technical personnel

• Jonathan Clark – producer, engineer
• Chris Carrabba – producer
• Jonathan Howard – producer and engineer (track 6), additional instrumentation
• Colin Brittain – co-producer, mixing, additional instrumentation
• Chad Gilbert – additional production (track 2)
• Cash Cash – producer and mixing (track 5)
• Ben Sabin – recording, additional mixing, additional instrumentation
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Jack Barakat – additional instrumentation
• Lee Cunningham – additional instrumentation
• Dylan Meek – additional instrumentation
• Cheyenne Sabin – additional instrumentation

Charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[25]	53
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26]	4
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[27]	4