Double Negative (album)

This article is about the album by Low. For other albums with the same name, see Double Negative (disambiguation).

Double Negative is the twelfth studio album by Low, released on September 14, 2018.^[9] It is the last album to feature bass guitarist Steve Garrington, who would go on to leave the band in 2020.

Double Negative
Studio album by Low
Released	September 14, 2018 (2018-09-14)
Studio	April Base, Fall Creek The Terrarium, Minneapolis
Genre	Ambient[1] noise[2][3][4] electronic[5] experimental[6] post-rock[7] slowcore[8]
Length	48:50
Label	Sub Pop
Producer	BJ Burton
Low chronology
Ones and Sixes (2015) Double Negative (2018) Hey What (2021)
Singles from Double Negative
"Quorum" Released: June 12, 2018 "Dancing and Blood" Released: June 12, 2018 "Fly" Released: June 12, 2018 "Disarray" Released: August 16, 2018

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.1/10[10]
Metacritic	86/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The A.V. Club	B−[12]
Clash	9/10[13]
The Guardian	[14]
Mojo	[15]
Pitchfork	8.7/10[16]
PopMatters	9/10[2]
Q	[17]
Record Collector	[18]
Uncut	9/10[19]

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, Double Negative has an average score of 86 based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[11] Writing in Pitchfork's list of the best albums of 2018, Marc Hogan said that "static prevails and flickering tones are almost untraceable to the instruments that made them," and that this sound "captured [2018's] pervasive dread like nothing else."^[20] Alexis Petridis, in The Guardian's summary of the best albums of 2018, wrote "[I]n a world of predictable political music it seems unprecedented. That's partly because you don't expect a band to make their masterpiece 25 years into their career [...]. But it's mostly because, for all the vague precursors you could throw its way - from My Bloody Valentine to Radiohead's Kid A - Double Negative didn't sound like anything else, in Low's back catalogue or beyond."^[21]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank
NPR	The 50 Best Albums of 2018	17[22]
BrooklynVegan	Top 50 Albums of 2018	2[23]
Uncut	Uncut's Best New Albums of 2018	1[24]
Paste	The 50 Best Albums of 2018	9[25]
Vulture	The 15 Best Albums of 2018	2[26]
The Quietus	100 Best Albums of 2018	8[27]
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2018	8[4]
The Wire	Releases of the Year 1–50	10[28]
Pitchfork	The 50 Best Albums of 2018	8[29]
Pitchfork	The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s	96[3]
Tiny Mix Tapes	Favorite 50 music releases	7[30]
The Guardian	The 50 best albums of 2018	9[31]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Low.

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Quorum"	Sparhawk Parker	3:42
2.	"Dancing and Blood"	Parker	6:22
3.	"Fly"	Parker	5:48
4.	"Tempest"	Sparhawk	4:48
5.	"Always Up"	Sparhawk Parker	5:28
6.	"Always Trying to Work It Out"	Sparhawk	3:55
7.	"The Son, The Sun"	Instrumental, spoken word by Parker	3:30
8.	"Dancing and Fire"	Sparhawk	4:17
9.	"Poor Sucker"	Sparhawk	3:35
10.	"Rome (Always in the Dark)"	Sparhawk Parker	3:32
11.	"Disarray"	Sparhawk Parker	3:52
Total length:			48:50

Personnel

Low

• Steve Garrington – bass guitar
• Mimi Parker – vocals, percussion
• Alan Sparhawk – guitar, vocals

Additional musicians

• Maaika van der Linde – bass flute on "Always Up"

Technical

• Brett Bullion – assistant engineering
• B. J. Burton – recording, mixing, mastering
• Zach Hanson – assistant engineering

Artwork

• David Kramer – editing assistance, design
• Peter Liversidge – artwork, photos

Charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)[32]	41
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[33]	31
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[34]	109
Irish Albums (IRMA)[35]	69
Italian Albums (FIMI)[36]	90
Scottish Albums (OCC)[37]	14
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[38]	23
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39]	52
UK Albums (OCC)[40]	26