Fear of Fours

Fear of Fours is the second studio album by English electronic music duo Lamb. It was released on 17 May 1999 by Fontana Records and Mercury Records.^[4]

Fear of Fours
Studio album by Lamb
Released	17 May 1999 (1999-05-17)
Studio	The Toyshop (Manchester) Townhouse (London)
Genre	Trip hop[1]
Length	55:22
Label	Fontana Mercury
Producer	Lamb
Lamb chronology
Lamb (1996) Fear of Fours (1999) What Sound (2001)
Singles from Fear of Fours
"B Line" Released: 22 March 1999[2] "All in Your Hands" Released: 10 May 1999[3]

Background

The title Fear of Fours alludes to the album's avoidance of the four-on-the-floor rhythm commonly used in dance music. Lamb's Andy Barlow later explained, "By the time we came to record Fear of Fours it felt like everything in ⁴
₄ had been done ... I've always liked interesting time signatures. When you're in ⁷
₈, or ³
₄ even, you get a loop that you've heard a hundred times before and it can immediately have a different feel to it."^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B[7]
Los Angeles Times	[8]
Melody Maker	[9]
Mixmag	4/5[10]
Muzik	[11]
Pitchfork	8.5/10[1]
Q	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Spin	7/10[14]

John Bush of AllMusic said that while Lamb's 1996 eponymous debut album "was practically a revolution in the development of a satisfactory fusion of singer/songwriter vocals and drum'n'bass", Fear of Fours "sets the bar much higher", praising Barlow in particular as "one of the most capable and inventive producers in the electronic community."^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andy Barlow and Lou Rhodes, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
0.	"Lullaby" (CD pregap hidden track)	Barlow Rhodes Jon Thorne	2:20
1.	"Soft Mistake"		3:16
2.	"Little Things"		3:18
3.	"B Line"		2:46
4.	Untitled (hidden track)		0:04
5.	"All in Your Hands"		4:39
6.	"Less Than Two"		1:19
7.	"Bonfire"		4:23
8.	"Ear Parcel"		7:54
9.	"Softly"	Barlow Rhodes Thorne	3:56
10.	"Here"		3:22
11.	"Fly"		5:13
12.	"Alien"		4:06
13.	"Five"		5:49
14.	"Lullaby"	Barlow Rhodes Thorne	2:57
Total length:			55:22

Sample credits^[15]

• "Bonfire" contains samples of C. P. E. Bach: Cello Concertos.
• "Ear Parcel" contains samples of "How High the Moon", performed by Charlie Parker.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[15]

Lamb

• Andy Barlow – performance, brass arrangements (track 5)
• Lou Rhodes – performance

Additional musicians

• Nell Catchpole – violin (tracks 5, 7, 14), viola (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• David Clack – horn (track 5)
• Graham Clarke – violin (track 11)
• Kevin Davy – trumpet
• Tanera Dawkins – cello (tracks 5, 7, 14), string arrangements (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Alison Dods – violin (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Alan Gibson – double bass (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Jimi Goodwin – guitar (track 3)
• Helen Kamminga – viola (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Alice Kinloch – trombone (track 5), sousaphone (track 5)
• Kathryn Locke – cello (tracks 5, 7, 14), string arrangements (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Ben Park – baritone saxophone (track 5), brass arrangements (track 5)
• John Rayson – viola (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Cathy Rimer – cello (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Crispin "Spry" Robinson – percussion (track 10)
• Niroshini Thambar – violin (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Jon Thorne – double bass
• Matthew Ward – violin (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Mikey Wilson – drums
• Anne Wood – violin (tracks 5, 7, 14)

Production

• Jim Abbiss – mixing (track 11)
• Andy Barlow – mixing (tracks 6, 13)
• Ian Carmichael – engineering, mixing (tracks 6, 10, 13)
• Alan Douglas – recording (tracks 5, 7, 14)
• Jared Hawkins – mixing (assistance)
• Lamb – production
• Al Stone – mixing

Design

• Rich Mulhearn – photography
• Jeremy Murch – photography
• Rick Myers – art direction, design

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[16]	25
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17]	61
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18]	22
Scottish Albums (OCC)[19]	82
UK Albums (OCC)[20]	37
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[21]	5
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[22]	35