God Games

God Games
An artistic rendering of a matador with a red cloth facing a bull on dirt, with "God Games" placed over it in red text
Studio album by
the Kills
ReleasedOctober 27, 2023 (2023-10-27)
StudioThe Church (London)
Electric Lady (New York City)
Sweetzerland (Los Angeles)
GenreRock
Length39:25
LabelDomino
Producer
The Kills chronology
Ash & Ice
(2016) 		God Games
(2023)
Singles from God Games
  1. "New York" / "LA Hex"
    Released: August 30, 2023

God Games is the sixth studio album by English-American indie rock duo the Kills, released on October 27, 2023 through Domino. It follows seven years after their previous album, 2016's Ash & Ice, and was produced by Paul Epworth. The album was preceded by the dual lead single "New York" / "LA Hex",[1] and received acclaim from critics.

Background and music

[edit]

Guitarist Jamie Hince stated that he intended to make a side project to compose music "that wasn't like The Kills" before he "quickly realized it was The Kills". He and producer and drummer Paul Epworth worked more on programming rather than guitar-based music as with previous Kills albums.[2] The Independent described the music as "Siouxsie Sioux and a hex" with "corroded dub, voodoo funk, insidious gospel, junk shop pop and even a bit of flamenco calypso".[3]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic82/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
American Songwriter[2]
DIY[6]
Exclaim!8/10[7]
Far Out[8]
Mojo[9]
MusicOMH[10]
Uncut7/10[11]
Under the Radar8/10[12]

God Games received a score of 82 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 11 critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[4] Hal Horowitz of American Songwriter wrote that the duo "prove that the time off hasn't dulled their artistic edge" and remarked that the absence of guitar work on some tracks "delineates how this disc has shifted away from the twosome's previous work", which "makes for an intense, generally unrelenting forty-minute project; one that pushes The Kills into fresh musical territory".[2] Mojo described the album as "sun-scorched Californian jams",[9] while Uncut felt that "the set ranges ambitiously from hypnotic, twisted love songs such as '103' and the title track to the warped gospel undertones of 'My Girls My Girls' and 'LA Hex', courtesy of the Compton Kidz Club Choir".[11]

Joe Goggins of DIY stated that the album "comes over sounding like their most ambitious and handsome release yet" and while one might "wish The Kills were a touch more prolific, especially in recent years", the album, "like its predecessors, has proved worth the wait".[6] Exclaim!'s Alan Ranta opined that "while the band has always been a rock-first concern, the core of God Games is in its mature, layered and emotive downtempo pop balladry". Ranta ended his review by saying "here's hoping their magic still has enough juju to make it happen, for all our sake. If the strange alchemy of their career holds, better days may very well be ahead".[7] Cheri Amour of The Arts Desk found that Epworth has "trace[d] them back to that darker strain of rolling rock", describing it as "a rejoiceful return".[13]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart.

God Games track listing
No.TitleLength
1."New York"4:04
2."Going to Heaven"3:48
3."LA Hex"3:14
4."Love and Tenderness"2:40
5."103"4:05
6."My Girls My Girls"3:38
7."Wasterpiece"3:11
8."Kingdom Come"3:19
9."God Games"2:25
10."Blank"2:27
11."Bullet Sound"3:47
12."Better Days"2:47
Total length:39:25

Personnel

[edit]

The Kills

Additional musicians

  • Fred Martin – choir vocal arrangement, choir vocals (tracks 3, 6)
  • Zharia Clausell – choir vocals (tracks 3, 6)
  • Tiana Paul – choir vocals (tracks 3, 6)
  • Tai Philips – choir vocals (tracks 3, 6)
  • Tunay Raymond – choir vocals (tracks 3, 6)

Technical personnel

  • Paul Epworth – production (tracks 1–8, 10, 11)
  • Riley MacIntyre – additional production (tracks 9, 12), mixing (2, 7), engineering (all tracks)
  • Robert Adam Stevenson – additional engineering
  • Chiara Ferracuti – engineering assistance
  • Tom Elmhirst – mixing (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 8–12)
  • Adam Wong – mix engineering (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 8–12)
  • Colin Leonard – mastering
  • Rachel Briggs – cover painting
  • Matthew Cooper – design
  • Paul J. Street – design

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for God Games
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 39
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 139
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 60
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 46
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 31
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[19] 46
Scottish Albums (OCC)[20] 16
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 70
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 66
UK Album Downloads (OCC)[23] 25
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[24] 9
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[25] 49

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Campbell, Erica (August 30, 2023). "The Kills on their new album God Games: 'It reminded me of making our first record'". NME. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Horowitz, Hal (October 25, 2023). "Review: The Kills Return After Seven Years With the Relentless God Games". American Songwriter. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "The 30 best albums of 2023, from Olivia Rodrigo to Lana Del Rey". independent.co.uk. December 15, 2023. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ a b "God Games by The Kills Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  5. ^ Phares, Heather. "God Games – The Kills". AllMusic. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Goggins, Joe (October 25, 2023). "The Kills – God Games review". DIY. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Ranta, Alan (October 25, 2023). "The Kills Look to Better Days on God Games". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  8. ^ Coffman, Tim (October 26, 2023). "The Kills – God Games album review". Far Out. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "The Kills – God Games". Mojo. December 2023. p. 87.
  10. ^ Murphy, John (October 27, 2023). "The Kills – God Games". MusicOMH. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "The Kills – God Games". Uncut. December 2023. p. 31.
  12. ^ The Raven, Matt (October 26, 2023). "The Kills: God Games (Domino)". Under the Radar. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  13. ^ Amour, Cheri (October 26, 2023). "Album: The Kills – God Games". The Arts Desk. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  14. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Kills – God Games" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Kills – God Games" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Kills – God Games" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  17. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Kills – God Games". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  18. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Kills – God Games" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  19. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Kills – God Games". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Kills – God Games". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  23. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  24. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  25. ^ "The Kills Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
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