User Submitted Album
View Submitter's ProfileAlbum Summary
A Crow Looked at Me is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project of the American musician Phil Elverum. Released in 2017, it was composed in the aftermath of his wife Geneviève Castrée's diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in 2015, and her death in July 2016. Elverum wrote and recorded the songs over a six-week period in the room where she died, mostly using her instruments. His sparse lyrics and minimalistic musical accompaniment drew influence from artists including the poet Gary Snyder, author Karl Ove Knausgård and songwriter Julie Doiron. Characterized by lo-fi production and loose instrumentation, A Crow Looked at Me departs from Elverum's earlier and more complex experimental works, but is musically similar to his album Lost Wisdom (2008). The lyrics are presented in a diary-like form and sung in a raw, intimate style. They describe Castrée's illness and death, Elverum's grief, and his relationship with their infant child. The album was deliberately underpromoted, and he at first considered releasing the songs under a name other than Mount Eerie. The singles "Real Death" (January 2017) and "Ravens" (February), were accompanied by a single low key concert. After its release, he undertook well-received tours of North America and Europe, and in 2018 released the album (after), a live performance of the songs. The album is highly regarded by both critics and fans, although a number of critics found it difficult to objectively review, given its emotional subject matter and unflinchingly honest lyrics. A Crow Looked at Me is Elverum's best-selling record and is considered among his most important works. It became one of the most praised albums of 2017, appearing on many best-of lists for the year and decade. His following albums, Now Only (2018) and Lost Wisdom pt. 2 (2019), further detail and examine Castrée's illness and death.
Read more on Wikipedia
Reviews
Okay, I wasn't expecting to wake up this morning and be destroyed by my album of the day. Beautiful, raw, and real. I've lost several people close to me in my 60 years of life (though thankfully not my spouse) and this album perfectly captures the feelings of grief as they evolve over the days and weeks and months after losing someone. It's hard to objectively judge this album, but I'm going with 5 stars.
Quite possibly the most devastatingly sad album I've ever heard. It's insanely powerful and well-written but it does really take it out of me to listen to. The embodiment of grief.
One of the most intimate, saddest and depressing albums I've ever heard. But that's all what this album is about. It deals with sickness and death from such a close perspective, you kinda feel it too. So goal achieved, I guess
A Crow Looked at Me is the eight album by Mount Eerie (=Phil Elverum). The album is about the illness (due to pancreatic cancer) and death of his wife Geneviève Castrée. Phil Elverum wrote and recorded the album in the room where she died. She was only 35 years old and their daughter was jst one year old. The result is a devastating album about grief and loss. The lyrics are chronological, direct and describing facts and situations like in a diary. Maybe this is why it hits even harder as dramatics and grande gestures are not to be found. The music is introvert, slow, lo-fi and full of empty spaces. It shows the hesitation and doubt about how to move on. The album is painful and it feels like your are listening to something that is much too personal. How can you put a value on someones grief, how can I give stars to this album...
3.5/5
Frankly too raw presentation of very fresh grief. There's beauty here, and a value in angrily dropping this bleeding chunk on a plate. But there is a dedication to there being nothing of value to to walk through it with, no beauty or redemption or meaning, which completely understandable, but also renders the whole essentially unresolved.
Wow. Just wow. This is a brutal album. I was not ready for it. Brutal in content. The music is gentle. I've just never heard such an honest and intense display of grief on a record before. Even that Nick Cave one.
Ok. No. This bum needs to come with a warning. There I am in Asda on a Saturday morning preparing for my daughter’s 11th birthday and BAM. I had to tune out, but every time I rushed back in it got worse. I am very sorry for your loss sir.
Devastating. I don't really know how to even properly talk about or rate an album like this. Had to pause multiple times because it's honestly a bit too much at once emotionally. So many beautiful and heartbreaking lyrics on here. Death is real. I cried, so rule of thumb says 5/5, but it feels wrong to assign this a number rating. Just hope Phil is doing better these days.
Depressing and beautiful.
Written after the death of his wife. It's devastating. "When real death enters the house, all poetry is dumb" "Thinking about the things I'll tell you when you get back from wherever it is that you've gone. But then I remember death is real" "And I remember thinking the last time it rained here you were alive still" "Do the people around me want to keep hearing about my dead wife? Or does the room go silent when I mention you, shining alive?" Oh, this album is full of sure real, raw pain. Yes, it is slow and melancholy. But, I think many of us can relate to a loss of a loved one. And if you can't then consider yourself lucky. Standouts: Real Death 4/5
Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Real death
fuck no