Backwater (album)

Backwater is the first studio album by Australian music duo Kllo. It was released on 20 October 2017.[3]

Backwater
Studio album by Kllo
Released	20 October 2017
Genre	Alternative R&B, 2-step garage, UK bass, indietronica, electropop[1]
Length	46:08[2]
Label	Different Ghostly International
Producer	Kllo
Kllo chronology
Backwater (2017) Maybe We Could (2020)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Clash	7/10[5]
Exclaim!	7/10[6]
The 405	7.5/10[7]
The Line of Best Fit	8.5/10[8]
Paste	7.5/10[9]
Pitchfork	6.3/10[10]
PopMatters	favorable[11]
XLR8R	favorable[12]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

Ashley Hampson of Exclaim described the album as "a mature, thoughtful project that explores and attempts to reconcile the ideas of isolation and vulnerability with comfort and familiarity."[6] William Sutton of PopMatters wrote, "There is a strong stylistic motif that carries through, but within this, there is a subtle exploration of sounds and styles, which only an album format would allow, with touches of '90s R&B, UK garage, electronica, and sultry pop all evident."[11] James Kilpin of Clash stated that "Tracks like 'Last Yearn' and 'Too Fast' see them reach new levels of delicacy, with club influences more prominent elsewhere, but the pervasive dreaminess and charm ultimately results in an absorbing debut album."[5]

Jack Tregoning of Junkee placed the album at number 9 on the "10 Best Albums of 2017" list.[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Kllo.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Downfall"	3:36
2.	"Still Motion"	0:29
3.	"Virtue"	3:40
4.	"Predicament"	3:45
5.	"Last Yearn"	5:08
6.	"Backwater"	1:36
7.	"Dissolve"	3:44
8.	"By Your Side"	5:40
9.	"Making Distractions"	4:29
10.	"Too Fast"	4:47
11.	"Nylon"	4:14
12.	"Not like Them"	5:01
Total length:		46:08

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

• Kllo – production
• Simon Lam – mixing
• Andrei Eremin – mixing (on "Virtue"), mastering
• 12:01 (Office of Hassan Rahim) – art direction
• Hayley Louisa Brown – photography

References

1. Nattress, Katrina (21 November 2017). "Kllo Bare It All on 'Backwater'". PopCrush. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
2. "Backwater - Kllo". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
3. Carbines, Scott (3 October 2017). "Kllo 'Dissolve' into disconnected passion on new track". Mixmag. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
4. "Backwater by Kllo". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
5. Kilpin, James (9 November 2017). "Kllo - Backwater". Clash. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
6. Hampson, Ashley (17 October 2017). "Kllo Backwater". Exclaim!. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
7. Gonçalves Silva, Francisco (1 November 2017). "Review: Kllo push themselves out of their comfort zone on the vibrant Backwater". The 405. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
8. Hannah, Andrew (18 October 2017). "Kllo dust off '90s electronica on their spacious and welcoming debut Backwater". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
9. Freedman, Max (20 October 2017). "Kllo: Backwater Review". Paste. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
10. Jagota, Vrinda (9 November 2017). "Kllo: Backwater". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
11. Sutton, William (6 November 2017). "Kllo: Backwater". PopMatters. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
12. Tantum, Bruce (10 October 2017). "Kllo Backwater". XLR8R. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
13. Tregoning, Jack (20 December 2017). "The 10 Best Albums Of 2017". Junkee. Retrieved 7 August 2020.

External links

• Backwater at Discogs (list of releases)