Actress Radical Frame
Released Sep 18, 2026 Ninja Tune
Consensus forming 3 professional reviews Updated Oct 2, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
Consensus is still forming across 3 professional reviews. Actress's Radical Frame arrives as a nocturnal, inscrutable study in tension where tenderness and abrasion coexist.
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
Live By You
2 critic mentions
“Live By You’ offloads morsels of programmed drums as CASISDEAD’s inner city sermon” — Clash Music
Withending
2 critic mentions
“the mercurial ‘Withending’ merges vocal interference with a pixellated fusion of darkly elegant keys” — Clash Music
Overchord
2 critic mentions
“That’s no more evident than on ‘Overchord’, a searching prayer wrapped up in a sedate, piano-primed techno crawler” — Clash Music
Full critic consensus
Actress's Radical Frame arrives as a nocturnal, inscrutable study in tension where tenderness and abrasion coexist. Across three professional reviews the record earned a 75.67/100 consensus score, and critics repeatedly single out tracks that crystallize its aims - “Live By You”, “Sheets”, “Withending”, “Overchord” and “Paris” emerge as the best songs on Radical Frame because they concentrate the album's emotional and textural stakes.
The critical consensus frames Radical Frame as long-form composition and avant-garde experimentation shaped by lo-fi sonics, nocturnal urban soundscapes and deliberate disjointed structure. Reviewers note the record's club-ready moments - especially the middle pair “Withending” and “Paris” - alongside extended ambient collage work such as the 16-minute closing piece praised for its luxuriant resolution after chaos. Critics consistently praise the album's sound design and genre fusion, describing “Overchord” as a piano-primed techno prayer and “Live By You” as a brutal centerpiece that folds ruined UK-rap textures into collapsing rhythms.
At the same time, reviewers acknowledge frustration alongside intrigue: the album demands patience, with its most affecting passages feeling hard-won rather than immediate. Across these professional reviews the consensus suggests Radical Frame rewards attentive, repeated listening and stands as another uncompromising, exploratory statement in Actress's catalog. For readers wanting a measured verdict on whether Radical Frame is worth listening to, the score and repeated praise for specific standout tracks point to a challenging but often essential listen.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The Experiment
Gimme Tha' F****n’ Money Man
Live By You
Overchord
Cosmo
Withending
Paris
Sheets
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Actress returns with Radical Frame, a nocturnal, mirage-like set where tracks such as “The Experiment” and “Sheets” crystallise his project of reorienting avant-garde electronic music. The review’s voice lingers on subtle, subdued sound design, noting how “Overchord” reads as a searching prayer within a piano-primed techno crawler, and how “Sheets” opens into an expansive hymn. Shahzaib Hussain’s prose emphasises Cunningham’s mercurial, uncompromising artistry, making the best songs on Radical Frame feel like concentrated proofs of a career-long experiment. This is an album whose best tracks reward repeated, attentive listening rather than instant gratification.
Key Points
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‘Sheets’ stands out for its emotional, hymn-like closure and Preston’s echoed falsetto.
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The album’s core strength is its subtle, subdued sound design and genre-blurring adventurousness.
Themes
Critic's Take
Actress’s Radical Frame is prickly and demanding, and the best tracks reward that labor. The brutal centerpiece “Live By You” shocks with ruined UK-rap textures and collapsing rhythms, while the middle-of-album pair “Withending” and “Paris” supply the record’s clearest club thrills. The album closes with a gorgeous 16-minute piece led by Rainy Miller that luxuriates after chaos, making these the best songs on Radical Frame by contrast and design.
Key Points
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“Live By You” is the best track because it subverts a UK-rap template into a brutal, damaged centerpiece.
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The album’s strengths are its adventurous experimentation and its ability to produce genuine club moments amid chaos.
Themes
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Critic's Take
Actress finds tenderness amid the restless experiments of Radical Frame, and the best tracks - particularly “Live By You” and “Sheets” - repay repeated listening. The reviewer's voice lingers on how “Live By You” places CASISDEAD in a grim, nocturnal tableau yet leaves him oddly underused, while “Sheets” unfolds across widescreen electronics to deliver the record's most emotionally candid moments. Lesser pieces like “Overchord” and “Cosmo” supply texture and atmosphere, but it is the long, patient sweep of “Sheets” that most clearly demonstrates why listeners ask about the best songs on Radical Frame. Ultimately the album tantalises and frustrates in near equal measure, making those standout moments feel hard-won and therefore more valuable.
Key Points
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‘Sheets’ is the best song for its widescreen 16-minute arc, emotional candour and climactic hope.
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The album’s core strengths are rich, nocturnal atmospheres and bold structural experimentation, though that unpredictability can frustrate.