Brandee Younger Gadabout Season
Brandee Younger's Gadabout Season balances meditative calm with adventurous spurts, and critics point to several tracks that make the record worth seeking out. Across two professional reviews the album earned a 72/100 consensus score, with reviewers repeatedly praising the harpist's textural command and compositional growth even as some flagged brief runtimes and moments of restraint.
Critics consistently highlight “Breaking Point” and “End Means (feat. Shabaka)” as the most daring moments, where Younger's harp moves from delicate arpeggios into dissonant, turbulent gestures and vivid interplay. Glide Magazine also names “Reckoning” and “Unswept Corners (feat. Niia)” as standout songs on Gadabout Season, noting the record's genre fusion - spiritual jazz infused with electronic and Afrofuturist textures - and the trio's groove-driven interplay that foregrounds Younger's renewed compositional voice.
The consensus suggests a collection that will appeal to listeners drawn to improvisation, harp virtuosity, and spiritual jazz lineage rooted in Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. While Pitchfork questions the album's short forms and occasional rigidity, Glide celebrates its intimacy and exploratory thrusts, producing a measured, largely positive critical reception. For those wondering if Gadabout Season is good, the evidence from professional reviews points to a rewarding, if compact, step forward in Younger's catalog and a set with several must-listen tracks to sample before diving deeper.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Breaking Point
2 mentions
"“Breaking Point” is a prime example of incorporating hip-hop beats"— Glide Magazine
End Means (feat. Shabaka)
2 mentions
"“End Means” has Younger plucking the harp in conversation with label mate Shabaka’s oft feisty flute"— Glide Magazine
Reckoning
2 mentions
"Opener “Reckoning’’ is full of gorgeous harp strums"— Glide Magazine
“Breaking Point” is a prime example of incorporating hip-hop beats
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Reckoning
End Means (feat. Shabaka)
Gadabout Season
Breaking Point
Reflection Eternal
New Pinnacle
Surrender (feat. Courtney Bryan)
BBL
Unswept Corners (feat. Niia)
Discernment (feat. Josh Johnson)
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 3 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Tuned to the meditative pulse of spiritual jazz, Brandee Younger's Gadabout Season finds its strongest moments in more adventurous turns - notably “Breaking Point” and the vivid interplay on “End Means”. The reviewer's voice lingers on Younger's knack for texture and trills, praising how “Breaking Point” pushes the harp into dissonant, turbulent strums while critiquing the album's short runtimes and rigid structures. If you're searching for the best songs on Gadabout Season, those two tracks are repeatedly highlighted as the record's most compelling instances of risk and reward.
Key Points
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“Breaking Point” is the album's best song because it pushes Younger into rare dissonant, turbulent harp territory.
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The album's core strengths are Younger's textural harp work and mellow spiritual-jazz atmospheres, but short runtimes and conservative arrangements limit exploration.
Themes
Critic's Take
Brandee Younger’s Gadabout Season makes the case for the best songs being intimate, exploratory pieces like “Reckoning” and “Breaking Point” that showcase her renewed compositional voice. The reviewer's warmth for Younger’s originals comes through in descriptions of harp strums, electronic touches, and the trio’s groove-driven interplay, which elevate the best tracks on Gadabout Season. Guest turns on “End Means” and “Unswept Corners” are noted as complementary highlights that broaden the album’s palette while keeping Younger front and center. Overall the writing frames these songs as both transportive and a clear step forward for her as a composer.
Key Points
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The best song works combine intimate harp technique with groove-driven accompaniment, notably on "Reckoning."
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The album’s strengths are its personal, original compositions, genre fusion, and transportive, improvisational textures.