Dua Saleh Of Earth & Wires
Dua Saleh's Of Earth & Wires arrives as a vivid collision of heart and circuitry, a record where climate crisis, queer romance and AI anxiety thread through communal songcraft. Across five professional reviews the consensus lands on praise tempered by reservation: the album earned a 76.8/100 consensus score across 5 re
‘ALL IS LOVE’ is the album’s emotional and structural climax where themes coalesce into hopeful declaration.
Themes of destruction and rebirth - climate collapse, civil war in Sudan, technology versus nature - recur throughout professional reviews, giving the record a moral urgency even w
Best for listeners looking for technology vs nature and climate crisis, starting with ALL IS LOVE and Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver).
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Full consensus notes
Dua Saleh's Of Earth & Wires arrives as a vivid collision of heart and circuitry, a record where climate crisis, queer romance and AI anxiety thread through communal songcraft. Across five professional reviews the consensus lands on praise tempered by reservation: the album earned a 76.8/100 consensus score across 5 reviews, with critics repeatedly pointing to the emotional clarity of opener “5 Days” and the closing, glitchy paean “ALL IS LOVE” as high points.
Critics consistently praise Saleh's ability to fuse experimental pop and R&B with Afrofuturist and diasporic textures. Reviews single out “Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver)”, “I Do, I Do” and “Firestorm” as standout tracks, noting collaborations that enrich rather than dilute Saleh's voice. Themes of destruction and rebirth - climate collapse, civil war in Sudan, technology versus nature - recur throughout professional reviews, giving the record a moral urgency even when some critics find its moods uneven.
The critical consensus suggests Of Earth & Wires is worth listening to for its striking emotional moments and inventive production: reviewers agree the best songs on the record crystallize Saleh's rare gift for turning trauma and resilience into communal catharsis. While a few reviewers register mixed feelings about pacing and restraint, most herald the collection as a significant, dialogic step forward in Saleh's catalog, balancing political weight with haunting melodic immediacy.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
ALL IS LOVE
3 mentions
"Saleh saves their biggest proclamation for last: ‘All Is Love’, with breezy whistling and a wry lyrical reference to trauma"— New Musical Express (NME)
Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver)
3 mentions
5 Days
3 mentions
"It opens with the break-up song ‘5 Days’ – acoustic guitar strums giving way to industrial percussion and Saleh’s punk hollering"— New Musical Express (NME)
Saleh saves their biggest proclamation for last: ‘All Is Love’, with breezy whistling and a wry lyrical reference to trauma
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
5 Days
B r e a t h e
Flood (feat. Bon Iver)
Cállate
Firestorm
I Do, I Do
Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver)
Glow (feat. Bon Iver)
Speed Up
Anemic
ALL IS LOVE
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 5 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Dua Saleh's Of Earth & Wires feels like the sound of 2026, a record that marries the natural and the digital with unnerving clarity. The opener “5 Days” exemplifies that duel, its organic string-plucks melting into digitised percussion, while “B r e a t h e” drifts with airy, bubbling beats that recall psychedelic synth-pop. Bon Iver collaborations, notably “Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver)” and the album-closing “ALL IS LOVE”, are high points that refract rather than flatten his voice. The best songs on Of Earth & Wires—especially “5 Days” and “ALL IS LOVE”—show how Saleh turns technological anxiety into something almost ecclesiastical and hopeful.
Key Points
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‘ALL IS LOVE’ is the album’s emotional and structural climax where themes coalesce into hopeful declaration.
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Saleh’s core strength is marrying organic instrumentation and digital production to comment on modern crises.
Themes
Critic's Take
Dua Saleh arrives on Of Earth & Wires with sharper songcraft and a communal pop ambition that pays off, especially on “Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver)” and “I Do, I Do”. The reviewer's ear lingers on the sublime folk-tinged “Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver)”, a standout that recalls Michael McDonald while remaining unmistakably Saleh. The nostalgic, oud-embellished “I Do, I Do” showcases diasporic memory folded into an ’80s Minneapolis gloss, making it one of the best tracks on Of Earth & Wires. The album saves its biggest proclamation for the closing “ALL IS LOVE”, a glitchy paean that crystallizes Saleh's move into art-pop with moral urgency.
Key Points
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The best song is “Keep Away (feat. Bon Iver)” because the reviewer calls it a "sublime" standout and compares it evocatively to Michael McDonald.
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The album’s core strength is Saleh’s newfound songcraft, blending experimental textures with pop structures to address diaspora, climate and trauma.
Themes
Critic's Take
Dua Saleh threads community and composure through Of Earth & Wires, and the album’s best tracks - “5 Days” and “Firestorm” - crystallize that uneasy, hopeful tension. In the opener “5 Days” Saleh’s clear, emotional voice over lonely guitar becomes a protesting scream, which is where the record’s emotional stakes land. The glowing swell of “Firestorm” pairs communal backing vocals with a mournful beauty sourced in real-world loss, making it one of the best songs on Of Earth & Wires.
Key Points
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“5 Days” is the best song because it transforms intimate lament into cathartic protest, showcasing Saleh’s emotional range.
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The album’s core strength is its collaborative, community-rooted approach that threads climate, tech anxiety, and Afrofuturist ideas into cohesive songs.
Themes
Critic's Take
Dua Saleh’s Of Earth & Wires feels like a lived-in fever dream, equal parts elegy and circuitry. The record leans into its themes with a quiet fury, folding climate anxiety and AI paranoia into intimate, human moments. There’s a beauty in the grit, and the album’s restraint often makes its emotional hits land all the harder.
Key Points
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A concept-heavy album that balances political themes with personal intimacy.
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Production favors subtle tension over overt catharsis.
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Strong moments emerge from restraint rather than bombast.