Joanne Robertson Blurrr
Joanne Robertson's Blurrr arrives as a quiet revelation, a record of domestic intimacy that folds sparse instrumentation and spontaneous improvisation into haunting songs. Across five professional reviews the album earned an 83.6/100 consensus score, with critics repeatedly pointing to the exquisite interplay between Robertson's small, aching voice and Oliver Coates' magnifying cello.
Critics consistently praise standout tracks such as “Gown”, “Always Were” and “Ghost” as the record's clearest peaks, citing their mixture of subdued instrumentation, improvisatory dialogue and vivid visual imagery. Reviewers note how “Gown” opens Robertson's melodic range and how “Always Were” and “Ghost” distill solitary melancholia into luminous moments; other highlights named across reviews include “Why Me”, “Doubt” and “Last Hay”. Professional reviews favor the album's restraint - sketch-like textures, voice-memo rawness and cello-guitar impasto - which creates an atmosphere that is both haunted and tender.
While praise is dominant, critics also emphasize that Blurrr demands intent listening: its rewards are cumulative and subtle rather than immediate. Some reviewers frame the record as a collaborative study in spare folk aesthetics and improvisation, others as private music that feels overheard. Taken together, the critical consensus suggests Blurrr is a quietly essential release in Robertson's catalog, a work whose subdued power and carefully placed gestures make it worth close, repeated plays.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Gown
5 mentions
"On tracks like “Gown,” where she fully opens her melodic range"— Pitchfork
Ghost
4 mentions
"Even in moments when her phrasing feels more provisional and hesitant, as on “Ghost,”"— Pitchfork
Always Were
5 mentions
"53 seconds into “Always Were,” to be exact, or four minutes"— Pitchfork
On tracks like “Gown,” where she fully opens her melodic range
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Ghost
Why Me
Friendly
Exit Vendor
Always Were
Peaceful
Gown
Doubt
Last Hay
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 5 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
On Joanne Robertson’s Blurrr, intimacy often expands into grandeur, producing moments that feel as if they were painted slowly and with care. The review singles out “Always Were” and “Peaceful” as unbearably beautiful peaks that distill the album’s solitude and improvisatory dialogue. I praise how “Gown” opens Robertson’s melodic range and how “Ghost” stakes a claim on the infinite, offered in a measured, reverent tone. These songs, and Oliver Coates’s magnifying cello, make Blurrr feel like an undisputed masterpiece.
Key Points
-
The best song moments are intimate sonic peaks where Robertson's voice and Coates' cello expand tracks like "Always Were" and "Peaceful" into sublime heights.
-
The album's core strengths are its sustained solitude, painterly textures, improvisatory dialogue, and the magnifying collaboration with Oliver Coates.
Critic's Take
In his warm, observant way Devon Chodzin presents Joanne Robertson’s Blurrr as an album where improvisation and collaboration bloom, pointing to the best songs as the haunted opener “Ghost” and the luminous “Always Were”. Chodzin praises the way strings and guitar entwine, noting how “Why Me” and “Friendly” unfurl like spoken confessions and sunny saunters, making them among the best tracks on Blurrr. The review’s voice is attentive and intimate, privileging small imperfections and trust between musicians as the key reasons these songs stand out.
Key Points
-
“Ghost” is best for its haunting opening guitar and evocative crooning that set the album’s emotional tone.
-
Blurrr’s strengths are its embrace of improvisation, intimate collaborations with Oliver Coates, and willingness to let imperfections bloom.
Themes
Critic's Take
Joanne Robertson's Blurrr pins its best moments in hushed, intimate corners, with “Gown” and “Exit Vendor” standing out as the album's clearest peaks. The record often feels like private music overheard from the flat upstairs, and tracks such as “Why Me” and “Gown” crystallize that fragile, church-like solitude. Oliver Coates' cello is singled out as sublime support, especially on “Gown”, where instrumentation churns down into desperation and reaches for salvation. Overall, the best songs on Blurrr are those that keep Robertson's voice front and centre, small and aching against the gentle haze.
Key Points
-
Gown is best for its sublime cello and emotional climax, where instrumentation deepens desperation into a search for salvation.
-
The album's core strength is its sparse, haunted intimacy and domestic atmosphere that accentuates Robertson's solitary voice.
Themes
Critic's Take
Joanne Robertson's Blurrr is all about small, intense moments, and the review pins the best tracks as those that coax you closer: “Ghost” opens with hushed intensity, “Doubt” is singled out as perhaps the finest collaboration with Oliver Coates, and the radiant closer “Last Hay” leaves the strongest impression. The critic's voice favours painterly metaphors and measured praise, arguing that the album's restraint and sketch-like textures make songs like “Always Were” and “Gown” quietly superb. Read as a guide to the best songs on Blurrr, the review points listeners to these delicate centerpieces that repay close attention. The tone is admiring but precise, noting that this muted gem practically demands intent listening for its rewards.
Key Points
-
‘Doubt’ stands out as the album's finest moment, a slender, hymnal dream-pop achieved with Oliver Coates.
-
The album's core strength is its restrained, painterly restraint that rewards close, attentive listening.
Themes
Re
Critic's Take
In his intimate, observant voice Samuel Hyland presents Joanne Robertson's Blurrr as a study in emotional blur. He argues that songs like “Gown” and “Exit Vendor” distill Robertson's aversion to absolutes into something potent and uncanny. Hyland lingers on the album's guitar-cello impasto and voice-memo rawness, noting small sounds and tender creaks that turn tracks such as “Last Hay” into quiet revelations. The review positions these moments as the album's core strengths while keeping a close, painterly attention to texture.
Key Points
-
The best song is best because it embodies Robertson's compositional yin-yang, especially where voice and cello create potent ambiguity.
-
The album's core strength is its intimate, voice-memo immediacy and the tactile interplay of guitar and cello.