The Necks Bleed
The Necks's Bleed offers a slow-rolling study in negative space that tests patience and, for many, rewards it: across three professional reviews the record earned a 79.33/100 consensus score and emerges as a deliberate, trance-like statement. Critics praise the album's longform improvisation and textural pointillism, pointing repeatedly to the forty-minute centerpiece “Bleed” and its late pivot as the clearest payoff, while subsidiary movements such as “The Bird of Prey”, “Behind the Clock” and “Holy Visions” register as complementary studies in silence and gradual revelation.
Reviewers consistently note the record's anti-immersion aesthetic - sparse piano, bowed bass and glitchy electronics that fold in and out to produce slow development rather than instant hooks. Sputnikmusic frames the title piece as an act of imperious construction that revels in emptiness, The Quietus compares the album's miniature world to Morton Feldman filtered through Talk Talk, and The Guardian highlights the band's mastery of trance-like patience and atmosphere. Across three professional reviews critics agree that the album's virtues are virtuosity, restraint and the way melodic endings emerge only after extended attention.
For readers asking "is Bleed good" or searching for a Bleed review, the consensus suggests value for those willing to engage with minimalism and gradual revelation; the record rewards repeated listens rather than immediate gratification. Below follow the full reviews that map how The Necks turn negative space and improvisation into their most affecting material in years.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Bleed
1 mention
"Ignore the familiar premise of its sole, forty-minute title-track — this is anything but a standard Necks experience."— Sputnikmusic
The Bird of Prey
1 mention
"single track album since 2018’s Body"— The Quietus
Behind the Clock
1 mention
"The Necks discography can be generally divided into two types of releases"— The Quietus
Ignore the familiar premise of its sole, forty-minute title-track — this is anything but a standard Necks experience.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
The Bird of Prey
Behind the Clock
Holy Visions
Blasphemy & Excess
Spear of Truth
Ash Speck in a Green Eye
VOIDWARD, I BEND BACK
Marguerite
A World Unmade
Nooneunderground
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
There are few records that so brazenly foreground absence as Bleed, and The Necks force you to reckon with that paucity - the title piece's hush, its pivot at 22:07, and the final surge mean the best tracks here are the ones that revel in emptiness. The reviewer's praise lands hardest on the album's long-form centerpiece - the forty-minute “Bleed” - which is described as a study in negative space and an act of imperious construction. Listeners searching for the best songs on Bleed will find their verdict changed on a second pass, when the sparse piano trickles and sudden coda reveal themselves as the record's chief rewards. Accepting that the album actively scorns hummable hooks is the key to hearing why “Bleed” stands out as the record's most compelling track.
Key Points
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The title piece is best because its patient negative space, pivot at 22:07, and surprise coda reveal a demanding, rewarding architecture.
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The album's core strengths are its meticulous use of silence, slow unfolding, and mastery of minimalist shadowplay.
Themes
Critic's Take
From the opening, The Necks make Bleed feel like a miniature world unto itself, a Morton Feldman piece performed with Talk Talk’s color and improvised heft. The single sprawling piece unfolds as delicate piano, bowed bass and glitchy electronics fold in and out, making tracks like “The Bird of Prey” style references redundant but highlighting the record’s best ideas. By the last minutes the piano, bass and guitar take on a funereal melody that rewards patience, which is why listeners asking "best songs on Bleed" will find the album’s final melodic turn the clearest payoff. In short, Bleed is one of The Necks’ finest albums in years, mysterious and richly textured throughout.
Key Points
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The album’s best moments emerge in its final melodic minutes where piano, bass and guitar coalesce into a funereal turn.
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Bleed’s core strengths are patient textural development, pointillist detail, and finding new ground within longform minimal improvisation.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Guardian's Andrew Stafford writes in his familiar admiring, anecdotal voice about The Necks and their new record Bleed, emphasising how improvisation and trance-like patience make the best tracks stand out. He singles out the album as another instance of their gift for creating atmosphere and slow build, the sort of music where a piece becomes itself by degrees. For listeners asking "best songs on Bleed", Stafford implies the album’s highlights are those that inhabit that creeping, mesmerizing space rather than showy solos. The tone is affectionate and authoritative, suggesting the best tracks reward sustained listening rather than instant hooks.
Key Points
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The best moments on Bleed come from the trio’s trust and slow, incremental emergence of pieces.
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The album’s core strengths are improvisational risk-taking, atmosphere, and the trio’s long-cultivated mastery.