FLOTUS (album)

FLOTUS
Studio album by Lambchop
Released	November 4, 2016
Studio	Battle Tapes Recording, Nashville
Genre	Indietronica, electronica[1][2]
Length	68:46
Label	Merge (US, CA) City Slang (Europe)
Producer	Kurt Wagner, Jeremy Ferguson
Lambchop chronology
Mr M (2012) FLOTUS (2016) This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You) (2019)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.0/10[3]
Metacritic	83/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The A.V. Club	B+[6]
The Guardian	[7]
The Independent	[8]
Mojo	[9]
The Observer	[10]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[11]
Q	[12]
Record Collector	[13]
Uncut	8/10[14]

FLOTUS ("FLOTUS", an abbreviation for "For Love Often Turns Us Still")^[15] is the twelfth studio album by American band Lambchop, released on November 4, 2016. It marked a significant stylistic departure for the group into more electronic-influenced territory, as heard by the instrumental emphasis on synthesizers and the Auto-Tune effects applied to singer-songwriter Kurt Wagner's voice.

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank	Ref.
American Songwriter	Top 50 Albums of 2016	2016	31	[16]
Consequence of Sound	Top 50 Albums of 2016	2016	44	[17]
The Guardian	The Best Albums of 2016	2016	34	[18]
Mojo	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	4	[19]
Rough Trade	Albums of the Year	2016	48	[20]

Track listing

1. "In Care of 8675309" (Kurt Wagner) – 11:51
2. "Directions to the Can" (Wagner, Ira Kaplan) – 3:32
3. "FLOTUS" (Wagner) – 3:29
4. "JFK" (Wagner) – 5:32
5. "Howe" (Wagner) – 4:05
6. "Old Masters" (Wagner) – 4:43
7. "Relatives #2" (Wagner) – 5:25
8. "Harbor Country" (Wagner) – 3:26
9. "Writer" (Wagner) – 3:41
10. "NIV" (Wagner) – 4:35
11. "The Hustle" (Wagner, Ryan Norris) – 18:12

Personnel

Adapted from album credits.^[21]

• Kurt Wagner – vocals, vocal processing, guitar
• Ryan Norris – guitar, organs, Moog Opus, piano, synthesizers, drum programming
• Tony Crow – piano, electric piano
• Matt Swanson – bass
• Scott Martin – drums, drum programming, MPC 1000

with

• Matt Glassmeyer – clarinet, contra-alto clarinet, tenor saxophone, "buzzaphone", cornet, horn arrangements
• Alicia Bognanno – background vocals on "The Hustle"

Production

• Kurt Wagner – producer, editing, cover painting
• Ryan Norris – editing, additional production on "The Hustle"
• Jeremy Ferguson – producer, recording and mixing engineer
• Sean R. Badum – mixing assistant (at Blackbird Studio, Nashville)
• New Formalists – album design

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22]	70
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23]	51
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24]	126
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25]	66
Irish Albums (IRMA)[26]	44
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[27]	40
Scottish Albums (OCC)[28]	43
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29]	71
UK Albums (OCC)[30]	51
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[31]	12

References

1. Deming, Mark. "Lambchop - FLOTUS Album Reviews, Songs, & More | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
2. Petridis, Alexis. "Lambchop: Flotus review – Kurt Wagner's skilful swerve into electronics". The Guardian. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
3. "FLOTUS by Lambchop reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
4. "Reviews for FLOTUS by Lambchop". Metacritic. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
5. Deming, Mark. "FLOTUS – Lambchop". AllMusic. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
6. Mincher, Chris (November 4, 2016). "On Lambchop's latest, there's no country for old men". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
7. Petridis, Alexis (November 3, 2016). "Lambchop: Flotus review – Kurt Wagner's skilful swerve into electronics". The Guardian. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
8. Gill, Andy (November 2, 2016). "Album reviews: Robbie Williams – The Heavy Entertainment Show, Lambchop – FLOTUS, Bon Jovi, and more". The Independent. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
9. Simmons, Sylvie (December 2016). "Repetitive bleats". Mojo (277): 86.
10. Empire, Kitty (November 6, 2016). "Lambchop: Flotus review – calm and classy retro-modern hybrid". The Observer. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
11. Sodomsky, Sam (October 31, 2016). "Lambchop: FLOTUS". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
12. Doyle, Tom (January 2017). "Lambchop: FLOTUS". Q (367): 108.
13. Atkins, Jamie (December 2016). "Lambchop – FLOTUS". Record Collector (460). Retrieved May 27, 2019.
14. Mulvey, John (December 2016). "Lambchop: FLOTUS". Uncut (235): 18.
15. "Pitchfork: Lambchop Announce New Album FLOTUS".
16. "American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums of 2016". American Songwriter. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
17. "Top 50 Albums of 2016". Consequence of Sound. November 28, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
18. "The Best Albums of 2016: 40-31". The Guardian. November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
19. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Mojo. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
20. "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. November 14, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
21. Image of credits in album booklet on Discogs. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
22. "Austriancharts.at – Lambchop – Flotus" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
23. "Ultratop.be – Lambchop – Flotus" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
24. "Ultratop.be – Lambchop – Flotus" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Lambchop – Flotus" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
26. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 45, 2016". GfK Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
27. "Portuguesecharts.com – Lambchop – Flotus". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
28. "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 11/11/2016 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
29. "Swisscharts.com – Lambchop – Flotus". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
30. "Official Albums Chart on 11/11/2016 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
31. "Lambchop Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2016.