A Crow Looked at Me
A Crow Looked at Me is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project by American musician Phil Elverum. It was released on March 24, 2017, on Elverum's own label, P.W. Elverum & Sun. It is a concept album about the death of Elverum's wife, the Canadian cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée. The album was written and produced entirely by Elverum, who recorded it, using mostly Castrée's instruments and notes he had compiled about Castrée, in the room in which she died.
A departure from Elverum's previous more complicated and experimental works and more in line with albums such as Lost Wisdom, A Crow Looked at Me features minimal production, sparse instrumentation and slow winding melodies with intimate lyrics that tell of Castrée's illness and death, Elverum's ensuing grief, his relationship to nature after her death and their recently born child. Initially, Elverum conceived of a small scale release, possibly under a different name however both were dismissed. To promote the album he performed a small concert in a record store, released two singles, "Real Death" on January 18, 2017, and "Ravens" on February 15, 2017, and embarked on critically acclaimed North American/European tours. A select show was recorded and released as the 2018 live album .
A Crow Looked at Me was an immediate and widespread critical success, overall being one of the most acclaimed albums of 2017. As a result, the album appeared on numerous year-end lists. A Crow Looked at Me also received the most attention of any of Elverum's album. In the years following its release, the album has appeared on multiple decade-end lists and has been viewed as an important album of the 2010s and Elverum's career at large. Some critics found because of the album's personal nature, reviewing was difficult and felt disrespectful. Elverum's subsequent albums Now Only and Lost Wisdom Pt. 2 serve as continuations, with Castrée's illness and death being central to both.
Background and composition
In 2015, four months after the birth of their first child, Phil Elverum's wife, Canadian cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died at their home in Anacortes, Washington, on July 9, 2016. Taking inspiration from the Gary Snyder poem "Go Now", Elverum realised that he did not have to find meaning in Castrée's death but could write songs that described the experience. He found inspiration in the work of Canadian singer-songwriter Julie Doiron, American poet Joanne Kyger, American rock band Sun Kil Moon, Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård and American singer-songwriter Will Oldham whose 1996 album Arise Therefore influenced the album's sound, in particular its sparse production. Elverum felt compelled to make the album as he found that the art he treasured was ineffective in helping him cope. He confided to Donovan Burtan of Cult MTL that "all the things that used to bring me a sense of meaning and depth and comfort, all these books in the house of poetry, philosophy and everything — all of it was just empty and useless".After Castree's death, Elverum considered retiring from music and becoming a full-time father, but a trip to Haida Gwaii inspired him to write notes, along with those he had written during Castrée's illness and treatment, which would become the album. Elverum recorded the album between August 31 and December 6, 2016, at his house in Anacortes, Washington. He wrote the songs over a six-week period beginning in September 2016. The album was overall created in only 98 days.
Elverum wrote the lyrics longhand on Castrée's notepaper, and recorded the songs in the art studio of his house where she died. He had previously abandoned the room, opened its window and allowed nature to take it over. Elverum credits recording in her room as the reason behind the album's "immediacy" and "bluntness." In an interview with KUOW, Elverum explained why he recorded the album in the room:
He originally intended to record the album with a live band in a studio. He found that the songs were too personal to have others contribute to them, however, so he opted to play them himself. Elverum used an acoustic guitar, one microphone and a laptop computer along with some of Castrée's own instruments. Since he had become the primary carer for his daughter, Elverum could typically only spend forty-five minutes a day on songwriting and he would record the songs at night while his daughter was asleep or during times when she was visiting friends. He described his process as writing down the songs first on paper. He then practiced them rigorously until the point when he knew where each chord was in sequence—a first for him. In an interview Elverum talked about how he would choose to record over self care saying he could either shower or write down ideas "bursting" in his head.
Elverum said that the songs "poured out quickly in the fall, watching the days grey over and watching the neighbors across the alley tear down and rebuild their house", with him filling the pages of his notebook with a "formless, no-rhythm, no-meter, no-melody blob of words". He made and released the record to " up all the way", make the intensity of his love for his wife "known" and to draw a distinction between "art and music" and the "experience of life". Elverum intended that the songs have a "hyper-intimate" and unrestrained quality. He wanted them to be philosophical but devoid of symbolism and distinct from the more existential themes of his earlier work.
During its creation the working title was "Death is Real". Elverum chose to not go with said title as he felt it wasn't indicative of what he intended for the album to be about it. While writing the album Elverum was unsure if anyone beside him would hear it. Elverum said he had no goal in mind while creating the album just that he was in an "unpremeditated way going with the flow". He has also said that he does not view the album as a tribute to, or being about, Castrée. He believed if he were to make a tribute it would be ineffective in capturing who Castrée was. He viewed the album instead as detached from Castrée and a documentation of his grief, "saying all the heavy stuff with no regard for other people's sensitivity or unwillingness". Elverum found the album's overall creation positive, saying it was "therapeutic" and felt as if he was "hanging out" with Castrée, feeling by the end as if he had healed.
The album cover features a photograph of the poem "Night Palace" by Castrée's close friend Joanne Kyger. Castrée had pinned above her desk. When he was cleaning out her room after she died Elverum realised the poem encapsulated the album's theme. Castrée's copy of Hergé's Tintin in Tibet can be seen in the background.
Music and lyrics
The lyrics are delivered in a speaking and singing manner. They deal with Castrée's illness and death, Elverum's ensuing grief, the idea there is nothing to learn or gain from death and presonal anecdotes. Alongside the central theme of Castrée's illness and death, themes of impermanence, emptiness, and disorientation are present in the album as well. One reviewer commented that the album isn't so much about "death as it is about lving without." Its exploration of death has had it compared to similar albums such as Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell, Nick Cave’s Skeleton Tree and Panda Bear’s Young Prayer.Many of the lyrics feature references to nature with one reviewer noting that "tragedy hasn't stopped from noticing the world; if anything, it seems to have pried his eyes open for good." Elverum frequently eschews the use of metaphors, favouring blunt meanings. Elverum returns to lyrical motifs such as those concerning his house; in particular, the room where Castrée died, all throughout the album. The lyrics also feature references to his past work. He intended the album to "correct" his previous works in which he was "exploring the idea of death without really having a sense of the human experience of it." Reviewer, Alexis Jais noted how the songs "seem to imply that Elverum is frustrated with a common trend to romanticize death and make it seem easier and more beautiful than perhaps it really is."
The words take the form of a diary. Elverum intended that each song reflect a time in his grieving and include references to specific events and dates. He said that "each song is anchored to a very specific moment." Thomas Britt wrote that this showcases "the way that death hangs over each day that follows." Each song refers to Castrée—sometimes directly by name. Elverum frequently uses pronouns such as "our" when referring to Castrée despite her absence. One critic noted that this is because Elverum "struggles to adjust to the undesired change". The final song "Crow" is, however, addressed prominently to their daughter whose role in the album is almost that of a second protagonist.
Elverum's vocals were described by Tomas Guarna as "weak and shy" showing him "completely consumed by a cruel, unforgiving world". The album's lyrics have been described as combining "emotional intimacy and tonal frankness to a degree rarely heard in contemporary music" and as "unspooling pieces of prose" The songwriting has been described to "Fourth wall| the fourth wall" though the term itself does not align with the style of the material. It is "too precise" because the lines are blurred "between singing, speaking and raw emotional data dump."
Musically, the album is reminiscent of his 2008 albums Dawn and Lost Wisdom with the songs that avoid standard musical structures and feature sparse instrumentation, acoustic guitar, chord changes, simple 4/4 percussion, piano, no choruses, unorthodox verse structure and "barely any melodies". The melodies that are featured on the album are slow and expand as the songs go on. The songs typically end abruptly, avoiding codas or fade outs. They also include unresolved notes and chords such as the ending of "Seaweed" which hangs on a half-step descent, major chord.
The simplistic nature reflects Elverum's wish to move away from his earlier, more "artistically challenging" work, which was characterised by "harsh tones" and "complicated chords." Jayson Greene of Pitchfork wrote that the "difference between this album and everything else he’s done is the difference between charting a voyage around the earth and undertaking it." The sparse nature of the album led Elverum to refer to it as "barely music." The album is less musically dark to the rest of the Mount Eerie discography. Elverum wanted to release the album quickly, so he used minimal production. This was his first album to be produced entirely on a computer. The production style has been described as "warm, almost soothing."
Tracks 1–6
The opening track "Real Death" features monotone spoken-word vocals said in a basic rhyming pattern with piano, harmonious, electric guitar and drum accompaniment, producing a hiss like sound. The song describes the weeks following Castrée's death. It features the opening lyrics, "death is real"; the theme and the phrase continue throughout the record. The song also introduces the theme that the album is not an artistic statement. With the lyrics, "it's not for singing about/It's not for making into art", Elverum clarifies that although the album is art, the line is about "the difference between the idea of a thing and the actual lived experience of it". Phillip Green of Cisternyard Media speculated that in saying this, Elverum did not want to take "advantage of Castrée's passing". The centerpiece of the song is Elverum recalling the moment of him opening packages addressed to Castrée delivered after her death. By the climax of the song Elverum's monotone and lifeless delivery is replaced with his voice cracking. It opens with a major chord.Elverum discusses scattering Castrée's ashes, the house they intended to build in Haida Gwaii and the fear of forgetting of the small details of Castrée's life such as her favourite flowers on "Seaweed". He also comments on the significance of a group of Canada geese he saw on a beach as well as foxgloves and whether or not Castrée liked them. Elverum revealed in an interview that the first version of the song was created on a hike with his daughter and he recorded the bare bones of the song into his phone. The song is composed of guitar plucking, dissonant piano and bass. The song displays nature as a "place of solace and refuge." It also introduces the themes of Castrée's "spiritual omnipresence", Castree "surviving" through their daughter and Elverum remembering her beyond the physical, choosing to immortalize her as the sunset, instead of as ashes.
"Ravens" describes Elverum giving away Castrée's clothes. It details her final days when he was splitting wood and witnessed two "big black birds", understanding them to be an omen but unclear of what. Elverum expressed in an interview regret over having to repeatedly describe and sing Castrée's final days. The song was inspired by Elverum's trip to Hadai Gwaii, his illness during the trip and the presence of ravens throughout the area. "Ravens" and "Soria Moria" stand apart from the other songs in that they feature multiple tempo changes. "Ravens" has been described as the centrepiece of the album with its acoustic guitar, piano, and precussion accompaniment. It is structured in a manner more akin to a letter rather than a tradtional song and features a sound resembling that of an Oxygen concentrator.
The track "Forest Fire" describes Elverum's feelings about death, decay, and absurdity in relation to the world around him. He apologizes to Castrée for attempting to move on, for going through her things and wondering how he will live without her. He also mentions a moment in which he closed the windows of his house he had left open in the hope that Castrée would somehow return through them as well as the refineries near where he lives which were a common motif in Castrée's art. The fire represents a sort of "cleansing", although of what is unclear. In the song, Elverum proclaims that he "rejects nature". Elverum clarified that the line represents an acknowledgement of the natural process of death but nonetheless protesting it; rather than outright rejection.
"Swims" details Elverum's experiences with grief counselling and the sudden death of his counsellor. Elverum also references a conversation he had with his daughter in which she asked him if Castrée swims to which Elverum replies yes. It was described by one reviewer as "one of the most heart wrenching songs created". It features raw singing, minimal guitars, simple piano chords and bass guitar.
"My Chasm" demonstrates Elverum's isolation from his friends and difficulty in talking about his loss in public. The song was inspired by a dinner Elverum had at a friend's house. It features tounge-in cheek humor and electronic instrumentation with piano accompaniment. Elverum's vocal performance was described as having "identifiable pain" which is almost palpable. At one point Elverum's voice breaks as he sings "look at me/death is real." "When I Take the Garbage Out At Night" invokes mundane imagery with one writer drawing comparisons to Sun Kil Moon's Benji. It sees Elverum reconnecting with the universe at large, accepting that Castrée must live somewhere in it.
Tracks 7–12
"Emptiness pt. 2" deals with the idea of "conceptual emptiness" with Elverum comparing his grief to "climbing up a mountain in complete loneliness". The phrase "conceptual emptiness" is a reference to his song entitled "Emptiness" from his 2015 album Sauna. At one point in the song Elverum sings the lyrics "Your absence is a scream". The word scream is deliberately drawn out. Jayson Greene compared listening to this moment to "pressing your hand against ice and leaving it there." Thomas Britt of PopMatters wrote that the song's "self-reflexive commentary," made previous dark and brooding notions in Elverum's work seem enjoyable by comparison.Elverum discusses the fading familiar memories of Castrée and how items such as toothbrushes, trashcans, and photographs are taking their place in the song "Toothbrush/Trash". Elverums also ponders if a fly in his room could be Castrée; reincarnate. The song has been described as a "horrible realization that time will not relent". Conversely the song has been described as the "most uplifting track" on the album which conveys "the paradoxically happy and miserable state of acceptance". Musically the song features a sudden sound cue of a door closing, recorded by Elverum as well as piano, acoustic guitar and a slow drum machine.
The track "Soria Moria" takes its name from the eponymous painting by Theodor Kittelsen, incorporates elements of black metal and details Elverum's relationship with Castrée before her death. It also references his time in a Norwegian cabin where he wrote his 2008 album Dawn and interpolates the lyric, "I went back to feel alone there" from his 2001 song "The Moon". It also interpolates the melody. The song's lyrics detail the aforementioned painting with Elverum finding solidatry in the figure overlooking the chasm. "Soria Moria" is the only song on the album to have anything that resembles a refrain. Musically the song features a distorted electric guitar and is reminsent of his 2009 album Wind's Poem. Thomas Britt of PopMatters described the song and its use of natural imagery as "one of the most vivid illustrations of Walter Benjamin's concept of 'aura'." A live version of the song was used as the lead single for his 2018 live album .
The final song "Crow" is addressed to his daughter. Elverum details a hiking trip in the Pacific Northwest where a crow was following them. "Crow" was the final song to be written and was not going to be included on the album. Elverum decided to include the song to reflect the events of the world at the time. It is the only song that refers to events beyond Elverum's life. He describes the world as "moldering and fascist", comments inspired by the 2016 United States presidential election. The titular crow is used in the song as a symbol of death's encompassing grasp. The thematic throughlines of the album are concluded in the final lyrics "And there she was." The song has been described as an epilogue which "offers a new and hopeful perspective" and "one of the more poetic tracks on the album".
Release and promotion
Elverum had considered not releasing the album at all, or changing his band's name entirely but did neither. He had planned originally for a small-scale release of the record on his website, but as the album took shape he felt that it was good and wanted it to reach a wider audience. He found releasing the album and promoting it to be "gross and weird from a lot of perspectives". On January 6, 2017, he announced that he would go on tour and release a new album. The next day, he played his first concert since September 2014 at a record store in Anacortes, Washington, called The Business. The concert lasted 45 minutes and he played the album in its entirety. He had to ask fans to stay away because the response was "overwhelming" and the store held only 50 people. Elverum performed the show with his eyes closed in the corner of the room, leaving immediately afterwards. The show was noticeably sparse, featuring no mic or amplification with Elverum using only his acoustic guitar. Music critic Eric Grandy described the show as "heavy and awkward and weird" but also that it "felt supportive and cathartic and necessary" noting the crowd's emotional reaction.The first song to be released was "Crow" on a charity album entitled "Is There Another Language?" on January 20, 2017. The first single from A Crow Looked at Me, "Real Death", was released on P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.'s SoundCloud page on January 25, 2017, to widespread acclaim, netting the "Best New Track" distinction from Pitchfork and appearing on The Fader's list of "13 Songs You Need In Your Life This Week" and Stereogum's list of the 5 best song of the week. Complex and Pitchfork both included it on their lists of the best songs of the month. The A.V. Club included it on their list entitled "The A.V. Club’s songs of the summer 2017 for indoor kids".
The second single, "Ravens", was released on February 15, 2017, along with a music video uploaded to Mount Eerie's official YouTube account. The video consists of old camcorder recordings of natural landscapes and Elverum and Castrée. It once again earned the "Best New Track" distinction from Pitchfork and appeared on their list of the best songs of the month. It was ranked number 1 on Stereogum's list of the 5 best song of the week. Elverum also did several interviews which he found to be "mentally draining." He did admit that he treated them as pseudo-therapy sessions, noting they were different from a typical PR campaign.
Tour and live performances
Following the release of the album, Elverum embarked on a short North American tour in April 2017. This was followed by another North American tour in September 2017, playing solo shows accompanied only by his acoustic guitar in intimate venues that included "concert halls, churches, and theaters". The tour was extended to include Europe in November 2017. While performing at Jacobikerk as part of Le Guess Who? festival in Utrecht, a sound engineer recorded Elverum's set without his knowledge. Elverum liked the recording so much that it was subsequently released as the live album in 2018. On September 12, 2017, Elverum performed "Ravens," "When I Take Out The Garbage At Night," and "Soria Moria" in the New York office of Stereogum.The April, September-November tour received critical acclaim. Critics praised the unique, intimate nature, with some describing it as of one of the most meaningful and memorable concerts they had seen. Pitchfork writer Quinn Moreland named the show perfomed at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver as her favourite of 2017. Describing the concert as "a wake—a spiritual sensation that was amplified by the venue, a temple." Elverum's Le Guess Who? performance was selected as one of the best by Consequence of Sound. Elverum's show at Thalia Hall was highlighted for consideration by Chicago.
Elverum found that because of the personal nature of the songs touring was difficult, saying it felt like he was "going out there and re-enacting a trauma and charging people money for it" and criticising the sense of voyeurism the audience part took in. He did admit though that he would probably partake in a similar show done by a different artist, saying "It's hard to look away from a car accident."
Reception
Critical reception
A Crow Looked at Me received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album received an average score of 93, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 18 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave A Crow Looked At Me 8.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. According to Patrick Lyons of Stereogum A Crow Looked at Me received more attention than any previous Mount Eerie or Microphones album. The album was overall one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2017. Elverum found the album's reception "reaffirming" but was frustrated by those who viewed it as a tribute to his wife and felt uneasy about the album being public at all, once commenting at a live show; "This is kind of fucked up, isn’t it? I mean, I’m here telling you Death is real and you’re applauding."Heather Phares from AllMusic called the album "remarkably powerful and pure". Consequence of Sounds David Sackllah said that it was "overwhelming and humbling" and wrote that "A Crow Looked at Me stands as a remarkable example of the restorative power of music, an intimate display of love, daring both in concept and execution." Zack Fenech of Exclaim! said that "this record possesses immense power to make listeners reflect on their own relationships and mortality. A Crow Looked at Me is a grim memento of the grand injustice of losing those most precious to us." Pastes Matt Fink said that it was "beautifully and simply arranged, but ... not an entertaining album to listen to in any conventional sense, nor can it be shaken off easily." He added it made all other albums "seem frivolous" and that "there is no album quite like it."
Ben Malkin of GIGsoup described the album as "art in its most pure, human form", a "showcase of weakness and cruel reality, prose of lost love," and "perhaps the saddest album ever made". In his review for Spectrum Culture John Paul said that "Heartbreaking doesn't even begin to describe A Crow Looked at Me" and described the album as "pure grief delivered in a voice in which you can hear the weight of loss". Jacopo Sanna of Arena Music claimed that A Crow Looked at Me is "probably the most important album about death and loss ever recorded". Sarah Greene writing for Now Toronto described the album as "a lovingly crafted album, with gentle melodies that linger in the air, pretty, memorable guitar lines and a subtle but persistent approach to percussion". She concluded that despite it being an uncomfortable and harrowing listen, it was also a "tribute to an amazing 13-year love story". Brian Roesler of Treblezine enjoyed the record considerably but demanded that readers, "Don't call it art. Don't call it music even. Call it a documentation of suffering and loss as an experience, and treat it as such". In an essay written for The Spinoff, Murdoch Stephens compared A Crow Looked At Me to the poetry of Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi and pondered how the listener should interact with a piece of art of such a visceral nature. The article called Elverum "the saddest musician in the world". Elverum rejected the title, calling it absurd, and saying he sought to inject beauty into the record.
Some reviewers wrote it was difficult to review the album. Aaron Badgley of Spill Magazine found it so, commenting that "Raving about an album about a man dealing with the loss of his wife and their child’s mother seems odd." In his positive review for Drowned in Sound, JR Moores did not give the album a score because "even awarding this work the full ten-out-of-ten would feel too callous given the tragic circumstances of the record's gestation and its heartbreaking subject matter." Reviewer Matthew Smith of No Ripcord said that "assigning a score to a project like this is reductive ... it's almost insulting to rank something as open and raw as this." Reviewer Allyson Johnson called the album "transcendent and beautiful" however chose to not rate the album. PopMatters reviewer Thomas Britt called the album a "masterpiece" but noted that it went beyond "the limits of conventional music criticism." Marvin Lin from Tiny Mix Tapes did score the album but said that his rating meant "absolutely nothing". Lucas Koprowski from Atwood Magazine wrote that "Breaking down any of these tracks for you would not only disrespect the meaning behind this album, but force you to swallow my interpretation of his words into a silence that is bottomless and real." While reviewing a live performance of the album, Jochan Embley of The Independent'' commented "it feels weird giving a star rating to another human's honest and unshrinking account of loss".
Accolades
A Crow Looked at Me appeared on numerous year-end top lists by several publications. Such as AllMusic, The Atlantic, BrooklynVegan, Clash, Consequence of Sound, Complex, The Daily Beast, Digital Trends, Earbuddy, Exclaim!, Fact, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, musicOMH, The New York Times, No Depression, Noisey, No Ripcord, Now, NPR, The Oklahoman, Paste, Pigeons & Planes, Pitchfork, Popmatters, Portland Mercury, The Skinny, Slate, Spectrum Culture, Spin, Sputnikmusic, Stereogum, The Stranger, Thrillist, Tiny Mix Tapes, Treblezine, Uproxx, Uncut, Under the Radar, The Village Voice Vulture, and WBUR. Brainwashed, NPR and PitchforkIt was also ranked one of the best albums of the decade by several publications. Such as 411Mania, All Things Loud, BrooklynVegan, Consequence Of Sound, Melisma Magazine Mwdwn, Noisey, Pitchfork, Portland Mercury, Spin, Stereogum, Tiny Mix Tapes, Treblezine and Vice. AllMusic and The Wall Street Journal included the album in their decade retrospectives. It was also included on The Onion's list of the best albums of the decade, calling it "The perfect soundtrack for those warm summer nights when you’re grappling with the recent, tragic death of your wife." According to the Seattle Metropolitan, A Crow Looked At Me was the "Seattle Album" to make the most national best-of-the-decade lists.
The lead single "Real Death" also appeared on numerous year and decade-end lists by several publications. Such as All Things Loud, Pitchfork, NME, Spin, Stereogum, and Treblezine. "Ravens" and "Soria Moria" were included on Tiny Mix Tapes' list of their favourite songs of 2017 and the decade, respectively. "Ravens" and "When I Take Out the Garbage at Night" also appeared on mxdwn and Spectrum Culture
Metacritic, which collates reviews of music albums, named it the second best-reviewed album of 2017, the seventh best-reviewed album of the decade and the sixteenth best-reviewed album of all time. According to Acclaimed Music, the album is the eleventh most critically acclaimed album of 2017. The album is the eleventh highest-rated album on AnyDecentMusic?. According to Album of the Year, A Crow Looked Me is the third highest rated album of 2017 and the twelfth most frequently ranked album in top ten lists of that year's best albums.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Elverum discussed how he found it "absurd" that the album "was on all these critics' lists compared and ranked next to other people's albums about other things." Describing it as "off in its own universe."
Legacy
Adam Nizum of Paste described the album as "Historic." Leah B. Levinson called it "career-defining." Frank Falisi cited it as an album of the 2010s which "" the understanding of popular music. Thomas Britt of Popmatters called A Crow Looked at Me "one of the most remarkable folk albums ever produced." David Connolly of Odyssey wrote that "no other really captures loss of a loved one in quite the same manner." Matt Matasci proclaimed the album to be "one of the greatest albums of mourning to ever be released." Sean Nelson of The Stranger called A Crow Looked at Me "an astonishing artistic and human achievement" which "makes beggars" of similar art that deals with bereavement and grief such as Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, Lou Reed's Magic and Loss and Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven by its frank and literal depiction of death and grief.Music Critic Brendan Frank called the album a "must-listen" "for anyone who was ever remotely interested in Mount Eerie or The Microphones." Jacob Nierenberg writing for Treblezine listed the album as one the of "10 Essential Home-Recorded Albums". The album was included on Discogs' list of the "Most Miserably Sad Albums Of All Time" and their list of the "35 Saddest Albums Of All Time". The opener "Real Death" was included on Paste's "50 Saddest Songs of the 21st Century". Donovan Farley of Willamette Week chose "Real Death" as one of Elverum's "essential" songs; Morgan Enos chose "Swims" in his ranking of Elverum's essential songs for Billboard.
American rapper Danny Brown called the album as his favourite of 2017. Elverum thanked Brown and said that his recommendation was "more valuable than The New York Times." Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast fame chose A Crow Looked at Me as one of the five albums that changed her life telling Tidal: "I've never heard something so personal, so vulnerable and just very sad. I related to it so much, and I felt like he expressed things and described moments between that resonated with me and my own experience losing my mother".
Writer Max Porter praised the album saying, that " is so immaculately beautiful. It is so caring and sweet and soft and sad. There could not have been a better pairing " American comic book and television writer Brian K. Vaughan also praised the album and would listen to the album while writing scripts. Gus Lobban of Kero Kero Bonito compared the central theme of A Crow Looked at Me to the central theme of Time 'n' Place, the band's second studio album: "It's an example of a record by an artist who is exploring darker themes in front of a wider audience, defining this zeitgeist of people talking about depression. Time 'n' Place is informed by similar things to a record like that."
Gilles Demolder of black metal band Oathbreaker praised the album, looking to it for inspiration and crediting the album with helping him see that "acoustic guitar and words can be so much heavier than anything I've heard before". Ben Walsh of Tigers Jaw described the album as "a crushingly real account of coming to terms with the death of a loved one" and its lyrics "soul-crushingly honest". Solo performer Fred Thomas called the album, in a 2018 interview, one of his favorites “of the last many, many years.”
Track listing
All tracks are written and produced by Phil Elverum.Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Cult MLT.- Phil Elverum songwriting vocals production acoustic guitar electric guitar drum machine bass piano accordion
- John GoldenMastering, Lacquer Cut
- Other Joanne Kyger
Release history
| Region | Label | Format | Category | Reference |
| United States | P. W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. | Double LP, Digital Download | ELV040 | |
| Japan | P. W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. | CD | EPCD101 |