The Official Body

The Official Body
Studio album by
Shopping
Released19 January 2018 (2018-01-19)
Genres
Length40:54
LabelFatCat
ProducerEdwyn Collins
Shopping chronology
Why Choose
(2015)		 The Official Body
(2018)		 All or Nothing
(2020)
Singles from The Official Body
  1. "The Hype"
    Released: 25 September 2017

The Official Body is the third studio album by British post-punk band Shopping. It was released on 19 January 2018 through FatCat Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.1/10
Metacritic76/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star
The A.V. ClubB+
Clash8/10
Exclaim!6/10
NMEStarStarStar
Pitchfork8.1/10
Record CollectorStarStarStarStar
The SkinnyStarStarStarStarStar
Uncut7/10
Vice (Expert Witness)A−

The Official Body was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 15 reviews. Tom Hull gave it an A-minus and said that the "songs are tight, clean, [and] have a rhythm and tone similar to that of such classic post-punk bands as Wire, Gang of Four, and Joy Division. More mixed of opinion, Freaky Trigger's Tom Ewing felt that the album's bass-led post-punk sound was too faithful to source inspirations like ESG and the Au Pairs, and thus restrictive in sound, though he did praise Rachel Aggs' guitar work.

Track listing

All music is composed by Shopping.

No.TitleLength
1."The Hype"3:55
2."Wild Child"2:22
3."Asking for a Friend"2:42
4."Suddenly Gone"2:38
5."Shave Your Head"2:54
6."Discover"3:01
7."Control Yourself"4:12
8."My Dad's a Dancer"2:14
9."New Values"3:43
10."Overtime"3:53
Total length:31:31

Personnel

The following individuals were credited with the album's production and artwork.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Moreland, Quinn (19 January 2018). "Shopping: The Official Body". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Phares, Heather. "The Official Body – Shopping". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "Review: Shopping - The Official Body". SLUG Magazine. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  4. ↑ Rettig, James (25 September 2017). "Shopping – "The Hype"". Stereogum. Bauer Media. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  5. ↑ Thompson, Paul (27 September 2017). ""The Hype" by Shopping Review". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "The Official Body by Shopping reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 "The Official Body by Shopping Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  8. ↑ O'Neal, Sean (19 January 2018). "Shopping, The Official Body". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  9. ↑ Murray, Robin (15 January 2018). "SHOPPING – The Official Body". Clash. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  10. ↑ Blenkarn, Matthew (15 January 2018). "Shopping: The Official Body". Exclaim!. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  11. ↑ Smith, Thomas (16 January 2018). "Shopping – 'The Official Body' Album Review". NME. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  12. ↑ Pearlman, Mischa (January 2018). "Shopping – The Official Body". Record Collector (475). Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  13. ↑ Scott, Hayley (17 January 2018). "Shopping – The Official Body". The Skinny. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  14. ↑ Pattison, Louis (February 2018). "Shopping: The Official Body". Uncut (249): 32.
  15. ↑ Christgau, Robert (24 February 2018). "Robert Christgau on Fever Ray's 'Plunge' Into the Beyond". Noisey. Vice. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  16. ↑ Hull, Tom (28 February 2018). "Streamnotes". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Ewing, Tom (29 January 2018). "2018 Music Diary Week 4: The Week of Peel". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "The Official Body - Shopping Credits". AllMusic. All Media Network. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.