Noenemies
Studio album by
Flobots
ReleasedMay 5, 2017
StudioMighty Fine Studios
GenreAlternative rock, alternative hip hop
LabelFlobots Music, LLC
ProducerGabriel Otto
Flobots chronology
The Circle in the Square
(2012)		 Noenemies
(2017)
Singles from Noenemies
  1. "Rattle The Cage"
    Released: November 8, 2016
  2. "Pray"
    Released: January 20, 2017
  3. "Carousel"
    Released: April 7, 2017[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Scene Point Blank[2]
Ronon's Reviews[3]
Rocky Mountain Collegianpositive[4]

Noenemies is the fourth full-length studio album by alternative hip-hop band Flobots, released May 5, 2017.

Background

In 2015 it was announced that Flobots were working on a new music project called No Enemies, which will focus on issues such as climate change and immigration reform. The band raised funds via Kickstarter to record two albums.[5]

How can we get people to come together for a cause through song? That influenced the whole methodology of the song-building, period. That's the philosophy of pretty much the last three years of the band. That's the reason why we looked in a very real way at how we bring music back to protest culture. How do we establish and build a culture that communicates emotions, that uses our emotional state as a basis for power? How do we have nonviolent representations of our strength? One of those ways is by having 500 voices be on the same breath. That was the anchor for both our album and our activist work over the last few years. We started from the streets and used the songs in a community environment; then we took them to the studio.

— Stephen "Brer Rabbit" Brackett, [6]

On November 8, 2016, Flobots released a new track, "Rattle the Cage". The song was premiered early than planned in response to the 2016 US Presidential election, with the band saying "Wounds are raw. The pain is real. We wanted to share something a little earlier than planned. This is a song for all of us."[7] On January 20, 2017, they released another new song, the politically charged "Pray", released on the same day as the Inauguration of Donald Trump.[8]

The album was influenced by the works of Vincent Harding, who was a mentor to the band. The group describes the album as "a body of protest songs that speak to the urgency of the current moment".[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Flobots, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Philia (Prelude)" 0:36
2."Failure Games" 3:46
3."Blood in the River" 5:37
4."Carousel" 3:59
5."Quarantine" 3:36
6."American Dreams" 4:17
7."Rattle The Cage" 3:50
8."Buried Alive" 3:55
9."Dancing in the Light of a Burning City (Phoenixes)" 3:08
10."Antioch (Interlude)" 0:53
11."Pray" 3:41
12."Voices of the Dead" 4:52
13."Temimut (Interlude)" 0:45
14."Related"Flobots, Pan Astral5:07
15."Hurqalya (Postlude)" 3:39
16."Sleeping Giant"Flobots, Suzi Q4:15
Note

"Voices of the Dead" contains a sample of “Antioch” as performed by the Alabama Sacred Harp Singers.

Personnel

Flobots
Additional musicians
  • Gabriel Otto - bass, keyboards, synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals, production, arrangements
  • Mackenzie Gault - viola, backing vocals
  • Serafin Sanchez - saxophone, keyboards
  • Tad Lusk- guitar
  • Tom Hagerman - violin
  • Evan Orman - cello
  • Charlie Mertens - upright bass
  • Eva Holbrook, Maxwell McKee, Suzi Q, Sallie Baker, Chris Barker - Backing vocals
  • Spirit of Grace (Shamae Matthews, Tonicia London, Christin Grant, C. Larea Edwards) - Backing vocals
  • Denver Glenarm Singers, Colorado Children's CHorale's 303 Choir - backing vocals
  • Hugh Ragin, Tom Gershwin - trumpet
  • Adam Stone - keyboards
  • Dave Flomberg - trombone
  • Todd Divel - string and horn recording
Production
  • Xandy Whitesel - recording, engineering
  • Jason Livermore - mixing, mastering

Artwork

  • Josiah Werning - art direction, album art
  • Dustin Dahlman - album art

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[10] 16
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[11] 12
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[12] 22

References

  1. ↑ "Flobots Release New Single, "Carousel"". Grateful Web.
  2. ↑ "Album review: Flobots – No Enemies".
  3. ↑ "The Flobots' No Enemies Review". Ronon's Reviews.
  4. ↑ "Alec Reviews Music: Flobots provide protest songs for the modern age with 'NOENEMIES' - The Rocky Mountain Collegian". 10 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "Flobots' TWO NEW ALBUMS for 2016 "NOENEMIES"". Kickstarter. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  6. ↑ Callwood, Brett (April 10, 2017). "Three Albums Later, the Flobots Have Perfected Protest Songwriting". Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Flobots release new song "Rattle the Cage" in response to the presidential election – Denverite". November 9, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Flobots all over town during DNC – The Denver Post". Associated Press. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  9. ↑ "NOENEMIES, by Flobots". Flobots. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Flobots Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Flobots Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Flobots Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 11, 2015.



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