Cocoa Sugar
Cocoa Sugar is the third studio album by Scottish indie group Young Fathers. It was released on Ninja Tune on 9 March 2018. It won the Scottish Album of the Year Award for 2018.[2] It peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart.[3]
| Cocoa Sugar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 9 March 2018 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:45 | |||
| Label | Ninja Tune | |||
| Young Fathers chronology | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| Singles from Cocoa Sugar | ||||
| 
 | ||||
Artwork
    
The album art, designed by Tom Hingston and photographed by Julia Noni, features band member Alloysious Massaquoi and is a direct homage to the Waldemar Swierzy's Polish poster for the 1969 drama film Midnight Cowboy.[4][5]
Critical reception
    
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating | 
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.2/10[6] | 
| Metacritic | 87/100[7] | 
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating | 
| AllMusic |      [8] | 
| The A.V. Club | B+[9] | 
| The Guardian |      [10] | 
| The Independent |      [11] | 
| Mojo |      [12] | 
| NME |      [13] | 
| The Observer |      [1] | 
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10[14] | 
| Q |      [15] | 
| Uncut | 8/10[16] | 
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[7]
Clayton Purdom of The A.V. Club described the album as "a worthy progression, a tight stretch of otherworldly melodies, ramshackle percussion, and buzzing clouds of woozy ambient sound."[9]
Accolades
    
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. | 
|---|---|---|---|
| NME | Albums of the Year 2018 | 24 | |
| PopMatters | 70 Best Albums of 2018 | 1 | |
| The Skinny | 50 Best Albums of 2018 | 1 | |
| Stereogum | 50 Best Albums of 2018 | 40 | |
Track listing
    
All tracks are written by Kayus Bankole, Timothy London, Graham "G" Hastings and Alloysious Massaquoi, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "See How" | 2:01 | |
| 2. | "Fee Fi" | 2:41 | |
| 3. | "In My View" | 3:15 | |
| 4. | "Turn" | 
 | 3:36 | 
| 5. | "Lord" | 3:34 | |
| 6. | "Tremolo" | 3:08 | |
| 7. | "Wow" | 4:00 | |
| 8. | "Border Girl" | 4:01 | |
| 9. | "Holy Ghost" | 2:32 | |
| 10. | "Wire" | 1:40 | |
| 11. | "Toy" | 3:13 | |
| 12. | "Picking You" | 
 | 3:04 | 
| Total length: | 36:45 | ||
| No. | Title | Length | 
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Just a Kid" | 3:01 | 
| 14. | "Out of My Mind Sometimes" | 2:04 | 
| Total length: | 41:50 | |
Personnel
    
- David Cousin – additional vocals (track 12)
- Timothy London – co-producer
- Graham "G" Hastings – mixing (tracks 1–4, 6–12)
- Laurie Ross – mixing (tracks 1–4, 6–12)
- Ben Baptie – mixing (track 5)
- Vlado Meller – mastering
- Hingston Studio – design and art direction
- Julia Noni – photography
Charts
    
| Chart (2018) | Peak position | 
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] | 37 | 
| UK Albums (OCC)[3] | 28 | 
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[23] | 4 | 
| UK R&B Albums (OCC)[24] | 1 | 
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[25] | 173 | 
References
    
- Morris, Damien (10 March 2018). "Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar review – sounds like freedom feels". The Observer. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- "Young Fathers win Scottish Album of the Year for Cocoa Sugar". BBC. 7 September 2018.
- "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- Foster, John (14 March 2018). "Judging A Cover By Its Cover: March's best record sleeves". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
- "Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar - Campaign". Hingston Studio. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- "Cocoa Sugar by Young Fathers reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- "Cocoa Sugar by Young Fathers Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- Kellman, Andy. "Cocoa Sugar – Young Fathers". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- Purdom, Clayton (9 March 2018). "Young Fathers, Cocoa Sugar". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
- Petridis, Alexis (8 March 2018). "Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar review – twisted sounds for a twisted world". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- Gill, Andy (8 March 2018). "Album reviews: Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar, Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds, David Byrne – American Utopia, and more". The Independent. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- Cowan, Andy (April 2018). "Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar". Mojo (293): 91.
- Milton, Jamie (17 March 2018). "Young Fathers – 'Cocoa Sugar' Album Review". NME. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- Pearce, Sheldon (16 March 2018). "Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- Doyle, Tom (April 2018). "Sugar Daddies". Q (383): 104–05.
- Pattison, Louis (April 2018). "Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar". Uncut (251): 37.
- "NME's Albums Of The Year 2018". NME. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- "The 70 Best Albums of 2018". PopMatters. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- "Albums of 2018 (#1): Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar". The Skinny. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
- "The 50 Best Albums Of 2018". Stereogum. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- "BEATINK.COM / Cocoa Sugar". BEATINK.
- "Ultratop.be – Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
- "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- "Ultratop.be – Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
External links
    
- Cocoa Sugar at Discogs (list of releases)