Arrangements

Pitchfork 6.4/10 Grim, grey, and dour, the Canadian band’s fourth album offers a bleak look at the world and delivers some new textures but lacks some of the musical tension to really create sparks.

The Needle Drop 6/10 Preoccupations taking a chance on a shoegazier sound is a step in the right direction.

The Line of Best Fit 8/10 They have presented seven brilliant and varied tracks, which are engaging and yet remind of the existential feelings we all struggled with during the past few years.

DIY 3.5/5 It takes a while for Preoccupations to find their new groove.

All Music 3.5/5 Dense and sometimes overwhelming, Arrangements is a testament to Preoccupations' willingness to stay in their discomfort zone and document everything that happens. This time, however, the results are admirable but not always easy to connect with.

Clash 7/10 The new LP serves as a way to dive back into the quartets beginning in music. Not only with references to life when the band was first formed in 2015, but also similar production feelings are felt with post punk, indie, and psych-pop all being a part of this banging LP.

Loud and Quiet 9/10 The two sides to Arrangements are like a draining binary star in that respect, each sucking the energy out of one another, each bringing about their own life and their own end.

Pop Matters 7/10 Dense at times and minimal at others, Preoccupations’ Arrangements is a post-punk charge against humanity’s crumbling future.

Spectrum Culture 76% A lot of what made this band appealing is still present, but the aggression that characterized their early records is completely tempered, even as the songs themselves boil over with outrage.

Beats Per Minute 77% Arrangements shows the band as a whole accessing a new sense of purpose and creative liberation, planting another flag in the crowded postpunk landscape.

Uncut 7/10 Vocalist/songwriter Matthew Flegel has said of the post punk's latest, "It's basically about the world blowing up and no-one giving a shit." A dystopian mindset, maybe, but one that's defined the goth-edged band since their 2015 debut as Viet Cong.