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God Said No

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God Said No
Omar sitting partially bare-chested, wearing a furry jacket and a cross necklace, looking ahead at the camera in front of a blue background.
Studio album by
Omar Apollo
ReleasedJune 28, 2024 (2024-06-28)
StudioAbbey Road, London, UK
Length45:12
LabelWarner
Producer
Omar Apollo chronology
Live for Me
(2023) 		God Said No
(2024)
Singles from God Said No
  1. "Spite"
    Released: April 5, 2024
  2. "Dispose of Me"
    Released: May 16, 2024
  3. "Less of You"
    Released: June 7, 2024

God Said No is the second studio album by American singer Omar Apollo, released on June 28, 2024, through Warner Records. It includes contributions from Mustafa and actor Pedro Pascal, and was preceded by the singles "Spite", "Dispose of Me" and "Less of You".[1]

Background and recording

God Said No was partially recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, and produced alongside Teo Halm, Carter Lang and Blake Slatkin.[2]

Apollo stated that the album is a "reflection of [his] life for the past 2 years" and "doesn't feel like it's a bunch of songs put together", calling it "a sequence that is made to be listened to front to back".[3] It was called a "survey of the emotional wreckage that followed the end of a torrid love affair" in a press release.[4] Apollo titled the album after a remark of his own when the relationship ended, which is also intended as a play on the Spanish phrase "lo que será, será" (English for "whatever will be, will be").[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AOTY80[6]
Metacritic84[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash8/10[7]
Dork4/5[8]
NME4/5[9]
Rolling Stone4/5[10]

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from professional publications, God Said No received a weighted mean score of 84, based on four critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[5]

Larisha Paul of Rolling Stone praised the album as being "an emotionally harrowing look inside the psyche of a musician wringing every drop of meaning from the old adage that great art comes from great pain."[10]

NME reviewer Laura Molloy described the album as "Apollo's most atmospheric offering to date" and praised the "eclectic, expansive sonic palette that constantly drifts between genres yet is anchored in his diaristic musings on finite romance."[9]

In the New York Times, God Said No was selected as a NYT Critic's Pick. Reviewer John Parales praised the "enduring break-up songs". He noted that the lo-fi tone of the album "suggests troubled thoughts and uncomfortable conversations, small-scale and introspective — seemingly private, not overtly theatrical."[11]

God Said No World Tour

The album will be supported by the God Said No World Tour, which includes dates in the United States, Canada, Japan, Indonesia and Australia. The tour begins in Melbourne, Australia at the Festival Hall on July 15, 2024, and concludes in San Diego, California at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park on October 11, 2024.[12]

Track listing

God Said No track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Be Careful with Me"
  • Slatkin
  • Lang
  • Halm
3:16
2."Spite"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
  • Slatkin
  • Slatkin
  • Halm
2:39
3."Less of You"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
3:13
4."Done with You"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
  • Lang
  • Slatkin
  • Dylan Wiggins
  • Slatkin
  • Lang
  • Wiggins
  • Apollo
  • Halm
  • Scott Bridgeway[a]
2:38
5."Plane Trees" (featuring Mustafa)
  • Apollo
  • Halm
3:31
6."Drifting"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
Halm4:23
7."Empty"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
  • Slatkin
  • Slatkin
  • Apollo
  • Halm
  • Mark Kraus[a]
3:17
8."Life's Unfair"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
2:58
9."Against Me"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
  • Mike Hector
  • Hector
  • Apollo
  • Halm
  • Adam Krevlin[a]
2:31
10."While U Can"
  • Velasco
  • Lang
  • Oscar Santander
  • Lang
  • Apollo
  • Santander
3:06
11."Dispose of Me"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
  • Santander
  • Slatkin
  • Walsh
  • Slatkin
  • Santander
  • Halm
3:37
12."How"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
  • Slatkin
  • Slatkin
  • Apollo
  • Halm
2:59
13."Pedro"
  • Apollo
  • Halm
2:26
14."Glow"
  • Velasco
  • Halm
  • Apollo
  • Halm
4:38
Total length:45:12

Note

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer

Personnel

  • Omar Apollo – vocals (all tracks), Prophet synthesizer (track 9), celeste piano (13)
  • Teo Halm – background vocals (tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13), synthesizer (1, 3, 5, 6, 8), drum programming (1, 12), piano (1, 13), programming (2–4, 6, 8, 14), guitar (2, 4, 5, 14), bass (2, 4, 11, 14), drums (2, 4, 11), Juno synthesizer (2, 5, 12), percussion (2, 11); Oberheim synthesizer, Roland paraphonic keyboards (3); Mellotron (4), grand piano (5, 14), Prophet synthesizer (6, 9), Wurlitzer (7, 13), upright piano (7), synthesizer programming (12); celeste piano, horns, mixing (13); organ, Minimoog, string arrangement (14)
  • Carter Lang – bass, synthesizer (track 1); engineering (track 4); EMS synthesizer (10)
  • Blake Slatkin – guitar, programming (tracks 2, 4); synthesizer, Wurlitzer (2); drum programming, synthesizer programming (12); engineering (tracks 2, 4, 11, 12)
  • Jonah Abraham – Oberheim synthesizer (track 3)
  • Mike Sabath – synth bass (track 3)
  • Rob Moose – cello, viola, violin, string arrangement (tracks 4, 5, 7, 14); engineering (tracks 4, 7, 14)
  • Jake Hicks – background vocals (track 4)
  • Christos Stylianides – flugelhorn, lead trumpet (track 4)
  • Kenneth Brown II – flugelhorn, trumpet (track 4)
  • Scott Bridgeway – drum programming (track 4)
  • Dylan Wiggins – guitar (track 4)
  • John Mayer – guitar (track 4)
  • Michael Underwood – saxophone (track 4)
  • Mustafa – vocals, background vocals (track 5)
  • Mark Kraus – engineering (tracks 1, 3, 11, 13), engineering assistance (4, 6, 7, 10); synthesizer programming (track 7), synthesizer (8)
  • BlankFor.ms – loops and engineering (tracks 7, 14)
  • Adam Krevlin – Casio keyboards (track 9)
  • Mike Hector – drum programming (track 9)
  • Oscar Santander – guitar (tracks 10, 11), Minimoog (14)
  • Dylan Day – guitar, slide guitar (track 11)
  • Mason Stoops – guitar, slide guitar (track 11)
  • Sean Hurley – bass (track 11)
  • Pedro Pascal – vocals (track 13)
  • Dale Becker – mastering (tracks 1, 3–14)
  • Mike Bozzi – mastering (track 2)
  • Joe Visciano – mixing (tracks 1, 9, 10)
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 2, 4)
  • Jon Castelli – mixing (tracks 3, 5–7, 11, 12, 14)
  • Manny Marroquin – mixing (track 8)
  • John Muller – engineering (tracks 1, 4–10, 14)
  • Darren Jones – engineering (tracks 2–5, 8, 13, 14)
  • Garry Purohit – engineering (tracks 8, 14)
  • Nathan Phillips – engineering (tracks 9, 10)
  • Paul Pritchard – engineering (track 13)
  • Bryce Bordone – mix engineering (tracks 2, 4)
  • Brad Lauchert – mix engineering (tracks 3, 5–7, 11, 12, 14)
  • Ben Parkka – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 4, 6, 7), sound design (7)
  • Jamie Sprosen – engineering assistance (tracks 2, 3, 5, 13, 14)
  • Claude Vause – engineering assistance (tracks 3, 4)
  • Stephanie DeAngelis – engineering assistance (track 3)
  • Dani Perez – engineering assistance (tracks 5, 14)
  • Annie Gasiorowski – engineering assistance (track 13)

References

  1. ^ Hussain, Shahzaib (May 20, 2024). "Omar Apollo Announces New Album God Said No". Clash. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  2. ^ Strauss, Matthew (May 16, 2024). "Omar Apollo Details Album, Shares Video for New Song: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Mier, Tomás (May 15, 2024). "Omar Apollo Announces Sophomore Album, God Said No". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  4. ^ Taylor, Sam (May 20, 2024). "Omar Apollo has announced his second album, God Said No". Dork. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "GOD SAID NO by Omar Apollo". Metacritic. Metacritic. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  6. ^ "Omar Apollo God Said No". AOTY. Album of the Year. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  7. ^ Verdi, Amrit. "Omar Apollo – God Said No". Clash. Clash. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  8. ^ Young, Martyn. "OMAR APOLLO – GOD SAID NO". Dork. The Bunker Publishing. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Molloy, Laura. "Omar Apollo – 'God Said No' review: finding peace in fate, family and friendship". NME. NME Networks. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Paul, Larisha. "Omar Apollo Is the Sweet, Moody Pop Polymath We Need". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  11. ^ Pareles, Jon. "Omar Apollo's Exquisite Heartache". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  12. ^ Lopez, Julyssa (June 6, 2024). "Omar Apollo Announces He'll Launch 'God Said No' Tour This Fall". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
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