In Another Life (album)

Release and reception

In Another Life was released by Entertainment One on June 30, 2015, to generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 8 reviews. PopMatters critic John Paul said it would prove to be perhaps "one of, if not the best R&B albums of the year", while praising Bilal and Younge's retrofuturist approach to 1970s funk and soul on a wildly eclectic and "vital document from two of the most gifted, albeit idiosyncratic, performers R&B currently has to offer". AllMusic's Andy Kellman called In Another Life a hip hop soul high point and hailed Bilal as still "one of the most dynamic and progressive vocalists in contemporary music". In The Sydney Morning Herald, Paris Pompor categorized the album as neo soul while declaring the songwriting could be the best of the singer's career. Kristofer Lenz from Consequence of Sound was less impressed by the record, believing Younge's unrefined analog production had yielded mixed results. On songs such as "Star Now" and "Lunatic", "some instruments feel too high in the mix, typically the drums, and the ensuing chaos threatens to consume the rest", Lenz lamented. At the end of 2015, In Another Life was ranked number 13 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the year's best R&B albums.

Personnel

Credits were adapted from AllMusic.