A music lover’s 4 types of ‘listens’ to test a new album [column] | Entertainment

How many times should one listen to an album before making a judgment?

Legendary music journalist Robert Christgau listens a minimum of five times before he writes a review, according to Brooklyn Magazine. Anthony Fantano, the obnoxious creator of YouTube’s massively popular channel theneedledrop, dedicated a video to the question — and gave an answer just about as sage as his reviews: “It depends.” Scrappy music site Stereogum plays with this concept too, labeling reviews published shortly after an album’s release with the brilliant turn-of-phrase “Premature Evaluation.”

While I have written a lot about music, I am no music critic. But I do have some weird rituals when it comes to listening to new albums — especially that of an artist I care deeply about.

I had Aug. 14, the debut date of Phoebe Bridgers’ new album “Lost Weekend,” circled on my calendar for months. The day it dropped, I joked that I’d listen to it 40 times that day.

Not quite. But I have listened to it a lot — and the care I took in absorbing those first few listens made me reflect on the various “tests” I put an album through as I get to know it. Here are four.

Headphone listen

Old heads may condemn me for this format being my first listen, but I am a millennial. I grew up grasping the “hold” button on my Walkman to avoid bumps on the school bus, and later, plugged into my first-generation brick of an iPod. The headphone listen is as personal as it gets — and for some records, like electronic-heavy releases, it’s my preferred method.

The morning Bridgers’ album dropped, I got out of bed a little earlier than usual, put on my over-ear headphones — the only kind I’ll entertain, do not waste my time with those wimpy little pods — and let the music wash over me as I moved through my morning routine. I snickered at the lyrics of one song while loading the dishwasher, then was stopped in my tracks as the instruments swelled in another.

While I salute my friends who waited for their first spin to be true to the phrase — on vinyl — patience has never been a virtue of mine. So, my first listen will almost always be on headphones in the streaming era.

Concentrated listen (speakers, vinyl)

Dim the lights. Light a candle. Pour of a glass of whatever you please. Things are about to get serious.

One of my favorite parts of owning physical copies of music is getting to enjoy the album’s packaging in tandem with the work. “Lost Weekend” features a blurry, almost “Ghost Hunters”-esque photo of Bridgers on the cover, but opening the gatefold reveals an underwater image that’s lit aglow under a black light.

Now, let’s talk about lyrics. Following along as the song plays isn’t for everyone, but I love it for an early listen — who knows what quips you might be missing! The vinyl copy of “Lost Weekend” came with a silver-embossed lyric book with illustrations corresponding to each song — a delight.

Then there are the liner notes. Music critics are making a big to-do about Bridgers’ romantic partner, comedian Bo Burnham, popping up all over the credits, as well as production nods from industry giant Jack Antonoff and my fellow Temple University graduate Alex G. But where’s the excitement over Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on guitar in “Kill Me?” No love for mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile on the same track? (I live for this stuff.)

Persnickety audiophile types are hard to stomach, but allow me to be one for a moment. I invariably hear something on my first vinyl listen that I didn’t hear in the compressed digital version that hit streaming — a harmony, an instrument layer, something. And I’m not working with hi-fi gear — more like hand-me-downs from Dad.

Car listen

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the album, you’re ready to graduate to the car listen.

It’s best to wait a bit for this one — doing a first listen in the car can be distracting, and I’d hate for my first listen of a beautiful ballad to be tainted by my own road rage.

Sometimes the car listen is where things gel for me. I remember my first car listen of Charli XCX’s seminal “Brat,” as I realized in real time how I had already learned most of the words.

That’s why you want to wait a bit, until you’re ready to belt your heart out and try the record on for size. If I see you passionately singing at a red light, your secret is safe with me.

Live listen

To borrow a phrase from the video game world, this is the “Final Boss” of listens. You won’t always get to hear every song, and it’s even rarer to hear an album straight through. But you’ll still get an answer to the important question of how the songs hold up live. Here’s where studio vocal help (or hubris) will be revealed. And sometimes the live arrangements give songs totally new life outside of the recorded versions.

I’ve seen Bridgers live more times than I’m comfortable admitting in print, so I know she’s a superb live singer. I’ll add to that concert count in September when she visits Philadelphia — and I’m ecstatic she is employing Yondr pouches for this tour, requiring fans to put their phones in a secure, lockable fabric bag you keep on your person that’s unlocked at the end of the event.

In the age of social media and viral concert clips, fans spoil surprises for each other. I didn’t go to Hayley Williams’ tour following her excellent album “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party,” but I felt like I did after swarms of live clips from every angle flooded my TikTok feed. Concerts are less fun when you know too much about what’s coming; I’m looking forward to unplugging and being surprised when I see Bridgers.

However you choose to listen to a record, you’re already lapping the brainwashed kids who only listen to 30-second clips online. If the music moves you, you’re doing it right.

Jenelle Janci is LNP | LancasterOnline’s Work & Play team leader. “Unscripted” is a weekly entertainment column produced by a rotating team of writers.