Wiki
-
Release Date
17 February 2023
-
Length
15 tracks
Quest for Fire is the second studio album by American record producer Skrillex, released on February 17, 2023, through OWSLA and Atlantic Records. It follows his 2014 album Recess and was preceded by the singles "Rumble" (with Fred Again.. and Flowdan), "Leave Me Like This" (with Bobby Raps), and "Xena" (with Nai Barghouti). It also includes collaborations with singer-songwriter Aluna of AlunaGeorge fame, American percussionist, composer, and visual artist Eli Keszler, Fall Out Boy bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, American songwriter, singer and rapper Starrah, American rapper, singer, and songwriter Swae Lee, American producer Josh Pan, Dutch electronic trio Noisia, 100 gecs member Dylan Brady, English electronic musician Four Tet, American rapper and record producer Missy Elliott, French filmmaker, electronic musician and DJ Mr. Oizo, American DJ and singer Porter Robinson, German-American singer-songwriter Bibi Bourelly, English record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and DJ Fred Again.., American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer Bobby Raps, English grime MC and record producer Flowdan and Palestinian singer, composer and flute player Nai Barghouti. Skrillex released his third album, Don't Get Too Close, on February 18, a day after Quest for Fire.
Quest for Fire received a score of 72 out of 100 at review aggregator Metacritic based on twelve critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. Joe Muggs of The Arts Desk called the album "the most groove-based thing done" and "hyper-detailed, a sci-fi-psychedelic jungle of micro sounds and macro mutations", finding that "it successfully holds together crazed disparate elements". Writing for NME, Ben Jolley opined that Quest for Fire contains "bountiful genres" and that Skrillex's "return largely lives up to the hype" by "often channel nostalgia", but also after "covering so much ground" in terms of the genres and sounds explored, this "means the album lacks a clear narrative or overarching theme". The staff review from AllMusic claimed, "The tracks on Quest for Fire go for instant dancefloor gratification, but they're far more refined and nuanced than the brostep ragers that made Skrillex a household name in the early 2010s." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that the album is "guest-laden eclecticism that walks the line between catchy and annoying" and includes "a bit of everything, from house and dubstep to two-step garage and Chicago juke", concluding that it "feels more like a crammed mood-board than an album".
Isabel Armitage of Clash commented "we still get to hear the classic EDM sound palette in Quest For Fire as well as high tuned pop punk vocals that we have come to expect from Skrillex" on the album, concluding that it "features an eclectic mix sub cultures from niche areas of the world, with each song fluidly merging with the next whilst creating a new, unique sound". Writing for Pitchfork, Chal Ravens felt Quest for Fire "is a huge evolution from the brash, stadium-sized ragers of Skrillex 1.0. He's finally absorbed the fundamentals of dance music: basic stuff, like having a rhythm that makes you want to move your body." Reviewing the album for The Telegraph, Ali Shutler expressed relief that Quest for Fire "doesn't sound like 2010 all over again", but that it "still blends urgent, bass-heavy peaks and drops with a near-constant sense of euphoria". Shutler described it as "still visceral EDM designed to get the pulse racing, but the whole thing has been given an ambitious refresh", calling it the "second coming of Skrillex". Writing for Sputnikmusic, Kirk Bowman questioned why Skrillex did not "do more with hyperpop or dariacore producers that clearly idolize him, or cash in on the many stars he's previously worked with who could have written more interesting songs for him", writing that while he "appreciate the effort" that went into making the album "sound diverse and interesting", he could not "help but imagine how much farther could have gone".
Album descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
