| Diamond Jubilee | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 29 March 2024 (2024-03-29) | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | Psychedelic pop | |||
| Length | 122:09 | |||
| Label | Realistik | |||
| Producer |
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| Cindy Lee chronology | ||||
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Diamond Jubilee is the seventh studio album by Canadian bandCindy Lee, the project of musician Patrick Flegel. Atriple album (double CD), it was released on 29 March 2024 on Flegel's own label Realistik Studios, available exclusively onYouTube or for purchase from a Web 1.0-style Realistik Studios website.[1] On 23 October 2024, it was released onBandcamp and physical pre-orders were made available.[2]
The album received widespread critical acclaim upon its release, listed byPitchfork as the best album of 2024 and the third best album of the first half of the 2020s.[3][4]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.4/10[5] |
| Metacritic | 91/100[6] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| Beats Per Minute | 89%[8] |
| laut.de |  [9] |
| Mladina | 4/5[10] |
| OndaRock | 8/10[11] |
| Paste | 9.2/10[1] |
| Pitchfork | 9.1/10[12] |
| Uncut | 9/10[13] |
Diamond Jubilee was released to widespread critical acclaim. According to the review aggregatorMetacritic,Diamond Jubilee received "universal acclaim" based on aweighted average score of 91 out of 100 from 7 critic scores.[6] Andy Cush ofPitchfork gave the album a 9.1/10 review, calling it "an essential trove of music" where "each song is like a foggy transmission from arock 'n' roll netherworld with its own ghostly canon of beloved hits".[12] It was the highest rating awarded by the website to a new album sinceFiona Apple's 2020 albumFetch the Bolt Cutters.[14]
Concluding the review forAllMusic, Marcy Donelson called the album "a sprawling epic whose uncanny, time-worn textures sound less like a vinyl alley-find and more like a cassette discovered in the cabin of a great-uncle's shipwrecked houseboat. It’s a beautiful, immersive, and above all, dreamlike set that easily rewards the investment in its length."[7]
Elise Soutar ofPaste rated the album 9.2/10, calling it Cindy Lee's "bittersweet magnum opus" that "is easily the densest, most rewarding body of work they have released to date—a staggering collection ofpsychedelic pop songs that can be difficult to tackle head on, if only due to the sheer quantity and quality of the work".[1]Exclaim! gave the album a Staff Pick, with reviewer Kaelen Bell writing, "Built on strains of '50sgirl group pop, lush '60spsychedelia, itchy '70s radio rock,lo-fi '90s clutter and sparkling production choices grafted on from some alternate universe,Diamond Jubilee feels like the defining portrait of Cindy Lee as both artist and vessel."[15]
The album was a shortlisted finalist for the2024 Polaris Music Prize.[16]
In year-end lists, music review publicationsPitchfork,Exclaim!, andGorilla vs. Bear namedDiamond Jubilee the best album of 2024.[4][17][18]
All lyrics are written by Patrick Flegel; all music is composed by Patrick Flegel except for "Baby Blue" and "Dracula" by Patrick Flegel and Steven Lind.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Diamond Jubilee" | 5:22 |
| 2. | "Glitz" | 4:10 |
| 3. | "Baby Blue" | 3:55 |
| 4. | "Dreams of You" | 2:46 |
| 5. | "All I Want Is You" | 3:00 |
| 6. | "Dallas" | 3:15 |
| 7. | "Olive Drab" | 1:31 |
| 8. | "Always Dreaming" | 3:43 |
| 9. | "Wild One" | 2:04 |
| 10. | "Flesh and Blood" | 5:13 |
| 11. | "Le Machiniste fantome" | 1:02 |
| 12. | "Kingdom Come" | 4:42 |
| 13. | "Demon Bitch" | 4:24 |
| 14. | "I Have My Doubts" | 3:32 |
| 15. | "Til Polarity's End" | 4:04 |
| 16. | "Realistik Heaven" | 3:42 |
| Total length: | 56:25 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stone Faces" | 4:22 |
| 2. | "Gayblevision" | 2:56 |
| 3. | "Dracula" | 6:08 |
| 4. | "Lockstepp" | 4:39 |
| 5. | "Government Cheque" | 5:06 |
| 6. | "Deepest Blue" | 2:57 |
| 7. | "To Heal This Wounded Heart" | 3:33 |
| 8. | "Golden Microphone" | 2:49 |
| 9. | "If You Hear Me Crying" | 4:01 |
| 10. | "Darling of the Diskoteque" | 3:04 |
| 11. | "Don't Tell Me I'm Wrong" | 4:48 |
| 12. | "What's It Going to Take" | 3:29 |
| 13. | "Wild Rose" | 3:50 |
| 14. | "Durham City Limit" | 5:24 |
| 15. | "Crime of Passion" | 3:13 |
| 16. | "24/7 Heaven" | 5:25 |
| Total length: | 65:44 | |
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] | 85 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[20] | 14 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[21] | 8 |
