| Perfect Picture | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 6 October 2023 (2023-10-06) | |||
| Genre | Hyperpop[1] | |||
| Length | 40:37 | |||
| Label | PC Music | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Hannah Diamond chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Perfect Picture | ||||
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Perfect Picture is the second studio album by British singer and visual artistHannah Diamond. It was released on 6 October 2023 viaPC Music,[2][3][4][5] one of the final releases on the label before its closure at the end of 2023.[6]
The album was made in collaboration with American musicianDavid Gamson, whom she met in 2016 when PC Music traveled to Los Angeles for their Pop City event.[3]
It was supported by the singles "Staring at the Ceiling",[7] "Affirmations",[8] the album's title track,[2] and "Poster Girl".[9]
On 24 February 2022, she released "Staring At The Ceiling", the lead single for an upcoming album. More than a year later, a new single was released under the title of "Affirmations". In mid-August, the title track "Perfect Picture" was released on 17 August and came with the announcement of the album of the same title.
This was followed by "Poster Girl" in mid-September. The announcement was met with accusations that Diamond copied Swedish singerZara Larsson's cover art for thealbum of the same name.[10] Diamond addressed this, stating that "there is no joy to be found in using someone else’s experience", and affirmed the legacy and influence her own photography and art from PC Music have had on culture.[11]
Diamond will embark on a tour supporting the album in North America, Canada and Europe from October through to December 2023.[12] The tour was announced on 28 July after the release of the single Affirmations. On 24 August she announced the dates for Barcelona and Berlin. The last update to date took place in 30 August when she announced shows in Warsaw and Helsinki.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 78/100[13] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Clash | 8/10[14] |
| DIY |   [1] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 9/10[15] |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10[16] |
| Slant Magazine | [17] |
Perfect Picture received a score of 78 out of 100 on review aggregatorMetacritic based on 7 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13] Steve Erickson ofSlant Magazine wrote that "lyrically, the songs onPerfect Picture find [Diamond] in a constant state of anxiety about her looks and public perception" and she "constructs a world of exaggerated femininity without drowning in irony".[17]DIY's Otis Robinson called it "the pinnacle of today'shyperpop yet steers away from its once abrasive nature towards a well-rounded, rebooted version: one where all that Hannah is and can be is indeed made picture perfect".[1] Peyton Toups, reviewing the album forPitchfork, wrote that it "embraces a blurrier resolution where pitch-shifted vocals glitch in and out of static and punchy, arpeggiated synths leap into massive choruses".[16]
Matthew Kent ofThe Line of Best Fit felt thatPerfect Picture is more successful at capturing who Diamond is as an artist than her previous work and "speaks volumes to her work across the digital landscape cementing her status as a cult icon behind both the camera and a microphone".[15] Reviewing the album forClash, Bryson Edward Howe commented that it "still evokes the half-remembered sound of worn-out Spice Girls cassettes, coated in the same plastic gloss as the posters adorning bedroom walls, but navigates a more complex interplay between the different brands of nostalgia within a typically kaleidoscopic soundscape".[14]
The Guardian ranked it the 46th best album of 2023.[18]
All music is composed byHannah Amond andDavid Gamson
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Perfect Picture" |
| 2:49 |
| 2. | "Affirmations" |
| 3:34 |
| 3. | "Poster Girl" |
| 3:43 |
| 4. | "Want You to Know" |
| 3:24 |
| 5. | "Impossible" |
| 3:27 |
| 6. | "Flashback" |
| 3:41 |
| 7. | "No FX" |
| 3:35 |
| 8. | "Lip Sync" |
| 3:11 |
| 9. | "Staring at the Ceiling" |
| 3:43 |
| 10. | "Twisted" |
| 3:16 |
| 11. | "Divisible by Two" |
| 3:35 |
| 12. | "Unbreakable" |
| 2:33 |
| Total length: | 40:37 | ||
Notes
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Album Downloads (OCC)[19] | 69 |
| Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 6 October 2023 | PC Music | [2] | |
| 2 December 2023 | LP | [20] |
