A Sober Conversation
| A Sober Conversation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 27, 2025 | |||
| Genre | Pop[1] | |||
| Length | 35:20 | |||
| Label | Bella Union | |||
| BC Camplight chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from A Sober Conversation | ||||
| ||||
A Sober Conversation is the seventh studio album by American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist BC Camplight. It was released on June 27, 2025, via Bella Union in vinyl, CD and digital formats.[2]
Background
[edit]Consisting of tracks ranging between two and four minutes, with a total runtime of approximately thirty-five minutes, the album was noted as a pop album.
Succeeding Camplight's 2023 project, The Last Rotation of Earth, the album features the lead single, "Two Legged Dog", a collaboration with British rock band The Last Dinner Party's lead vocalist Abigail Morris, which was released on April 4, 2025.[3]
Reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Guardian | [4] |
| Mojo | [5] |
| MusicOMH |  [6] |
The album received a four and a half-star rating from British online magazine MusicOMH's reviewer Ben Hogwood, who remarked that Camplight reflected on past abuse he experienced in his early years more "directly" on A Sober Conversation than on his previous albums.[6]
AllMusic noted the album as relating to "youthful trauma", noting it as "a top-shelf pop album that also has something important to tell us."[1]
The Guardian assigned it a rating of four stars and described it as "an eccentric rock opera about repression, depression and anger told with the meta-theatrical, tragicomic style that has won Christinzio a cult following."[4]
Tom Doyle of Mojo rated the album four stars and remarked, "Ultimately, A Sober Conversation amounts to a brilliant and bold record that is all the more powerful for its deployment of life-affirming grooves and melodies."[5]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Tent" | 4:49 |
| 2. | "Two-Legged Dog" | 4:26 |
| 3. | "A Sober Conversation" | 4:04 |
| 4. | "When I Make My First Million" | 3:51 |
| 5. | "Where You Taking My Baby?" | 4:33 |
| 6. | "Bubbles in the Gasoline" | 3:44 |
| 7. | "Rock Gently in Disorder" | 3:41 |
| 8. | "Drunk Talk" | 3:57 |
| 9. | "Leaving Camp Four Oaks" | 2:15 |
| Total length: | 35:20 | |
Personnel
[edit]Credits for A Sober Conversation adapted from AllMusic.[1]
- Daniel Woodward – engineer, producer
- Robert Whiteley – engineer
- James Bragg – mastering
- Brian Christinzio – arranger, bass, composer, guitars, organ, piano, producer, synthesizer, vocals
- Abigail Morris – vocals
- Thom Bellini – electric guitar, background vocals
- Jolan Lewis – clavinet, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, organ, synthesizer, synthesizer bass, background vocals
- Jess Branney – effects, percussion, vibraslap, vocals
- Adam Dawson – drums
- Alexander Huxley – trumpet
- Callum McMorran – flute
- Evelyn Halls – cello
- Luke Jarvis – design
- Matt Lawton – upright bass
- Rachel Nicholas – viola
- Sidonie Hand-Halford – drums, percussion
- Tom Spencer – trombone
- Marieke Macklon – cover photo
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[7] | 5 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[8] | 61 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[9] | 3 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Deming, Mark. "A Sober Conversation – BC Camplight". AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ Murray, Robin (April 8, 2025). "BC Camplight Announces New Album A Sober Conversation". Clash. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ Boyle, Emily. "BC Camplight announces upcoming album A Sober Conversation, drops lead single". Hot Press. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ a b Hawthorne, Katie (June 27, 2025). "BC Camplight: A Sober Conversation review – an eccentric rock opera confronting childhood abuse". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ a b Doyle, Tom (August 2025). "A Sober Conversation". Mojo. No. 381. p. 78. ISSN 1351-0193.
- ^ a b Hogwood, Ben (June 27, 2025). "BC Camplight – A Sober Conversation". MusicOMH. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 5, 2025.