In Mind is the fourth studio album by American indie rock band Real Estate, released on March 17, 2017, on Domino Records.[14] It is the band's first album since founding member Matt Mondanile's departure, and the first with his replacement as lead guitarist, Julian Lynch.

In Mind
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 17, 2017
RecordedJune–August 2016
StudioLucy's Meat Market
(Los Angeles, California)
[1]
Genre
Length44:51
LabelDomino
ProducerCole M.G.N.
Real Estate chronology
Atlas
(2014)
In Mind
(2017)
The Main Thing
(2020)
Singles from In Mind
  1. "Darling"
    Released: January 24, 2017
  2. "Stained Glass"
    Released: March 7, 2017
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.1/10[2]
Metacritic76/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The A.V. ClubC[5]
Consequence of SoundB[6]
The Guardian[7]
Mojo[8]
Pitchfork7.2/10[9]
Q[10]
Record Collector[11]
The Times[12]
Uncut7/10[13]

Background

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Before reconvening to work on songs that lead singer Martin Courtney had written for their fourth album, Real Estate decided to part ways with lead guitarist and founding member Matt Mondanile. According to bassist Alex Bleeker, "We decided to part ways because we found it difficult to work together."[15]

The impending split with Mondanile was not a surprise, according to Courtney: "It made a lot of sense to everyone involved. It was definitely not a shock. He was doing Ducktails, but it happened when we were just about to start working on Real Estate again. We kinda saw it coming. It was a little weird not having him around because he was the lead guitar player and a founding member of the band, so he was involved in all aspects of the band, including the business side of things. It was a change. But the four remaining members — including Matt Kallman, who had been in the band for three or four years at that point — were already a tight unit without Matt in the picture."[16]

After the remaining members of Real Estate had begun working on new songs as a four-piece, Courtney traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for a solo show on February 6, 2016.[17] At the show he was joined by Julian Lynch, who was working on his Ph.D. dissertation at University of Wisconsin-Madison and had also contributed electric guitar, organ and vocals to "Asleep", a track on Courtney's solo album, Many Moons.[18]

After the show, Courtney mentioned the guitarist vacancy to Lynch, without expecting him to be available due to his Ph.D. work. But Lynch, a childhood friend of Courtney, Bleeker and Mondanile from Ridgewood who had also played clarinet on Real Estate's previous album, Atlas, offered his services. After consulting with Bleeker, who approved of the idea, Courtney called Lynch to confirm the latter's interest, to which Lynch responded in the affirmative.[19]

On May 25, 2016, the band officially announced Mondanile's departure and Lynch's membership, and that their new album was currently in progress.[20]

Recording

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Prior to Lynch joining Real Estate, the band had already started working on songs as a four-piece in Beacon, New York, where Courtney had recently relocated with his wife and their two young daughters. The other band members stayed at an Airbnb down the road from Courtney's residence, and every morning the band would walk to a rented practice space, Cassandra Studio, inside an old high school to work.[21] They recorded full band demos at the practice space with the help of Jarvis Taveniere from the band Woods,[22] in which songs that didn't have lead guitar parts provided by Courtney left space for more prominent keyboard and bass parts. A month after the initial two-week demo sessions, the band returned to Beacon with Lynch on board for another week of work, in which Lynch added textural elements if a song didn't require further lead guitar playing from him.[23]

To produce the album, the band chose to work with Cole M.G.N. According to Bleeker, “We wanted to work with Cole because overall on this record, our goal was to use the studio as an instrument a bit more than we had on previous records."[19] Since Cole insisted on working in Los Angeles, the band rented a house in Los Feliz, and recording took place in June 2016 at Lucy's Meat Market in Eagle Rock.[24] During recording, the band allowed Cole more control compared to previous producers they had worked with, a first for the band. According to Courtney, “Cole played more of a traditional producer role, where we would talk about the arrangements of the songs, and we would talk about song structure and stuff together.”[23]

The album's title was chosen via group text discussion, in which around fifty "progressively dumber" names were proposed before drummer Jackson Pollis suggested In Mind.[15]

Accolades

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Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Uncut Albums of the Year 2017
65

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Real Estate

No.TitleLength
1."Darling"4:20
2."Serve the Song"3:13
3."Stained Glass"3:54
4."After the Moon"4:50
5."Two Arrows"6:50
6."White Light"3:14
7."Holding Pattern"3:46
8."Time"3:49
9."Diamond Eyes"2:34
10."Same Sun"3:17
11."Saturday"5:04
Total length:44:51

Personnel

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  • Martin Courtney – vocals, guitar
  • Alex Bleeker – bass guitar, vocals (track 9)
  • Jackson Pollis – drums and percussion
  • Matt Kallman – keyboards
  • Julian Lynch – lead guitar

Technical

Design

  • Robery Beatty – design, logo
  • Shawn Brackbill – photography
  • Rob Carmichael – graphic design

Charts

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Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 75
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[27] 125
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[28] 85
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[29] 43
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 66
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 80
US Billboard 200[32] 100
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[33] 13
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[34] 17

References

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  1. ^ "Real Estate: Atlas". dominorecordco.us. Domino. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  2. ^ "In Mind by Real Estate reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  3. ^ "Reviews and Tracks for In Mind by Real Estate". Metacritic. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  4. ^ Donelson, Marcy. "In Mind – Real Estate". AllMusic. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  5. ^ Zaleski, Annie (March 17, 2017). "Real Estate's In Mind is an incremental, if overly languid, step forward". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Van Nguyen, Dean (March 14, 2017). "Real Estate – In Mind". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Mumford, Gwilym (March 17, 2017). "Real Estate: In Mind review – understated pleasures from steadfast indie-rockers". The Guardian. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  8. ^ Doyle, Tom (April 2017). "Real Estate: In Mind". Mojo (281): 91.
  9. ^ Snapes, Laura (March 21, 2017). "Real Estate: In Mind". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  10. ^ Harrison, Ian (May 2017). "Real Estate: In Mind". Q (371): 111.
  11. ^ Pearlman, Mischa (March 2017). "Real Estate – In Mind". Record Collector (464). Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  12. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (March 17, 2017). "Pop: Real Estate: In Mind". The Times. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  13. ^ Dale, Jon (April 2017). "Real Estate: In Mind". Uncut (239): 37.
  14. ^ "Real Estate Announce New Album In Mind, Share Video for New Song "Darling": Watch | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Leas, Ryan (March 16, 2017). "Q&A: Real Estate On Growing Up Together, Moving Away From Each Other, & Superpowers". Stereogum. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  16. ^ Lindsay, Cam (March 15, 2017). "Past Lives and Future Days: A Conversation With Real Estate". Noisey. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  17. ^ "Martin Courtney w/ The Pollinators". Wisconsin Union. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  18. ^ Warburton, Bob (March 15, 2017). "Guitarist Julian Lynch is newest member of Real Estate". NorthJersey.com. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  19. ^ a b Budnick, Dean (March 16, 2017). "Track By Track: Real Estate's 'In Mind'". Relix. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  20. ^ Real Estate (May 25, 2016). "As we get ready for our first show in over 10 months..." Facebook. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  21. ^ "Bio Real Estate". Shorefire Media. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  22. ^ Hale, Tyler (March 9, 2017). "Real Estate :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview". Aquarium Drunkard. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  23. ^ a b Gaworecki, Mike (March 27, 2017). "On New Album, In Mind, Real Estate is All about Location, Location, Location". Brooklyn. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  24. ^ @lucysmeatmarket (June 11, 2016). "day 2 with @realestateband". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  25. ^ "Uncut's 75 Best Albums of 2017". Uncut. November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  26. ^ "ARIA CHART WATCH #413". auspOp. March 25, 2017. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  27. ^ "Ultratop.be – Real Estate – In Mind" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
  28. ^ "Ultratop.be – Real Estate – In Mind" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  29. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Real Estate – In Mind" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  31. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  32. ^ "Real Estate Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  33. ^ "Real Estate Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  34. ^ "Real Estate Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved January 10, 2020.