AIIR | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | 1 November 2022 | |||
Genre | Choral, contemporary classical [1] | |||
Length | 25:27 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Forever Living Originals | |||
Producer | Inflo | |||
Sault chronology | ||||
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AIIR is a studio EP by the British R&B collective Sault, a sequel to their sixth album, AIR (2022). The EP was one of five simultaneous digital releases for free on 1 November 2022 (along with 11, Earth, Today & Tomorrow, and Untitled (God)). [2] Four of the five (excluding Untitled (God)) were released on streaming music services on 12 November. [3] The download was available for only five days via a password-encrypted link and made as an offering to God.
Writing for The Daily Telegraph, Ali Shutler reviewed all five simultaneous releases by Sault and gave them a collective four out of five stars, noting that AIIR follows from the earlier Air that "conjures anxiety and paranoia through orchestral soundscapes". [4] In an overview of the best music of the week on All Songs Considered, NPR considers the five releases "as sonically diverse as they are ambitious in their breadth and scale". [5]
Damien Morris of The Observer reviewed all five albums and scored them five stars, noting that "anyone can find their own five-star classic among these 56 songs" and summing up that "it’s clear that these albums are an act of supreme generosity, not indulgent superfluity". [6] Writing for Gigwise, Luke Winstanley called the collective releases "an absurd achievement" and scored this album eight out of 10, calling it "another sumptuous classical effort [following Air], essentially functioning as a sequel or companion piece [that] presents a more focused, leaner and less indulgent collection than its predecessor". [1]