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How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean Image
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The latest full-length release from British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading was self-produced.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Record Collector
    Dec 2, 2024
    100
    An album that's one long masterstroke. [Christmas 2024, p.132]
  2. 80
    Armatrading has proved more than willing to evolve down the years, but How Did This Happen is mostly a welcome return to familiar sounds and ideas. She produced the album at home, playing all the instruments herself (as she has done for decades) with considerable slickness.
  3. 80
    Her splendidly named new album How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean is a forest of invention and great songs. [Dec 2024, p.78]
  4. Mojo
    Nov 21, 2024
    80
    Vital and vibrant. [Jan 2025, p.88]
  5. Jan 10, 2025
    80
    She's clearly having fun, making the music she wants to make and exploring new facets of her craft. Hopeful, romantic, and energetic, Armatrading offers a strong dose of joy in troubled times.
  6. Uncut
    Nov 21, 2024
    70
    Now in her seventies, her voice is deeper than it once was, but it remains an instrument of impressive power. [Review of the Year 2024, p.27]
  7. Nov 21, 2024
    60
    [Redemption Love's] use of repetition is borderline annoying, the instrumental is completely uninteresting, making this track feel like just another piece of filler on an album that otherwise features some truly captivating songwriting. The title track, for example, is the Joan Armatrading we know and love, and then some: contemplative, wise and deliciously groovy.