Universe Room

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Universe Room
Studio album by
Guided by Voices
ReleasedFebruary 7, 2025
Length39:32
LabelGuided By Voices Inc.
ProducerTravis Harrison
Guided by Voices chronology
Strut of Kings
(2024) 		Universe Room
(2025) 		Thick, Rich & Delicious
(2025)

Universe Room is the forty-first studio album released by American indie rock band Guided by Voices, released on February 7, 2025, through their own Guided By Voices Inc. label.[1] It was preceded by the singles "Fly Religion" (November 22, 2024), "The Great Man" (December 13, 2024), "Dawn Believes" (January 22, 2025), and "Elfin Flower with Knees" (January 24, 2025).

Background

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On November 19, 2024, the band announced the release of their new studio album, along with the first single "Fly Religion".[1] Of the new album, frontman Robert Pollard said:

I wanted to create, hopefully, an experience, kind of a wild ride, where the listener would want to hear it multiple times in order to grasp all the sections and fields of sound to discover something new with each listen. I wanted to get a little more sonic diversity for this album. So I asked each member of the band to record all the instruments for one song and I did three songs myself.[2]


Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic71/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[4]
The Arts DeskStarStarStar[5]

Universe Room was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 71, based on 6 reviews.[3]

Track listing

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All songs written by Robert Pollard.

  1. "Driving Time" – 2:05
  2. "I Couldn't See the Light" – 2:55
  3. "I Will Be a Monk" – 1:30
  4. "The Great Man" – 2:03
  5. "Clearly Aware" – 2:36
  6. "Dawn Believes" – 3:26
  7. "Play Shadows" – 2:00
  8. "Fly Religion" – 2:25
  9. "The Well Known Soldier" – 1:07
  10. "Hers Purple" – 1:05
  11. "Independent Animal" – 1:13
  12. "19th Man to Fly an Airplane" – 3:41
  13. "Elfin Flower with Knees" – 2:20
  14. "Fran Cisco" – 3:07
  15. "Aluminum Stingray Girl" – 2:19
  16. "Aesop Dreamed of Lions" – 3:07
  17. "Everybody's a Star" – 2:23

Personnel

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Guided by Voices

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Additional contributors

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  • Travis Harrison – production, floor tom on "Aluminum Stingray Girl"
  • Ray Ketchem – additional drum recording
  • Beckham Bare – piano on "Hers Purple"

References

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  1. ^ a b "Guided By Voices Announce 41st Album Universe Room". Stereogum. November 19, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  2. ^ Ehrlich, Brenna (November 19, 2024). "Guided by Voices Announce New Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Universe Room". Metacritic. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  4. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Guided by Voices – Universe Room". AllMusic. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  5. ^ Robbers, Ellie. "Guided by Voices – Universe Room". The Arts Desk.