Promises
by Floating Points
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 57
  3. Negative: 2 out of 57
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  1. SuperDan
    Mar 31, 2021
    10
    I don't think I've ever been as emotionally affected by a first listen of an album as I was by this. It's an extraordinary piece of work. It's delicate, confident and incredibly moving. It's so wonderful to sit back and listen and imagine what Sanders and Shepherd were trying to get us to think as we listen. I think something different every time, from the wistful to the sad to theI don't think I've ever been as emotionally affected by a first listen of an album as I was by this. It's an extraordinary piece of work. It's delicate, confident and incredibly moving. It's so wonderful to sit back and listen and imagine what Sanders and Shepherd were trying to get us to think as we listen. I think something different every time, from the wistful to the sad to the uplifted and any album that inspires that in a listener is one to treasure.… Expand
  2. Halfwholehalf
    Mar 31, 2021
    10
    Promises is the elegy for 2020. It brings tears of poignancy.

    If the repeating arpeggio represents hope, and the silence after the arpeggio is despair, then Pharaoh Sanders is humanity navigating between the two.
  3. frostyra
    Apr 1, 2021
    10
    Pretty sure I seized listening to this. Movement 6 cemented this as the album of the year for me.

    This is incredible.
  4. bahamat
    Mar 31, 2021
    0
    While the album does receive critical acclaim, for some people, including me, it just doesn't hit the spot.
  5. Ricko
    Mar 4, 2022
    8
    This gets better with every listen to the extent that I'm certain I'll bump this rating up in the future after further time spent with it. Ambient, classical, jazz can be used as descriptors but these words can't accurately describe the feel and emotion generated by the sounds created on the album. Hypnotically repetitive and addictive, this is an album that you can soak your ears inThis gets better with every listen to the extent that I'm certain I'll bump this rating up in the future after further time spent with it. Ambient, classical, jazz can be used as descriptors but these words can't accurately describe the feel and emotion generated by the sounds created on the album. Hypnotically repetitive and addictive, this is an album that you can soak your ears in without feeling overwhelmed or having to work to hear. Excellent stuff.… Expand
  6. BlackDogJoker
    Dec 7, 2021
    7
    So this is what it feels like to have a outer-body experience. An unique experience, to say the least.
  7. All_ButTrU4
    Apr 5, 2021
    7
    Extraordinary, reflective&poignant. An experience everyone should have. Favourites: movement 1,2,5,8
  8. clem666
    May 28, 2021
    6
    I won't hide you the fact that I am far from being an big adept of jazz and classic music. 'Promises' was my first step to encounter who appear to be huge creators as Pharoah Sanders or Floating Points. So I may simply not have the luggage needed to deeply identify the forces and surprises of such a project. Even after listening to it several times, I thought those notes surrounding theI won't hide you the fact that I am far from being an big adept of jazz and classic music. 'Promises' was my first step to encounter who appear to be huge creators as Pharoah Sanders or Floating Points. So I may simply not have the luggage needed to deeply identify the forces and surprises of such a project. Even after listening to it several times, I thought those notes surrounding the one I give were way too overrated.

    I still can recognize the beauty of it all, its tenderness and the profound anxiety it sometimes refers to. Movements (and I mean the tracks) follow each other perfectly, very smoothly as they tend to construct something much bigger than just all the sounds they manage to gather. Throughout the record instruments don't stop to compliment each other, accompagnied by a noticeable pattern remaining unchanged from start to end. In addition to that we also have some disparate vocals and unexpected crescendos here and there. Everyone seems to consider "Movement 6" as the main title of this artwork but I think that, while it has enormous potential, it is sorely lacking in depth and breadth. Even if honestly remarkable I think it could have been way more compelling and shining. And I don't only think that about 'Movement 6', but also about the rest of this album unfortunately.    … Expand
  9. aukalender
    Jul 31, 2021
    9
    I've first listened to this today, and since than I've listened to it I guess five or six times. I'm touched. This is one of the best albums I have ever listened to. Movement 6 gives me goosebumps all over my arms and legs. Truly fantastic. Congratulations.
  10. dotheastralplan
    Apr 1, 2021
    10
    best album of the 21st century, a world of beauty i have never experienced.
  11. hermiteyes
    Apr 5, 2021
    9
    Promises is a difficult record to describe. All I can say is that the writing is mind expanding, the playing is strong and Sam and his chemistry with Mr Sanders is truly awe inspiring. Also its neat as f**k that Sam got to record with Pharoah as a huge fan of his!

    Mind blowing record,. Check itout!
  12. spongki
    Dec 15, 2021
    8
    Great masters perform a feast of spectacular and overwhelming sounds. With the influences of its period, jazz has developed and continues to evolve. It became increasingly exploratory, eventually merging with its polar opposite; the third stream was tasked with combining aspects of fine-tuned western classical music with jazz's essentially spontaneous approaches to production. The 20thGreat masters perform a feast of spectacular and overwhelming sounds. With the influences of its period, jazz has developed and continues to evolve. It became increasingly exploratory, eventually merging with its polar opposite; the third stream was tasked with combining aspects of fine-tuned western classical music with jazz's essentially spontaneous approaches to production. The 20th century brought us the mesmerizing sounds of repetition, as well as limiting frameworks, thanks to the minimalist movement. Pharaoh Sanders' collaboration with Floating Points, a talented electronic musician, appears to be a collision of two worlds glued together by the London Symphonic Orchestra; an ambitious collaboration for the saxophonist's first album in over a decade, and an expansive experiment for Samuel Shepherd.… Expand
  13. jelderton
    Jul 23, 2021
    10
    Absolutely stunning. Find the time, some good headphones, turn the lights off, close your eyes and let it have control for an hour.

    This is a gorgeous piece of work, a delicate meeting of worlds that undulates (sometimes crashing) through its nine movements.

    Spellbinding.
  14. AShinyG1ratina
    Jun 21, 2022
    8
    Re-Listen Event Thing Part idek - Holy **** this is a great Jazz album
    Every time I relisten to this thing I pick up on more and more that makes it a more rewarding experience each time.
    BEST TRACK: MOVEMENT 6 HOLY **** IT GOES SO HARD
    WORST TRACK: MOVEMENT 9 MAYBE

    RATING CHANGE: +3

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Best Album of 2021
80
#80 Most Discussed Album of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Sputnikmusic
    Apr 7, 2021
    82
    Make no mistake, the payoff that Promises promises is by no means immediate. This is music to savour with eyes closed in a dark room, headphones on and all other distractions firmly yeeted from sight.
    Read full review
  2. Rolling Stone
    Apr 6, 2021
    80
    Eighty-year-old sax great Sanders pushes his sound to its most heavenly extreme. [Apr 2021, p.73]
  3. The Wire
    Apr 5, 2021
    70
    Promises doesn’t always come across like a true meeting of equals. Laswell used the saxophonist as a plug-in element in the late 90s, Michael Mantler’s Jazz Composer’s Orchestra did the same on 1968’s Communications, and there’s a bit of that feel here. A player with as unique and instantly recognisable a voice as Sanders always risks becoming a gimmick, but his performance here is stunningly beautiful, and the album would be unimaginable without him. [Apr 2021, p.57]
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