{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = In Prism | type = studio | artist = Polvo | cover = PolvoInPrism.jpg | alt = | released = {{start date|2009|9|8}} | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Indie rock, math rock, progressive rock | length = 49:22 | label = Merge | producer = Brian Paulson, Polvo | prev_title = Shapes | prev_year = 1997 | next_title = Siberia | next_year = 2013 }} '''''In Prism''''' is Polvo's fifth studio album, and their first since 1997's ''Shapes''. It was recorded by Brian Paulson and was released on Merge Records on September 8, 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/news/35508-polvo-sign-to-merge-ready-reunion-album |title= Pitchfork: Polvo Sign to Merge for Reunion Album|website=pitchfork.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611204628/http://pitchfork.com/news/35508-polvo-sign-to-merge-ready-reunion-album |archive-date=June 11, 2009}}</ref> The track "Beggar's Bowl" was streamed online.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/35665-premiere-polvo-beggars-bowl |title=Premiere: Polvo: "Beggar's Bowl" | News |publisher=Pitchfork |date=2009-06-18 |accessdate=2012-02-24}}</ref>
== Reception == {{Music ratings | MC = 79/100<ref name=mc>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/in-prism/polvo|title=In Prism by Polvo|via=www.metacritic.com}}</ref> | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1626266|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]</ref> | rev3 = ''The Boston Globe'' | rev3score = {{rating|3.5|4}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://archive.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2009/10/05/polvo_in_prism/|title=Polvo, 'In Prism'|newspaper=Boston.com |via=The Boston Globe}}</ref> | rev2 = ''The A.V. Club'' | rev2score = B+<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/polvo-in-prism-1798206869|title=Polvo: In Prism|website=Music|date=8 September 2009 }}</ref> | rev4 = ''Filter'' | rev4score = 74%<ref name=mc/> | rev5 = ''Pitchfork'' | rev5score = 8.1/10<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13398-in-prism/|title=Polvo: In Prism|website=Pitchfork}}</ref> | rev6 = ''PopMatters'' | rev6score = {{rating|8|10}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/110421-polvo-in-prism-2496075948.html|title=Polvo: In Prism|date=September 9, 2009|website=PopMatters}}</ref> | rev7 = ''Spin'' | rev7score = {{Rating|7|10}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wIe3FI6TI0C&q=polvo+influence+band&pg=PA84|title = SPIN|date = September 2009}}</ref> | rev10 = ''Under the Radar'' | rev10score = {{Rating|6|10}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/in_prism|title=In Prism|first=John|last=Everhart|website=www.undertheradarmag.com}}</ref> | rev8 = ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' | rev8score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tinymixtapes.com/Polvo,9595 |title=Polvo - in Prism | MUSIC REVIEWS | Tiny Mix Tapes |access-date=2016-05-29 |archive-date=2009-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914044006/http://www.tinymixtapes.com/Polvo,9595 |url-status=dead }}</ref> }} ''In Prism'' received a Metacritic score of 79 based on 14 reviews, indicating a generally favorable critical reception. Jason Lymangrover of AllMusic writes: "Polvo's first studio album since 1997's ''Shapes'', 2009's ''In Prism'' is a solid return to mathy form. Although 12 years is a long hiatus, it's hardly noticeable that time has passed, with the exception of a few machinery and personnel updates [...] Along with getting mathy and ultra-precise, the band takes the opposite approach and elongates passages, stretching songs into psychedelic space rock territory and surpassing the eight-minute mark on several occasions. As an album, ''In Prism'' may not quite live up to the explosiveness of ''Today's Active Lifestyles'' -- it's more like the calmer (and produced) ''Shapes''. But even if it's not their best ever, it's a valid comeback that should appease longing fans." Despite a middling score, John Everheart of ''Under the Radar'' called it "a sprawling, psychedelic masterwork, rife with knotty tangles of discordance and serpentine riffs." Stuart Berman of ''Pitchfork'' wrote: "''In Prism'' could be the first Polvo album where the melodies leave as lasting an impression as the noise around them, with Bowie tapping into a more guileless mode of expression that rarely revealed itself before."
==Track listing== #"Right the Relation" - 5:36 #"D.C. Trails" - 6:57 #"Beggar's Bowl" - 5:01 #"City Birds" - 5:21 #"Lucia" - 8:15 #"Dream Residue/Work" - 5:48 #"The Pedlar" - 3:37 #"A Link in the Chain" - 8:47
== Personnel == Polvo are credited as the primary artists & producers. The remaining credits are adapted from AllMusic:
* Chris Eubank - Cello * River Guerguerian - Percussion * Brian Paulson - Engineer, Mixing, Producer * Alan Douches - Mastering * Julian Dreyer - Assistant Engineer * Michael Klayman - Photography * Ashley Worley - Photography * Gordon Zacharias - Photography
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Polvo}}
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Category:Polvo albums Category:2009 albums Category:Merge Records albums