# Serpent Music

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Not to be confused with [serpent (instrument)](/source/Serpent_(instrument)).

***Serpent Music*** is the second studio album by American [experimental musician](/source/Experimental_music) and record producer [Yves Tumor](/source/Yves_Tumor). It was released on September 23, 2016 on [PAN](/source/PAN_(record_label)) record label.[2][3]

## Background and style

*Serpent Music* was recorded over a three-year period in [Miami](/source/Miami), [Leipzig](/source/Leipzig), [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) and [Berlin](/source/Berlin). The record was originally titled as *God Fearing*; Tumor was inspired by personal relationships and spiritual themes,[4] as well as [Motown](/source/Motown) and [soul music](/source/Soul_music) that Tumor's father used to play during their youth.[5] Tumor refrained from the record on [Bandcamp](/source/Bandcamp), anticipating its spread. After [PAN](/source/PAN_(record_label)) founder Bill Kouligas praised the unfinished record, Tumor finished *Serpent Music* for its PAN release.[4]

Described as an [impressionistic](/source/Impressionism_in_music) [collage](/source/Sound_collage),[5] the album incorporates organic instruments, [samples](/source/Sampling_(music)) and [field recordings](/source/Field_recordings).[2] In addition to soul, the record features influences from [ambient](/source/Ambient_music), [club](/source/Club_music),[6] [pop](/source/Pop_music), [psychedelia](/source/Psychedelia) and [noise music](/source/Noise_music).[4] Eden Tizard of [The Quietus](/source/The_Quietus) regarded "[juxtaposition](/source/Juxtaposition)" as a defining characteristic of *Serpent Music*, noting that "it merges ideas which would logically seem incompatible - grating noise one minute, blissed-out digital soul the next."[7] [Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))'s Andy Beta compared the sonic traits of the record to those of [James Ferraro](/source/James_Ferraro) and [Dean Blunt](/source/Dean_Blunt), noting that "Tumor favors mysterious [loops](/source/Loop_(music)), soul music as rendered by the recently concussed and noise-as-loofah."[8] The press release reported that the album was "initially composed as a soul record."[3] On the soul description, Tumor has stated: "I never thought of it as soul music, but that’s just what I was doing."[2]

## Critical reception

At [Metacritic](/source/Metacritic), which assigns a [normalized](/source/Standard_score) rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, *Serpent Music* received an [average](/source/Weighted_arithmetic_mean) score of 77, based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9] Pitchfork critic Andy Beta wrote: "While it doesn’t always work, it’s Yves Tumor’s use of field recordings that gives *Serpent Music* an ambulatory quality." Beta further explained: "At times, such a sense of wandering makes the tracks feel unresolved or interrupted, but at other times it gives the sensation of being lost in a strange urban landscape, alternating between endless gray blocks and brief glints of beauty."[8] Angus Finlayson of [Resident Advisor](/source/Resident_Advisor) described the record as Tumor's "most naked and tender music, made with lush guitars, frazzled drum loops and his own heavenly falsetto," while stating that "at first it seems harmless; only later do you realise what you've gotten into."[10] [Tiny Mix Tapes](/source/Tiny_Mix_Tapes)'s Rafael Lubner called the record "a study in disruption, in aggregated polarities" and remarked that "*Serpent Music'*s pieces are never reducible to the singular [sonic form], either formally or emotionally."[6] Reviewing for The Quietus, Eden Tizard wrote: "Toying with emotional themes of isolationism, loss and spirituality as opposed to fixed religious views, the album manages to somehow balance direct emotion with the indefinable and opaque."[7]

The record was featured as number 13 on [Noisey](/source/Vice_(magazine)) magazine's list of "The 33 Best Albums of 2016." On the album, *Noisey* critic Michelle Lhooq stated: "Like the artist himself, *Serpent* Music is a slithering, complex work that unfurls over repeated encounters—but the effect is infinitely moving, like painting a dreamy landscape with hot streaks of raw emotion."[11]

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Yves Tumor.[12]

1. "Devout" — 1:21
1. "The Feeling When You Walk Away" — 3:00
1. "Dajjal" — 2:57
1. "Role in Creation" — 2:11
1. "Serpent I" — 2:51
1. "Serpent II" — 3:12
1. "Broke In" (feat. Oxhy) — 4:30
1. "Seed" — 7:18
1. "Spirit in Prison" — 4:06
1. "Cherish" — 2:53
1. "Face of a Demon" — 1:38
1. "Perdition" — 8:03

## Personnel

Album personnel as adapted from liner notes.[12]

- Yves Tumor — performer
- [Ville Haimala](/source/Amnesia_Scanner) — [mixing](/source/Audio_mixing_(recorded_music))
- Rashad Becker — [mastering](/source/Mastering_(audio))
- Daniel Sannwald — photography
- Bliss Serenity Resting — design

## References

1. Moen, Matt (August 30, 2018). ["Yves Tumor Drags Us To Hell"](https://www.papermag.com/yves-tumor-licking-an-orchid-2600240754.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3). [Paper](/source/Paper_(magazine)). Retrieved April 13, 2020.

1. Pearl, Max (September 1, 2016). ["PAN signs Yves Tumor for debut album, Serpent Music"](https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/36226). *[Resident Advisor](/source/Resident_Advisor)*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. Welsh, April Clare (September 1, 2016). ["Mykki Blanco affiliate Yves Tumor to release Serpent Music on PAN"](https://www.factmag.com/2016/09/01/mykki-blanco-affiliate-yves-tumor-to-release-serpent-music-on-pan/). *[Fact](/source/Fact_(UK_magazine))*. Retrieved April 13, 2020.

1. Bulut, Selim (September 20, 2016). ["Yves Tumor is making mood music in spiritual solitude"](https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/32976/1/yves-tumor-serpent-music-album-stream-interview). *[Dazed Digital](/source/Dazed)*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. Simpson, Paul. ["Yves Tumor biography"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/yves-tumor-mn0003438593/biography). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. Lubner, Rafael. ["Yves Tumor: Serpent Music"](https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/yves-tumor-serpent-music). *[Tiny Mix Tapes](/source/Tiny_Mix_Tapes)*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. Tizard, Eden (October 12, 2016). ["Review: Yves Tumor - Serpent Music"](https://thequietus.com/articles/21119-yves-tumor-serpent-music-album-review). *[The Quietus](/source/The_Quietus)*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. Beta, Andy (October 6, 2016). ["Yves Tumor: Serpent Music"](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22472-serpent-music/). *[Pitchfork](/source/Pitchfork_(website))*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. ["Yves Tumor - Serpent Music"](https://www.metacritic.com/music/serpent-music/yves-tumor). *[Metacritic](/source/Metacritic)*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. Finlayson, Angus (October 7, 2016). ["Yves Tumor - Serpent Music"](https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/19777). *[Resident Advisor](/source/Resident_Advisor)*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. Lhooq, Michelle (December 8, 2016). ["The 33 Best Albums of 2016"](https://www.vice.com/en/article/best-dance-albums-thump-2016/). *[Noisey](/source/Vice_(magazine))*. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

1. *Serpent Music* (LP liner notes). [PAN](/source/PAN_(record_label)). 2016.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Serpent Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_Music) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_Music?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.