Powders (album)

Powders is the fifth studio album by American experimental musician Eartheater. It was released September 20, 2023, via Chemical X under exclusive license to Mad Decent. It is a sister album to the upcoming album titled Aftermath, expected for release in 2024.

It was supported by the singles "Pure Smile Snake Venom" and "Chop Suey". The former single and "Crushing" feature music videos directed by Daniel Sannwald and Andrew Thomas Huang, respectively.

Reception
Online retailer Bandcamp spotlighted Powders as Album of the Day, with critic Andrew Parks writing that the music "finds much of its power in minimalism and making every last sound count" and that it is "an incredibly cohesive listen despite its moving parts and myriad co-producers". In The Fader, Raphael Helfand called the cover of System of a Down's "Chop Suey!" "tranquil" and wrote that it does the song justice. The Line of Best Fit's Callum Foulds rated Powders a 9 out of 10, writing that the album "displays Eartheater’s talents for creating worlds of hyper-saturated textures and sounds" and is "is another masterwork and continues her steady ascension". Colin Lodewick of Pitchfork scored Powders a 7.5 out of 10, calling it a "radiant new album [that] explores love’s rapture within the confines of more traditional pop structures" and praising Eartheater's voice but criticizing that the structure of some songs holds back her singing. At that same site, Peyton Toups gave a positive review to "Crushing", calling it "a calming sea of trip-hop". Online streaming service Tidal published a spotlight on this album, with Gabriel Szatan calling the music a set "driven by a rhythmic pulse, with textural accents that twist like curlicues of smoke into inky air", with "more concentrated guitarwork than has ever been heard on a record of" Eartheater's. Editors at Clash Music listed this the 43rd best albums of the year.

Track listing

 * 1) "Sugarcane Switch" (Alexandra Drewchin, Elliott Kozel, and Casey Manierka-Quaile) – 4:10
 * 2) "Crushing" (Drewchin) – 4:32
 * 3) "Face in the Moon" (Drewchin and Yves Rothman) – 4:45
 * 4) "Clean Break" (Drewchin, Manierka-Quaile, and Lecx Stacy) – 3:09
 * 5) "Chop Suey" (John Dolmayan, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, and Serj Tankian) – 4:02
 * 6) "Heels over Head" (Drewchin, Antonio Felipe Hernandez, and Sawaya Sophie Macarthur) – 3:07
 * 7) "Mona Lisa Moan" (Samuel Burgess, Drewchin, and Kiri Stensby) – 3:27
 * 8) "Pure Smile Snake Venom" (Drewchin and Salvador Navarrete) – 3:41
 * 9) "Salt of the Earth (H2ome)" (Drewchin) – 3:09

Personnel

 * Eartheater – instrumentation, vocals, production
 * Luis Aponte – drums on "Chop Suey"
 * Ben Babbitt – mixing on "Salt of the Earth (H2ome)"
 * Isaiah Barr – bass guitar on "Chop Suey"
 * Silas Drewchin – guitar on "Salt of the Earth (H2ome)"
 * Hannah Khymych – photography
 * Elliott Kozel – production on "Sugarcane Switch"
 * Joe LaPorta – mastering
 * Lolahol – backing vocals on "Mona Lisa Moan"
 * Sawaya Sophie Macarthur – production on "Heels over Head"
 * Casey Manierka-Quaile – production on "Sugarcane Switch" and "Clean Break"
 * Mom – violin on "Salt of the Earth (H2ome)"
 * Kayla Reagan – mixing on "Face in the Moon"
 * Yves Rothman – production on "Face in the Moon" and "Mona Lisa Moan", additional production on "Clean Break"
 * Gabriel Schuman – mixing on "Sugarcane Switch", "Clean Break", "Chop Suey", "Mona Lisa Moan", and "Pure Smile Snake Venom"
 * Sega Bodega – production on "Pure Smile Snake Venom"
 * Tony Seltzer – production on "Heels over Head"
 * Lecx Stacy – production on "Clean Break"
 * Kiri Stensby – production on "Clean Break", "Chop Suey", and "Mona Lisa Moan", mixing on "Sugarcane Switch", "Clean Break", "Chop Suey", and "Mona Lisa Moan"
 * Alonzo Vargas – mixing on "Crushing" and "Heels over Head"
 * Christian Velasquez – art direction