Tender Buttons is the third and final studio album by English band Broadcast. Following the departure of several bandmembers, the album was recorded largely as the core duo of Trish Keenan and James Cargill, and as such is considered to have a rawer and more stripped back sound than previous Broadcast releases. It was released on 19 September 2005 by Warp. Upon its release, Tender Buttons received acclaim from critics but failed to place in international charts. "America's Boy", the lead and only single from the album, peaked at No. 139 in the UK Singles Chart.
Music
Tender Buttons has been categorized as an electronic, electropop and dream pop album. The staff of GQ India noted that the album incorporates "the forgotten sounds of obscure 1960s pop, 1970s kids TV and car-boot sale synthesisers."
Reception
Upon its release, Tender Buttons received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 76, based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Writing for Stylus Magazine, Jeff Siegel said that "on its surface, [Tender Buttons] seems like such a simple little curlicue, all Mother Goose coos, descending-scale melodies, and no-wave screech over dinky drum-machine patters … no mucking around in different time signatures, no showy genre fusions, just a single idea … most acts would falter here, but Broadcast pull it off with an easy grace and breezy elegance". PopMatters reviewer Adrien Begrand wrote that "instead of finding a comfortable middle ground, there's more of a sense of tension to the proceedings, the vocal hooks lulling you, only to have electronic noise jolt you awake", further referring to Tender Buttons as "rewarding [and] their boldest album to date." Pitchforks David Raposa was more reserved in his praise, saying that the band "bring the melodies, but then dress their poptastic efforts with whatever ruckus they can conjure" and "there's no … stand-out track on this album (and there's certainly no 'oh wow' moments)" but concluding that "this is still a Broadcast album, meaning it's one of the better things you'll put in your ear this year." In 2023, British GQ ranked it at number eight on its list of the 10 best electronic albums of all time.
Track listing
LP track order moves "Bit 35" and "Subject to the Ladder" after "Tears in the Typing Pool" to end side 1. Side 2 begins with "Corporeal" and continues in order, skipping the tracks that were moved to side 1.
Personnel
All personnel credits adapted from Tender Buttons album notes.
;Broadcast
- Trish Keenan – vocals, production, engineering, recording, mixing
- James Cargill – bass, production, recording, mixing
- Roj Stevens – keyboards, effects
- Tim Felton – guitar
;Design personnel
- Julian House – artwork