The Thread That Keeps Us

The Thread That Keeps Us is the ninth studio album by American indie rock band Calexico. It was released on January 26, 2018, under Anti-.^[9]

The Thread That Keeps Us
Studio album by Calexico
Released	January 26, 2018 (2018-01-26)
Length	44:35
Label	Anti-
Producer	Joey Burns Craig Schumacher
Calexico chronology
Edge of the Sun (2015) The Thread That Keeps Us (2018) Years to Burn (2019)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AOTY	70/100^[1]
Metacritic	78/100^[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Blurt	^[4]
Drowned in Sound	6/10^[5]
Exclaim!	4/10^[6]
Pitchfork	7.1/10^[7]
Under the Radar	7.5/10^[8]

Critical reception

The Thread That Keeps Us was described as "impassioned stories about border politics and environmental disasters" by Pitchfork (website), also describing it as "comfort food" that is "vital in spite of that familiarity."^[10] Exclaim! described it as an "overly long record" with "truly enjoyable moments."^[11]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"End of the World with You"	Joey Burns	3:08
2.	"Voices in the Field"	Joey Burns John Burns	3:26
3.	"Bridge to Nowhere"	Joey Burns	3:07
4.	"Spinball"	Joey Burns Scott Colberg John Convertino	1:11
5.	"Under the Wheels"	Joey Burns Sergio Mendoza	3:23
6.	"The Town & Miss Lorraine"	Joey Burns	2:39
7.	"Flores y Tamales"	Joey Burns Jairo Zavala	2:47
8.	"Another Space"	Joey Burns	3:55
9.	"Unconditional Waltz"	Martin Wenk	1:38
10.	"Girl in the Forest"	Joey Burns	2:45
11.	"Eyes Wide Awake"	Joey Burns John Burns John Convertino	4:20
12.	"Dead in the Water"	Joey Burns	2:37
13.	"Shortboard"	Joey Burns Scott Colberg John Convertino	1:57
14.	"Thrown to the Wild"	Joey Burns John Burns	4:47
15.	"Music Box"	Joey Burns	2:55

iTunes Deluxe Edition^[12]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Longboard"	3:02
2.	"Luna Roja"	3:43
3.	"Curse of the Ride"	2:51
4.	"Lost Inside"	4:30
5.	"Inside the Energy Field"	1:17
6.	"End of the Night"	3:29
7.	"Dream on Mount Tam"	3:43

Charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[13]	9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[14]	49
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[15]	13
French Albums (SNEP)^[16]	71
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[17]	7
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[18]	60
Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[19]	43
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[20]	43
UK Albums (OCC)^[21]	58
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)^[22]	53
US Independent Albums (Billboard)^[23]	12
US Folk Albums (Billboard)^[24]	10

Personnel

Musicians Joey Burns – vocals, guitar, producer Scott Colberg – bass Sergio Mendoza – keyboards Jacob Valenzuela – backing vocals, trumpet Jairo Zavala – guitar, backing vocals Martin Wenk – drums, trumpet John Convertino – drums Johnny Contreras – backing vocals Evan Shelton – cello

Production Craig Schumacher – engineer, producer Tom Hagerman – engineer Thomas Small – engineer JJ Golden – mastering

References

1. "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
2. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
3. Phares, Heather. "AllMusic Review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
4. Zimmerman, Lee. "Blurt Magazine Review". Blurtonline.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
5. Rushbury, Ian (January 26, 2018). . Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
6. Forster, Tim (January 22, 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
7. Rytlewski, Evan (January 26, 2018). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
8. Wyatt, Stephen (February 23, 2018). "Under the Radar Review". Undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
9. Wortman, Rahman (October 14, 2018). "Calexico Announce New Album The Thread That Keeps Us for January 2018 Release". Mxdwn. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
10. Rytlewski, Evan (January 26, 2018). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
11. Forster, Tim (January 22, 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
12. "The Thread That Keeps US (Deluxe Edition)". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
13. "Austriancharts.at – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
14. "Ultratop.be – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
15. "Ultratop.be – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
16. "Lescharts.com – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
18. "Italiancharts.com – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
19. "Portuguesecharts.com – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
20. "Spanishcharts.com – Calexico – The Thread That Keeps Us". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
22. "Calexico Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
23. "Calexico Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
24. "Calexico Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2020.