 
I have enjoyed Hood’s abstract endeavors for quite sometime, and much to my surprise, Outside Closer, swoops in gracefully with strings. By far their most accessible album for new listeners, layered with an electronic tweak, hand claps, sample stutters, and perhaps one of the most soothing voices ever. This Leeds collective releases their 10th which finds them contemplative, and perhaps at an end? For makers of fundamentally inventive music, as a great number of people like to think of Radiohead as without fault or exception, the hushed vocals and low-key steps of Hood highlight their increasing disinterested in “making it,” or taking over the world, though somehow they manage to come to the edge of such great heights with a song or two on each release. Far more interesting is their willingness to let a song take its own form through a warm living-room kind of sound. “The Lost You” is such a track, quite reminiscent of American Analog Set. Perhaps it is the fact that they’re not so terribly preoccupied with being cool that allows them to modestly blossom into the beautiful sublime that is Outside Closer with a great warmth and emotional weight that balances nicely with the fireworks. Highly recommended for lovers of the last Slowdive album, the melancholy, brokenhearted, and listeners who aren’t afraid of the juxtaposition of good songwriting and sprawl. Simply gorgeous. – Denah Johnston, indie editor
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Hood