Rival Dealer

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Rival Dealer is the seventh extended play by British electronic music producer Burial. It was released digitally by Hyperdub on 11 December 2013, with a physical release following five days later.

Video Rival Dealer

Background

On 2 December 2013, a Cargo Records distribution email revealed that record label Hyperdub would release a three-track EP of Burial material on 16 December in vinyl and CD formats, designated with the catalogue number HDB080. His first release since Truant / Rough Sleeper the year prior, it was also revealed to have a 28-minute running time. On 11 December, Hyperdub made the EP available to purchase digitally through their website and uploaded its three tracks - "Rival Dealer", "Hiders" and "Come Down to Us" - to YouTube.

Maps Rival Dealer

Themes

Unlike previous Burial releases, Rival Dealer maintains a significant theme throughout its three tracks. Fact critic Tom Lea called the EP a story about "love, confusion and relationships", citing the track "Come Down to Us" as a primary example. In a rare public message to BBC Radio 6 Music, Burial himself clarified that he wanted the songs to be "anti-bullying tunes that could maybe help someone to believe in themselves, to not be afraid, and to not give up, and to know that someone out there cares and is looking out for them."

All three tracks contain samples from an interview with NASA scientist Melissa Dawson Higgins. "Come Down to Us" utilizes a sample from a speech by filmmaker Lana Wachowski at the 2012 Human Rights Campaign gala.

ArtStation - rival dealer, Noah Quesada-L'Viaquez

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Critical reception

Upon its release, Rival Dealer received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album holds an average score of 83, indicating "universal acclaim". Pitchfork awarded it their "Best New Music" accolade, with reviewer Larry Fitzmaurice noting a "wider, more jarring and revelatory" change in Burial's sound and praising it as "unquestionably the strongest release of his since 2012's Kindred, and his most satisfying statement of purpose." Resident Advisor's Kit Macdonald felt that the release puts Burial in a "new creative sweet spot" and expands his musical diversity. Fact's Tom Lea argued that Rival Dealer would likely be considered Burial's most divisive release. Writing for Cuepoint, Robert Christgau said the EP offers him the same satisfaction as Rokku Mi Rokka (2007) by Youssou N'Dour and Into the Music (1979) by Van Morrison, and wrote in summation:

In a year-end list for The Barnes & Noble Review, Christgau named Rival Dealer the ninth best album of 2014.