A Moment Apart

ODESZA, both Harrison Mills (Catacombkid) and Clayton Knight (BeachesBeaches), self-released their debut studio album, Summer's Gone, in September 2012. Two years later, they released their sophomore effort, In Return, in September 2014. It was their debut release on a record label, Ninja Tune, as well as its imprint, Counter Records. In contrast with Summer's Gone, In Return favored vocal and lyrical content more than sampling.[2]

In November 2015, when asked about their third album, Harrison Mills stated that, "we can obviously make In Return again, which maybe some people want and expect, but we don’t want to do that. The big thing is deciding what the next album should be, because we have so many ideas."[3]

The duo revealed the production of the then-unannounced album through social media in March 2016.[4] Later that year, in December, three new compositions were played during the Day for Night Festival in Houston, Texas, of which one was the debut premiere of the song, "Late Night".[5]

The album cover was shot by English photographer Seanen Middleton, with the artwork design being accredited to Middleton, Harrison Mills and Michelle Gadeken. It features a woman, Rachel Putt, a fellow friend of Middleton, standing on a rocky incline, an orange line of light crossing out her eyes. The location where the cover was photographed was in Hodge Close, located in the Lake District of Northern England.[10]

Two of Middleton's works, Vespertine and Moth to a Flame, were also purchased by ODESZA and used as single artwork for "Line of Sight" and "Late Night", respectively.[10][11]

The album charted at #3 in the United States in its first week.[12]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100[13]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[14]
Clash Music	6/10[15]
Exclaim!	8/10[16]
Pitchfork	5.8/10[17]
PopMatters	6/10[18]

A Moment Apart received generally positive reviews from critics, with significant praise (and slight criticism) towards the album's composition and production values. It has an assigned normalized rating of 65 out of 100 based on 6 critical reviews, indicating 'generally favorable reviews' from the review aggregator Metacritic.[13]

Paul Simpson of AllMusic gave the album a positive review and called it "the duo's most ambitious, widescreen work yet."[14] Dylan Barnabe, reviewing for Exclaim!, also praised the album, commenting that "both sides complement one another and make for a fully realized album filled with beautiful soundscapes and dreamy vocals."[16]

From a polarized standpoint, Will Rosebury of Clash Music stated that it felt "stretched, verging on indulgent given the lack of variety" and concluded that it "fall[s] slightly short of the mark."[17] Philip Sherburne of Pitchfork also was critical, stating that "the harder the band strive to reach sublimity, the more earthbound their music feels."[17]

All tracks written, produced & engineered by ODESZA (Harrison Mills & Clayton Knight), unless noted below.[19]

Deluxe Edition All tracks are written by Clayton Knight , Harrison Mills.