Rectangles and Circumstance
{{Infobox album
| name = Rectangles and Circumstance
| type = studio
| artist = Caroline Shaw and So Percussion
| cover = Caroline Shaw – Rectangles and Circumstance.jpg
| released = {{start date|2024|06|14}}
| recorded = August 29 – September 1, 2023
| studio = {{hlist|Big Mercy Studio, Brooklyn|Figure 8 Recording, Brooklyn|Guilford Sound, Guilford|Princeton University, Princeton}}
| genre = {{hlist|}}
| length = 44:06
| label = Nonesuch
| producer = Jonathan Low
| misc = {{Extra chronology|type=studio|artist=Caroline Shaw|title=Rectangles and Circumstance|year=2024|prev_title=
Fleishman Is in Trouble|prev_year=2022|next_title=
Leonardo da Vinci|next_year=2024}}{{Extra chronology|type=studio|artist=So Percussion|title=Rectangles and Circumstance|year=2024|prev_title=
Individuate|prev_year=2022|next_title=Jason Treuting: Go Placidly with Haste|next_year=2024}}
}}
Rectangles and Circumstance is a collaborative album by American classical composer Caroline Shaw and percussion quartet So Percussion. It was released on June 14, 2024, by Nonesuch Records.
Reception
{{music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}
| rev2 = The Guardian
| rev3 = PopMatters
| rev4 = Spectrum Culture
}}
Music review website AllMusic wrote about the album, stating "it's hard to imagine that Rectangles and Circumstance won't lead to even more demand for the alliance's concerts."{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/rectangles-and-circumstance-mw0004266488|title=Rectangles and Circumstance - Caroline Shaw|website=AllMusic|date=|first=Marcy|last=Donelson|access-date=March 8, 2025}} Andrew Clements of the Guardian, in his review of Rectangles and Circumstance, stated "the melodic lines that Shaw adds above them belong to a very different musical world and, as in everything here, the results are never quite what you might expect,"{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/13/rectangles-and-circumstance-album-review-caroline-shaw-so-percussion-nonesuch|title=Rectangles and Circumstance album review – collaborative and gleefully eclectic collection|website=The Guardian|date=June 13, 2024|first=Andrew|last=Clements|access-date=March 8, 2025}} while Gramophone described it as "a more personal album, but these private testimonies are witnessed through shared experience rather than self-reflection."{{cite web|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/shaw-rectangles-and-circumstance|title=SHAW Rectangles and Circumstance|website=Gramophone|date=|first=Pwyll|last=Siôn|access-date=March 8, 2025}} PopMatters gave the album a rating of eight stars, and remarked "Rectangles and Circumstance has a slightly harsher edge than the earthier, more ambient Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, and the textures and complexity of this new album often result in an experience that begs for repeated listens."{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/caroline-shaw-rectangles-circumstance-review|title=Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion Reunite for Genre-Defying LP|website=PopMatters|date=July 9, 2024|first=Chris|last=Ingalls|access-date=March 8, 2025}} Spectrum Culture referred to it as "a rich and boundary-pushing album that navigates the musical question of what a “song” can be."{{cite web|url=https://spectrumculture.com/2024/06/16/caroline-shaw-and-so-percussion-rectangles-and-circumstance/|title=Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion: Rectangles and Circumstance|website=Spectrum Culture|date=June 16, 2024|first=Konstantin|last=Rega|access-date=March 8, 2025}}
Track listing
{{track listing
|title1=Rectangles and Circumstance |length1=2:55
|title2=Sing On |length2=3:48
|title3=Silently Invisibly |length3=4:08
|title4=And So |length4=5:27
|title5=The Parting Glass |length5=5:44
|title6=Slow Motion |length6=4:01
|title7=Who Turns Out the Light |length7=5:24
|title8=Like a Drum |length8=3:58
|title9=This |length9=2:45
|title10=To Music |length10=5:56
|total_length=44:06}}