Strange Free World

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Strange Free World

| type = studio

| artist = Kitchens of Distinction

| cover = Strangefreeworld.jpg

| alt =

| released = 18 March 1991

| recorded = 1990

| venue =

| studio = Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire

| genre = Shoegaze, dream pop

| length = 43:28

| label = One Little Indian

| producer = Hugh Jones

| prev_title = Love Is Hell

| prev_year = 1989

| next_title = The Death of Cool

| next_year = 1992

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Strange Free World

| type = studio

| single1 = Quick as Rainbows

| single1date = March 1990

| single2 = Drive That Fast

| single2date = January 1991

}}

}}

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/strange-free-world-mw0000313521|title=Strange Free World – Kitchens of Distinction|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=24 October 2017|last=Raggett|first=Ned}}

|rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

|rev2score = B{{cite journal|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,313690,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401004733/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,313690,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 April 2007|title=Strange Free World|work=Entertainment Weekly|date=22 March 1991|accessdate=24 October 2017|last=Arnold|first=Gina|author-link=Gina Arnold}}

|rev3 = NME

|rev3Score = 9/10{{cite journal|title=Kitchens of Distinction: Strange Free World|work=NME|date=16 March 1991|page=32}}

|rev4 = Record Mirror

|rev4Score = 8/10{{cite magazine|title=Kitchens of Distinction: Strange Free World|last=Crook|first=Darren|date=6 April 1991|magazine=Record Mirror|page=17}}

|rev5 = Select

|rev5Score = 4/5{{cite journal|title=The Comfort of Strangers|work=Select|issue=9|date=March 1991|last=Linehan|first=Graham|page=75}}

}}

Strange Free World is the second album by British alternative rock band Kitchens of Distinction, released on 19 February 1991 in the US by A&M Records and on 18 March 1991 in the UK by One Little Indian Records. It is the follow-up to their 1989 debut Love Is Hell. Noted producer Hugh Jones, who worked with Echo & the Bunnymen (on their 1981 album Heaven Up Here), among many others, helped KOD to sound more at ease in the studio.

Reviewer Ned Raggett of AllMusic notes that "Musically, the tunes sound quite ambitious in many ways, often steering away from conventional verse-chorus-verse formulas," and calling the album an overall excellent effort. It is often considered one of the group's best works, as well as possibly its most popular and commercially successful, peaking at number 45 on the UK Albums Chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/26827/kitchens-of-distinction/|title=Kitchens of Distinction|website=Official Charts|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=19 May 2019}} The album also includes their first UK charting single "Drive That Fast," which peaked at number 93 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2016, Pitchfork ranked the album at #18 in its 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time, noting the band's status as an outlier in the shoegaze genre.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9966-the-50-best-shoegaze-albums-of-all-time/?page=5|title=50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All-Time|website=Pitchfork|accessdate=4 March 2025}}