The album's first track, "About to Die", is taken from Dirty Projectors' 2012 release Swing Lo Magellan. Another track, "While You're Here", was written by Dave Longstreth following TV on the Radio bassist Gerard Smith's death in 2011.[2][3]
About to Die received general acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 5 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[10]
Consequence of Sound's Adam Kivel commented that About to Die "offers a bite-sized take of the entirety of Swing Lo Magellan", adding that it "doesn't outshine its older sibling, but it certainly acts as a logical and warm companion."[5]Pitchfork Media's Mike Powell called About to Die a "refreshingly basic album" and "a cherry on a cupcake"[7] for Dirty Projectors.
