Hammock have been through oblivion and come out the other side.
In a way, it was cleansing. 2013's 'Oblivion Hymns' staked out fresh territory for the Nashville duo, matching evocative shoegaze textures against electronic trickery.
'Everything And Nothing' finds transcendence. Utilising this aesthetic confidence, Hammock have steered their course towards some fresh sonic oceans.
Out now, the album is perhaps the project's finest moment yet; beautifully assured and helplessly enthralling, it's a beam of light through life's darkened corners.
Clash invited Hammock to pen a track-by-track guide to 'Everything And Nothing' – check it out below.
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Turn Away And Return
“The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
It’s a consequence of time to begin taking what is familiar for granted. Sometimes we have to let go and walk away in order to return with new gained perspective and a fresh sense of awareness. This is a reoccurring theme throughout this record. To be emptied out completely… to a sort of nothingness, becoming an open space for everything.
Clarity
There is always a mixture of insecurity and excitement when creating something new. We didn’t know where we wanted to go with our next record, but this song brought us some “clarity.” It was the finger pointing at the moon… It cleared away enough of the rubble for us to begin stumbling our way into 'Everything And Nothing'.
Glassy Blue
To lose your sense of self in someone else… to get lost with someone else, that’s where the real magic is buried. Our days are numbered, so why waste a moment away from those who matter most? Our scars carry our secrets, and we need each other if we’re ever to let them go. This is for my wife, Christy.
Dissonance
Feeling disconnected or isolated at times is a normal part of being human. When addiction gets added to the experience, the sense of isolation increases. You start by wanting to feel more at home in the world so you indulge in something that relieves the inner dissonance. For a moment, you might feel “tuned in” but if you're an addict… it all turns to noise.
Marathon Boy
This is for Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy killed in the Boston Marathon bombing. He appeared to reach for his mom in his final moments. His story and the grief his family went through really hit us hard. The unspeakable cruelty we inflict on one another… it’s absurd. Who needs supposed “acts of god”, we’re doing ourselves in just fine. We fall silent during these times so we create to console ourselves.
We Could Have Been Beautiful Again
This sounds like a Hammock song. The 6/8 tempo seems to be a sweet spot for us. There is so much nostalgia in this track. Living with the obsession of “what could have been” or the memories of “happier times” is perhaps one of the most difficult things about being a creature with consciousness… that and the omnipresence of our own impermanence. Of course that’s been a recurring theme in all of our records, no need to belabour that point anymore.
Everything And Nothing
I consider this and 'Clarity' to be sister pieces. Andrew sang a lot on this record… more than any of our previous releases. He sounds amazing! There is a genuine celebration of life in this track.
“We are satellites…
Endless like the sky…
Everything and Nothing.”
She Was In The Field Counting Stars
At one time this was going to be the album’s opening track. It’s divided into three sections. Originally there were only two but we shortened the second and added the melancholic guitar ending. Let’s all, in our own way, go out tonight, find a field to lie down in, put on headphones, listen to this song and get lost in the awareness of stars.
Burning Down the Fascination
So this piece has been around since our second record, “Raising Your Voice… Trying to Stop an Echo.” We’ve been tempted before to release this but the moment never felt completely right. We added a couple of guitar lines and with a great mix by Peter Katis we felt like it was finally ready for release. I think there are three bass guitars on this track! It’s a good song for driving with the windows down, eyes squinted… determined to escape from and transcend the monotony of routine existence.
Wasted We Stared At The Ceiling
Ever stared at the ceiling fan for a couple of hours or for what at least felt like a couple of hours? One time I watched a group of neon colored serpents crawl across the ceiling of my bedroom and saw a plane fly over a city that formed in the dust on the window of my car when I was a teenager. What’s the problem? Watching people I know (myself included) ignore the endless messages that life sends out to all of us: “Party’s over! It’s time to go home and grow up now.”
Reverence
This is one of my favourites on the record. It’s the only piece that made it on the record from our mountain cabin recordings in Asheville, North Carolina. The rain and the squeaking screen door of the cabin can easily be heard. This is right before my neck surgery so I was on a lot of pain pills. Waking up one morning while Andrew was taking a shower, I picked up my Les Paul and out of the stillness of morning the general shape of the song began to form. Reverence for these moments, when we’re just glad to be alive can be captured and documented in and through music. The time at that cabin together, accompanied by our dear photographer friend, Thomas Petillo was definitely one of those moments.
I Will Become the Ground You Walk On
This was also another contender for the opening track and stayed that way until almost the last minute. I think of it like a palate cleanser that needed to come after such an emotional, moody tune like 'Reverence'. I like the idea that in some way, I am the earth conscious of itself and when my time here is up, I will still remain part of the earth. I hope I’m absorbed into a piece of ground that people walk on in the future.
We Were So Young
This was on and off the album till the very bitter end. Andrew fought hard for this one. I’m singing in my 90’s rock voice, talking about the idealized romance of the young, while stumbling through the backroads of my rundown hometown as a wasted teenager. If nothing else, this song is at least a sincere effort. These days, it can seem like a constant struggle to not allow myself become a cynical bastard and lose all connection with the unconscious optimism that used to come from just being young… although I don’t think of myself as having been a very hopeful adolescent.
You Walk Around… Shining Like the Sun
I love it when we channel our inner shoegazer. This is reminiscent of our earlier years. About the title… We were in Louisville, Kentucky to see our friends from the Australian band, the Church play a show with the Psychedelic Furs. The next morning while everyone was sleeping off the previous night I got up and went out walking, seeking coffee and a banana. Outside the coffee shop window where I was sitting there was a historical plaque titled, “A Revelation.” It was there to commemorate the sudden insight Thomas Merton had on March 18th, 1958 while walking around Louisville. It led him to redefine his monastic identity, leading to greater involvement in social justice issues. He was “suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people. . . .” He found them “walking around shining like the sun.” I thought it was beautiful.
Unspoken
This is a pretty straight-ahead song for a Hammock record. My wife, Christine wrote the verse melodies and sang the lead vocal. She has a strong presence on this album and I think her vocals on this record are especially inspired. Regarding the lyric…We all know how loneliness feels and we’ve all had our “long nights” that darken our days for a while.
“Before we give up, my love…
now,
Let’s sink into the quiet, so deep.”
Before You Float Away Into Nothing
Our manager calls this “the benediction.” It really feels like an album closer. At the end of the song the music is played back and recorded in mono from a cheap cassette player. You can hear me speaking into a bullet microphone, sounding like I’m talking in a small child’s voice, saying, “And then she asked me, ‘Is this all…?’ ‘Is there really nothing…?’ ‘Nothing…?’”
Then comes the slow fade into silence.
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'Everything And Nothing' is out now.
