Hammock - Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow

In August of 2007, Hammock was invited to play their first ever live gig at an art show after-party to be attended by Sigur Ros' Jonsi Birgisson, a big influence on the band. Challenged with reproducing their lush and complex recorded sound live, the duo chose to go minimal, and find out if what really comprised the Hammock magic was as simple as just the guitars in their hands and the pedals at their feet. They found that it is. This album then, is a studio recording of that "start-of-Act-II" set, enhanced with a supportive cello from Sixpence None the Richer's Matt Slocum. Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow is Hammock reduced to its deepest essence, a still and stunning beauty. Dropping the vocals, dropping beats, Marc Byrd and and Andrew Thompson find the core of their dream-ambient muse. Gone are the Boards of Canada mannerisms of Kenotic, gone are the sometimes bluesy guitars of Raising Your Voice...Trying To Stop An Echo, gone are the yearning, aching vocals. And what remains is a sound both simple and unaffected. Byrd and Thompson shed any emotional armor they wore, and appear here as unafraid to express their fragility or vulnerability, as people who know that there is nothing to be afraid of, who know that it is okay to express their pain, their joy, their overarching hopefulness. Maybe operates outside of genre, far beyond the now-obvious limitations of the dream-pop/shoegaze scene Hammock cut their teeth in. This is something new, something needed, a balm for the battered souls that surround us.