Nineteen years since their formation in Nashville, Hammock has emerged as a leading light in instrumental music, with a unique post-rock sound that melds elements of ambient, electronic, shoegaze, and neoclassical.
Breaking from the strange monotony and abnormal norms that took hold during two years of pandemic life, January 2023 saw Hammock make an acclaimed return with Love in the Void – an album that looks to the future, seizes the present, and unabashedly relishes the experiences and bonds that bring meaning to our days. Known for crafting orchestral works of stirring cinematic ambience, on Love in the Void the Nashville-based duo of Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson bring guitar-forward, heartpounding urgency to songs that shout through and shatter the static of complacency.
We thought it was about time we found out what makes the dreamscape duo tick, so we asked Marc Byrd to choose three records that are special to both of them and tell us a little more about how they influenced the creation of Love in the Void.
Bark Psychosis – Codename:Dustsucker
Originally, I was thinking Laughing Stock by Talk Talk but this album has a similar atmosphere (although nothing compares to Laughing Stock). There is a warmth and openness in this album, a real sense of space. I’m sure some of the drums are looped. Regardless, the sonics of the drums on the opening track were particularly an influence on us. We asked Jake Finch, the drummer who played on Love In the Void to use his piccolo snare on some of the LITV tracks. The younger engineers referred to it as an old drum sound… but after achieving what we did with the piccolo, Jake has been using it a lot more in his other drum sessions.
Holy Fawn – Death Spells
This album is a mixture of blackgaze, ambient, post rock, and metal. It’s dark and beautiful. The right kind of heavy, which is what we wanted in some of the moments on LITV. Ryan from Holy Fawn and I exchanged some DMs with each other. He said we were a big part of his life and I was telling him how much I’ve been enjoying their music. I’m sure on some level we’ve inspired each other. Full circle, I guess. Hopefully, we’ll be doing remixes for each other in the future.
The Cure – The Cure
My first psychedelic experience happened in my bedroom when I was in high school while listening to their album, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Maybe that’s one of the reasons we prefer the albums that precede Wild Mood Swings (1996). The swimmy 80s sound, big on reverb, delay and modulation… that’s the type of psychedelia we love. I think because of the rawer sound, we somewhat avoided this album when it came out in 2004. But… we needed a Cure fix so I started thinking about albums in their catalogue that I hadn’t’ spent as much time with (I love it when that happens). Wow is it good; so raw and human. Because we wanted a more human feel on Love In the Void, I think this album inspired us to push further into sounding more like a proper band and to really trust the collaborative vision we were hoping for with LITV.
Hammock‘s Love in the Void was released on January 27 2023, and can be downloaded or purchased here.
