Album Review: Hammock-Everything & Nothing

Forget Fool’s Day – April 1, 2016 should be renamed International Post-Rock Day, with Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky and now Hammock all releasing new albums simultaneously.

While they may not be as well-known as the first two, the Nashville-based duo of guitarists Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson have been consistently superb since first appearing in 2004. They have also picked up some notable celebrity fans along the way, including Sigur Ros’ Jónsi and, weirdly, Ricky Gervais.

With 16 tracks weighing in at 76 minutes, their seventh album is not a record for the ADD generation, but allow yourself to fall into the pristine chimes of ‘Clarity’, the stately piano of ‘Marathon Boy’, the gorgeous ambience of ‘Unspoken’ or the insistent guitar hook of the title track, and you’d happily spend months in their company.

‘Dissonance’ and ‘Burning Down The Fascination’ are tracks worthy of the mighty Low, and if there’s a more apt title than ‘Wasted We Stared At The Ceiling’ this year, I’ll be shocked. The aural equivalent of a flotation tank, Everything And Nothing is an album to lose yourself in completely.

9/10

Key Track= 'Dissonance'