Have you ever wondered what weightlessness would sound like?
Well, let me tell you about it. Don’t worry there’s no science lecture here, just a review of Mysterium by the duo Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson, who go under the name Hammock. Mysterium came to be earlier this year and is the follow up to Everything and Nothing from the previous year, another stellar addition to the bands catalogue. Each album feels centred around a new theme, making each one unique. Mysterium feels like rebirth, like starting anew. To call the work of Hammock music feels unfair, each album feels like a new world has been hand crafted, and each song a part of that world.
You begin with Now and Not Yet, which floats effortlessly from your speakers and introduces itself with a choral ambiance which fades away allowing the string section to gleam through, painting the sweetest picture of the new world Hammock offer on this 11 track CD. You’ll begin to feel transported. The title track Mysterium continues your journey, filling in more colour in this world. A lone violin beckons you in and takes you away, and your mind begins to ponder anything and everything all at once. The piece has an almost lullaby quality to it, it is precious to hear.
When The Body Breaks feels like an accompaniment to just that, a breaking point. Somehow Hammock are masters at sewing raw emotion into everything piece they craft. The piece feels like it’s calling back to their 2013 album Oblivion Hymns, which if the albums are being compared to themes, then Oblivion Hymns theme would be loss.
As Mysterium continues to float effortlessly from your speakers, you become engrossed in it, it’s captivating, raw and moving. Each piece beautifully reflecting it’s title to it. With titles such as Things of Beauty Burn, I Would Give My Breathe Away and Remember Our Bewildered Son.
In the latter half of the album, amongst the beauty beset upon your ears, Numinous gently comes in with angelic grace. The strings moving softly and slow like the tide against the dawn lit shore. It’s at this point in the song that the choral section comes back to you, soft and slow like the strings before, and it’s here when you realise just how outstanding this album really is. It transports you from this world, even if only for the time it takes to listen to.
For My Sister and Elegy seem to be the more sombre tone on this album, but with a hint of optimism glimmering under the surface. It’s difficult to put into words what the album makes you feel, but make you feel something it will. Rounding out with This Is Not Enough (Epilogue), you’ll hear a more upbeat piece which calls back to the album before but demonstrating this album in union with it. Thank you Hammock, that was an experience.
So, do you know now what weightlessness sounds like?
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