Hammock - Universalis (2018) MP3

01. Mouth to Dust... Waiting
02. Scattering Light
03. Universalis
04. Cliffside
05. Always Before Your Eyes
06. We Are More Than We Are
07. Tether of Yearning
08. Clothed With Sky
09. Thirst
10. We Watched You Disappear
11. Tremendum

Nashville's Hammock follows up 2017's critically-acclaimed Mysterium with Universalis, the second installment of a planned three-album series. While Mysterium took listeners down a horizontal path that explored themes of death and grief, Universalis begins a vertical, upward movement back toward the light.

At times, Universalis calls back to Hammock's 2006 album Raising Your Voice… Trying to Stop an Echo, while also retaining Mysterium's deep ambient, neoclassical style. The band also finds itself rediscovering some of its earliest influences, including Low and Red House Painters. With Universalis, Hammock invites listeners to lose themselves within its layers of sound, while also embracing the beauty in its raw openness and silence.

To achieve the sound of Universalis, Hammock brought on Francesco Donadello (A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Olafur Arnalds, Johann Johannsson) and Peter Katis (Interpol, Jonsi, The National), who each mixed portions of the album. The album artwork was curated by The Fuel and Lumber Company with drawings by Pete Schulte, and Matt Kidd (Slow Meadow) returned to play piano and provide additional engineering.

Hammock is an American two-member ambient/post-rock band from Nashville, Tennessee composed from Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson. Hammock creates atmospheric music by combining orchestral arrangements with electronic beats, piano and droning guitar, Hammock have released 11 albums and five EPs since 2005, mostly on their own label, Hammock Music.