Has there ever been a band name so appropriate, so unified to the music that is made as Hammock? Listening to the band's work is akin to stretching out on a warm summer's day, relaxing in your hammock while you stare at the sky above, enjoying the breeze and meditating only on the picture of passing clouds framed by the branches of the trees you're suspended on. It's peaceful, it's soothing, and yet sometimes, you can't help but let a melancholy remembrance of times past cross your mind. It passes with the changing breeze, and you're all the better for it – there's no use hiding from the sad times, after all. Hammock has consistently been able to create stunning albums of superb combinations of ambient and post-rock elements, but the straight-up ambient projects have always felt like they were missing something, never quite attaining the bliss of a release like Kenotic. I am glad to say that with Maybe they Will Sing for Us Tomorrow Hammock has overcome the “missing piece” problem and has created a straight ambient album of moving depth and simple elegance.
Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow is the result of Hammock's first live performance as a sound installation for the Riceboy Sleeps art exhibition in the summer of 2007. In order for the band to actually function live, the sound was stripped down to the most minimal set up possible for the band – two men playing guitars with a lot of pedals. The result was a personal Hammock, a Hammock that improvises along with the mood of the evening and cannot afford to constantly revise the tracks. It is ambient Hammock, but without over-thinking the music. Though this is not a live recording (the addition of the strings is easy proof of this) the feel of this powerful, personal evening is preserved and translated to the public through the album. It seems that this is the missing piece Hammock was struggling for on Stranded Under Endless Sky, a personal feeling, something the studio (a tool that Hammock is a master of manipulating) simply cannot provide.
Given the reason behind the release's initial composition, it seems fitting that the opener, “Gold Star Mothers,” has an airy, Sigur Ros-type feel to it, complete with lovely vocal melodies crossing in and out of the layers of ambient guitar. It works as a perfect tone-setter, setting a precedent for the rest of the album to live up to – if this isn't hammock-listening music, I don't know what is. The album then moves through a series of powerful, exquisite tracks, the reverse effect-laden “Mono No Aware” standing out as particularly poignant. I've always been a fan of the reverse effect used in the proper context, but this track makes the effect-melody the backbone of the soundscape, pushing the track to the limit of somber emotion. “Elm” sounds like a track that would have made it on to one of the “less ambient” Hammock releases, showcasing all of the patience and emotive potential that the band is known for.
The downsides to the release are few, and are somewhat, but not completely negligible. The release tends to move predictably, moving from one soundscape to the next, gradually increasing and editing the emotion displayed. While this is definitely a technique of good album construction, it seems too pristine, so much so that the music becomes somewhat predictable after the first few tracks, which is hardly a boon to an ambient release. The other downside is related to the first – Hammock doesn't really give us anything new to work with on Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow. It's really well done minimal ambiance, but it's nothing radically new or inventive. This is only a minor downside, of course, as the sheer enjoyment of the release (and the skill with which it was created) greatly outweighs these negatives, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't point them out.
Hammock has proven that they can successfully move beyond the scope of their trademark ambient/post-rock hybrid sound on Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow, demonstrating that this band is hardly a one-incredible-trick pony. The release is sophisticated and powerful in all the right minimal ways, lacking only a modicum of forward-thinking in the quest for greatness, and I am sure that further ambient releases from the band will develop on the statement made in this release, shining their imaginative eyes on the genre and developing even stronger releases. But for now, check out Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow, preferably while lying in a hammock while a cool breeze passes by. Nothing can compete with the unity of that experience, and you'll be glad you made the time to try it.
-Zach Mills