Dear listener, sometimes it takes concentration and a deep dive into the catalog of some bands before I’ll find the resonance I need to recommend them to others. Deerhunter is one of those bands. At first, I found their music to simply be weird yet strangely haunting, but most of it was certainly not for me. I just wasn’t feeling their vibe, even though I knew the compositions were special in some way. Recently, I’ve felt this inexplicable urge to closely examine their albums. I wanted to like their tunes, because their music didn’t just sound different from anything else out there; it was an experience of sorts that I’d been pushing to the side. Upon a few proper and extended listens, I began to discover how artsy, intellectually stimulating and enigmatically ambient their jams truly are. The more I listened, the more I enjoyed their eerie sound, and found a bunch of great audio tracks to boot. Just above you’ll find Helicopter from their 2010 album Halcyon Digest, which in my humble opinion is the magnum opus of their catalog. Join me just below for another song from that album and some info on the group featured this week.
Hailing from Atlanta, Deerhunter makes a type of music that thrives on two factors: minimalism and weighty ambience. This is music that can entrance someone and is structured in a way that will mesmerize you as much as it affects you emotionally. I tend to enjoy tunes that make you remember moments or feelings you thought you’d forgotten, and every track they’ve released hits a home run for me in that regard. This is a group that considered giving up early on, as creating some of their earliest works reportedly sapped them of their emotional and physical strength. Band members had panic attacks in the studio as technical problems left them exhausted at the quality of their own works, which was severely lacking in majesty even to their own standards. But just because you’re on the ropes, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost the fight. It takes a long time to get good, and with many lineup changes over the decades this band’s output has become more and more emotionally mature and intelligent as time has gone on. The music from their grand slam album, Halcyon Digest, which received widespread acclaim for a good reason, has a very particular and peculiar eeriness to it; like you’re looking through photos in a dusty Memories photobook and romanticizing the distant past. To create that kind of atmosphere is something no other band has given me the experience of, and I never thought I’d recommend music that feels distinctly nostalgic, but here it is! As of writing this, they haven’t put out a new album since before the UNSPECIFIED VIRUS FROM UNKNOWN ORIGINS turned the world upside down. If you need a decent new experience with music, I’d say give these guys a shot. Because if you’re anything like me, the two works I’m posting to this blog will probably strangely haunt you for weeks on end, and you’ll go searching for more. Their tunes can be a true psychedelic experience if you allow them to, and you’ll find actual meaning and sincerity in the lyrics, which, let’s face the facts is a bit short in supply with modern pop. Just below you can smash play on Desire Lines and enjoy some songs from a group that puts an emphasis on atmospheric excellence.
The more I listen to these guys, the more I like them. I feel as if very few people have the patience to continue exploring the work of a group that didn’t hook or blow them away instantly. Sometimes a little study is required to understand not only the words to the tune, but also why the notes needed to be played that way. Thanks for reminding me there are still emotionally complex hidden gems out there in the music industry, Deerhunter! Image source: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/deerhunter
