Review Summary: A powerful eight minutes of everything Hammock does best.
Within the realm of ambient post rock, Hammock can do no wrong. Their undeniably healing ability to craft soundscapes that are capable of touching one’s soul remains strong over ten years into their prolific career. Throw in some true shoegazing tracks here and there, and this creates an alarmingly consistent run of works. Take 2017 and 2018 for example. With one LP and two EPs under their belt, this only furthers that claim. Mainly,
Floating World remains remarkably overlooked for fans and nonfans alike. This is doing the band and listeners an extreme disservice because of their brilliant work with just these two tracks. Make no mistake that the title track and “Snowburn” go through a wide range of dynamic emotions that perfectly sums up what they’re all about.
The title track give the listener a taste of the band’s signature ambient fare. The keyboards and droning guitars swell and crescendo to the fullest, creating a wonderful amalgam of wistfulness and happiness. Their vocals and simple yet effective string arrangements also provide a much needed escape from the doldrums of human life, as they gently weave to and fro joyfully. “Snowburn” also delivers, with them tweaking their shoegazing/dream pop side in favor of a Slowdive influenced ride. The lyrics are wonderfully written and the reverbing effects on the vocals complement them nicely. The textured guitar work also soars, conveying an exceptional dream pop and shoegazing backdrop.
Finally, the EP ends with a subtly emotional sendoff. The guitars twinkle and reverb massively. As the piano and strings bring the atmosphere together, they fade away. These two songs showoff a whole career worth of talent. They showcase powerfully rewarding experiences of post rock, shoegaze, ambient and dream pop. In this case, it’ shown in a short EP of under ten minutes which is impressive. There was little fanfare regarding this EP and it was horribly overlooked. All of their LPs have something special to offer, but
Floating World showcases Hammock doing what they do best: Making the listener feel deeply.
