Memory Drawings - Deathbed Requests

A Closer Listen

Deathbed Requests is a welcome return for Memory Drawings and friends, and represents a shift in the direction of post-rock ~ although some of the bonus disc’s remixers pull the music toward ambience.  The ability of the band to slide between genres is a sign of its versatility; different guests hear different things in these grooves, and act accordingly.

The album and track titles offer a dual meaning.  On a public scale, the titles refer to a dissatisfaction with “technofeudal America,” while on a private scale, they address friends who have died or disappeared from leader Joel Hanson’s life since the pandemic.  As such, one might expect the music to sound sad or angry, yet it is neither; the music washes over the listener like a comfortable, non-threatening wave.  The subcurrent of shoegaze contributes greatly to this tone, leading to reflection rather than rumination.

We credit the sound in silence label for doing something that is virtually unheard of in modern times: releasing the bonus disc as a physical edition only.  Once upon a time, every album was in physical format only, but in the streaming era, it’s hard to find an album that one can’t find!  The choice also calls attention to the love the label bestows upon its tactile work (pictured below).

The bonus disc also presents listeners with different ways to listen.  One may listen to the primary disc straight through, followed by the bonus disc, whose remixes are in reverse order: the last track on the first disc is the first remix on the second, and so on.  One may listen to each track, followed by its remix.  In the end, one may even recreate the album by choosing one’s favorite of each pair. These acts of creativity are offered as a panacea for the evils of the world and the disappointments of relationships: a small, yet encouraging distraction that returns some semblance of control to the listener who feels that life itself, both communal and personal, is spiraling toward chaos.

Joel Hanson’s dulcimer is the heart of the album.  While it’s not the only dulcimer (and amazingly, not even the only Joel), it’s the first instrument heard on the album, and the instrument to which the ear is most often drawn.  The dulcimer’s warmth is perfectly suited to soothe and console, an “everything is going to be all right” timbre that is only enhanced by contributions from Hanson’s former bandmates in Passage, plus violinist Sarah Kemp, cellist Peter Hollo, and in the finale, a guest appearance from Ben Chatwin.  “Some Vague Sense of Belonging” is an elegant beginning, and when one listens to both discs consecutively, an elegant ending, thanks to Epic45, who grace the track with additional electronics, considerably brightening the mood.  When the drums enter midway, they take the piece to an even higher level.  Both versions end softly; ironically, the rock version has an electronic ending, while the more electronic version ends in strings.

Test Dept. leads “These Are My Interpretations” in a lounge/chill direction, and in so doing, adds an additional meaning to the title.  The piece subsequently becomes the breeziest of the sixteen tracks. Cloudwarmer emphasizes the bass and drums of “Grateful for What Amounts to Nothing,” making the track seem like a cross between a spaghetti western score and a New Order single.  Something is gained, while something is lost: we miss the prominence of the dulcimer in the original.

When confident guitar chords rip through “Non-Aggression Pact,” backed by powerful drums, one can feel the tension; again, the dulcimer has a tempering effect.  Two voices battle: one of bombast and one of reason.  The very creation of this album must have felt like therapy. OPandolfo tones the level of conversation down, like a summit at Camp David.  Yellow6 adds a drum break and drone to “A Necessary Fiction,” but loses the appealing TV ending.  Maps and Diagrams makes the already relaxing “Divisible By Three” even more relaxing by adding percolating electronics.

As the album proper draws to a close, the post-rock elements are amplified.  “You Won’t Want to Hear This” is an intense piece in which the dulcimer pleas while the guitars surge and the strings attempt to serenade: a possible reflection of a deathbed conversation in all its mingled emotion. Hessien wrings this emotion out in a far more ambient take, vastly different in timbre yet worthy in its own right, almost a new composition.  “A Final Request” is a strong conclusion, while open to interpretation: what is this final request?  From the sound of the piece, it’s not an easy request, but will require strength and stamina to grant.  The snares are stronger here than on any point in the set, suggesting both a funeral march and a military procession, joining the twin themes at the hip. Birds of Passage makes it sound like a requiem: the album’s most essential remix, capturing the initial feelings of sorrow and frustration that led to the composition of the set.

Deathbed Requests is less an album of pain than of a healthy reaction to pain: the music helps to make sense of the world, and one’s place in it.  No matter how one listens, the encouragement is inescapable.  (Richard Allen)