Bleak , weird, expansive and atmospheric are hallmark characteristics of a Deerhunter album.
And on the band’s latest album, Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?, boy is it bleak.
From the album opener, Death In Midsummer:
“They were in hills
They were in factories
They are in graves now”
The “they” is somewhat open to interpretation. Deerhunter is cryptic.
Frontman Bradford Cox shifts between biblical on that opening song — “May God’s will be done in these poison hills and let the devil be cast out on his tail” — and, later on the album, sounds existential — “What happens to people? They quit holding on.”
This is the Atlanta band’s first album since 2015, and, overall, it’s not so much a cohesive package as a collection of songs, especially the second half of the 10-track release.
Mostly, it’s a fascinating piece of work — as all Deerhunter albums tend to be.
Catch Deerhunter in Chicago February 16 at Pitchfork’s winter festival. The band plays a sold-out show at Lincoln Hall the following night.
All the Young Punks 