Brooklyn’s Public Memory has announced his second full-length album, ‘Demolition,’ which is set for release on November 9th via Felte (pre-order). The album’s first single The Line is streaming at Bandcamp, Spotify or Soundcloud. You can take a listen right now via Bandcamp below.
As the album opener, the track kicks the record off with a driving energy and introspective unease. It gives a glimpse at a record that flickers with vivid imagery and a tangible sense of the colours and moods of the darker seasons ahead.
“This song is about coming to terms with the fact that things didn’t turn out the way you had expected them to. Particularly in regard to a partnership/relationship” explains the artist behind Public Memory, Robert Toher. “In my mind, it’s a dream where a guide, be it a future or different version of the self – or something else, takes your hand and you’re flying above the town you grew up in, visiting past parts of your life, people you have known, interactions you’ve had, seeing things from a vantage point that was unavailable until now.”
As Public Memory creator Robert Toher (previously of ERAAS & Apse) cites it, ‘Demolition’ is (whether voluntary or not) the intentional destruction of something, usually with the intent to reform or rebuild something new in its place. It’s a term that ties together underlying themes from the period in which the record was created.
‘Demolition’ explores a range of tempos and an expanse of alien emotions with layers of electronic drums, live drums, Korg synths and samples from nature. Themes of rebirth and reflection imbue the album’s atmosphere, rich in tape delay, spring reverb, and textures that conjure a sci-fi and supernatural narrative.
“I set out to make a larger, more widescreen kind of album” Toher explains. “I wanted it to feel more in focus, with harder edges, more discernable lyrics. More clarity… I wanted to explore more and go to places I hadn’t been before.”
Following on from the album’s opener and lead single The Line, there is a meditation on impending collapse, Red Rainbow begins with an arpeggiated melody that hints at a sense of dread. Like the darkness of night descends, the track builds with haunting atmospherics and howling synths, finishing with an unexpected climax that ominously builds until at last it falls apart, quickly, softly, without incident. The slow-tempoed Aegis, described by its creator as “the blooming floral centerpiece of the album” or “the sweet interior,” reflects on the banal reality of love lost, with shuffling rhythms, lingering inflections and a growling synth at its core.
‘Demolition’ track list
1. The Line
2. Red Rainbow
3. Mercy
4. Falsetto
5. Aegis
6. Redeemer
7. Doorstep
8. Trick Of The Light
Public Memory’s music is a mixture of damaged and dubbed-out percussion, unfurling synths and sparse sampling. Toher’s adept use of space and tension articulates the world of ‘Demolition’ as eerie, emotive, and above all, narcotic. Each track is an existential procession. “Turning out the lights on your illusion,” Toher sings to close the album, accepting that change is an inescapable condition of being.
