For his follow-up to 2008’s Autoimmune Meat Beat Manifesto’s Jack Dangers has stepped away from that album’s counterculture party vibe and into a darker territory than we’ve heard before. Answers Come in Dreams is a 180-degree turn from the more playful Meat Beat Manifesto (or MBM) we’ve seen since Dangers took the group on tour several times from 2005 through 2008.
Feeling somewhat close in spirit to 2002’s R.U.O.K.?, Answers Come in Dreams is a slower, more sinister, and much less fun affair that demands focus. Dark dub, plodding downtempo rhythms, and deep curdling bass lines define the majority of the tracks here. Save for a single repeated phrase on the track “Quietus”, there are almost no vocals, from Dangers or his usually-excellent samples – though a familiar one pops up in “Zenta!”. Because there are fewer samples, scratches or other MBM staples present, the creepiness and isolation evoked is made that much clearer. In the hands of a less experienced musician, these tracks could sound simplistic or even boring, but the sounds Dangers uses to fill in the layers are so rich and textured that even on a lossy .mp3 you can’t help but be drawn in.
Answers Come in Dreams’ style is best exemplified on “Waterphone”, which bubbles its way through nine-plus minutes of eerie funk that will have you both nodding your head and looking over your shoulder. It’s also the track with the most progression, containing more distinct sections than the rest. Opener “Luminol”, for example, doesn’t change much in its six minutes, but the drums hit hard enough that you don’t really want it to, either.
The most experimental (and darkest) track is “Token Words”, a droning ambient piece that belongs in a horror film score. Play this one on your system at Halloween and be the scariest house on the block! On the other hand, “010130”, which sounds like drukqs-era Aphex Twin, skitters along so pleasantly that at first it felt out of place. Rather, it serves as a nice thematic shift to set up the album’s final three tracks, which are slightly more upbeat and a tad sunnier than the rest. “010130”, at just over a minute, is also criminally short, especially on a disc where the average track time is over six minutes.
Although the not-so-hidden acronym in the album’s title may clue you in on how it’s best experienced, to become fully absorbed in Dangers’s atmosphere requires only open ears and an open mind. Patient listeners will be rewarded in full.
Pop Culture Beast score for Answers Come in Dreams: 8/10
Answers Come in Dreams is out now on Metropolis Records.
Pick it up on Amazon here or on the Metropolis site here.
Purportedly, every track on the album is to have an accompanying video, though so far only “#Zero”, “Quietus”, and “Mnemonic” have been released.
Check out the video for non-album track “Totally Together”, from the EP of the same name:
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