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Freedom
Studio album by
Amen Dunes
ReleasedMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Studio
Genre
Length47:06
LabelSacred Bones
ProducerChris Coady
Amen Dunes chronology
Cowboy Worship
(2015) 		Freedom
(2018)
Singles from Freedom
  1. "Miki Dora"
    Released: January 17, 2018
  2. "Blue Rose"
    Released: February 14, 2018
  3. "Believe"
    Released: March 13, 2018

Freedom is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Amen Dunes. It was released on March 30, 2018 by Sacred Bones Records.[1][2][3][4]

The album was written by Damon McMahon in Portugal and New York City in 2015. It was recorded primarily at the renowned Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. Produced by Chris Coady, the album marks a clear shift from the lo-fi, dark sound and dense lyrics of previous Amen Dunes records to a more dynamic and pop rock style with more direct lyricism. It has a more electronic sound with synths backing the songs and electric guitar in place of McMahon's usual acoustic guitar sound. Written and recorded over the span of three years, Freedom features a number of musicians including Italian electronic artist Panoram (Raffaele Martirani), Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and Amen Dunes collaborators Parker Kindred and Jordi Wheeler, as well as guitarist Delicate Steve and McMahon's brother Xander Duell. Its lyrical content draws from McMahon's childhood, his relationship with his father, masculinity, and his mother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the beginning of the album's recording. Freedom has been described as a concept album, with each song being an exploration of self through both real and fictional characters.

Upon its release, Freedom received widespread acclaim from music critics, who later ranked it among the best albums of 2018. The album was described by Pitchfork as his "euphoric breakthrough".[5] It was preceded by the singles "Miki Dora", "Blue Rose" and "Believe".

Background and recording

In 2015, after numerous tours in support of Amen Dunes' fourth studio album Love, Damon McMahon spent a few weeks in Lisbon, Portugal, where he began writing Freedom. He came home to New York City shortly after and spent months with Amen Dunes collaborators Jordi Wheeler and Parker Kindred putting drums, guitars and keyboards to the songs and coming up with structural ideas himself.[6][7][8]

Recording of the album first began in February 2016 at Future Past Studios in Hudson, New York with Jordi Wheeler and Parker Kindred, joined by Delicate Steve. Dissatisfied with the results, McMahon decided to completely scrap what they had recorded and start over with a different approach. He called producer Chris Coady for help, who brought them into Electric Lady Studios. He brought in more musicians, including bass guitarist Gus Seyffert, multi-instrumentalist Panoram, guitarist Nick Zinner, and his brother Xander Duell.[9][6][10]

Freedom was recorded at four separate studios in the United States. The bulk of the songs were recorded at Electric Lady Studios in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York and finished at Sunset Sound Recorders in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.[11] McMahon, Nick Zinner and Gus Seyffert fleshed out the recordings at Sunset Sound.[7] A single vocal take from the sessions at Future Past Studios in Hudson, New York was kept. The album was also recorded at Trout Recording in Brooklyn, New York, with McMahon primarily overdubbing by himself.[10][6]

Damon McMahon's mother, Thea Duell, was diagnosed with terminal cancer when he started writing Freedom.[12] She died in June 2018[13] The opening track, "Intro", features a quote read by Thea. McMahon had her record herself using her phone, which he then altered to add a robotic effect.[12]

Composition

Musical style and influences

Aphex Twin (left) and Tom Petty (right) have been cited as having influenced the album's style.

Freedom marks a clear shift from the lo-fi,[14] dark sound and dense lyrics of previous Amen Dunes records to a more dynamic and pop rock[4] style with more direct lyricism. It has a more electronic sound with synths backing the songs and electric guitar in place of McMahon's usual acoustic guitar sound.[15][5]

McMahon described Freedom himself as being centered around three kinds of music, "rock music, pop music, and electronic music."[12] He has said he was influenced by Michael Jackson; Tom Petty, early Oasis, late Nirvana, unplugged Nirvana but also Aphex Twin and Massive Attack.[12] Specifically, McMahon has said it was mainstream music that he was interested in, "really, really good mainstream music."[12]

Lyrics and themes

"This whole record is about letting go of my hang-ups through ego-death, man; it’s about relinquishing all the terrestrial identities and histories and personal events and family lineage – all the things that I’d kind of clung to my whole life."

—Damon McMahon[16]

Described as a "relinquishing of self through an exploration of self,"[12] each song on Freedom explores a different aspect of self through both real and fictional characters.[17] The characters include father and mother, Amen Dunes, teenage glue addicts and drug dealer from Paris, ghosts above the plains, fallen surf heroes, vampires, thugs from Naples and thugs from Houston, the emperor of Rome, Jews, Jesus, Tashtego, Perseus, and even Damon McMahon himself. Each character portrait is a representation of McMahon, of masculinity, and of his past.[18] As such, McMahon himself has called Freedom a concept album, stating "It's like this image of this kid, it's this little boy who's like "now that I've shed my origins I'm going to start off in the world and get dreaming." Then he opens up, he's free of his father if you will, and he carries off into this dreamland of all these different characters."[6]

McMahon has described the album as his reckoning with a primary struggle in himself and that doing so revealed "secondary struggles with self" and eventually he realized he had "11 songs of struggle with self, of different colors and shapes and stuff." A core struggle present in Freedom is McMahon's relationship with his father, Paul, who he has said "never supported anything" he did." Other struggles explored in the album include masculinity; spirituality; his chaotic childhood; the realities of adulthood; and mortality, as examined through his mother's approach to her terminal cancer and overall how she had lived her life, which McMahon had previously been critical of.[6][19]

All of the struggles and characters are explored and embodied in an attempt at letting them all go. The final track on the album, L.A., represents this breakthrough.[6]

The vacant mind

The concept of the "vacant mind" is introduced within the first minute of the album and is the central inspiration for the lyrics and themes that form Freedom. McMahon's songwriting style consists of recording himself sitting with guitar and singing unstructured words. He plays the recording back over and over until he can derive lyrics from it. He has said, "the vacant mind dictates the general lyric and then my conscious mind refines it." The final lyric on the album connects back to the vacant mind.[6]

Songs

The album opens with "Intro", a 50-second track beginning with a sample from a YouTube video of a child reciting Kurt Russell's pre-game speech in the 2004 film Miracle, where he played U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks. The phrase "this is your time" is repeated twice. The sample is backed by a "Spacemen 3-esque seasick" electronic drone.[20] The end of the song features the quote "I don't have any ideas myself; I have a vacant mind" by abstract painter Agnes Martin, as spoken by McMahon's mother.

"Blue Rose" is a "woozy disco-dub-folk jam"[21] that features "echoing" guitars, "propulsive" percussion[22] and "glowing" synths.[23] The narrator of the song is the Amen Dunes character. The beginning of the song includes the lyric "When the evening comes I go call up the band, we play religious music I don't think you'd understand," an allusion to musical energy of Amen Dunes that empowers McMahon.[6] The song is also an exploration of the relationship he had with his unpredictable father.[22] McMahon's father was very disapproving of his career as a musician, which McMahon describes as "a very early imprint of conflict" that he needed to explore.[24] "Blue Rose" is a song of retribution as a means of catharsis for McMahon's "adult self" and "little kid self," with the lyric "kill off my father" furthering this idea.[6] The song ends with the lyric "You weren't much a man to me, but you're the only one I've ever had."[21]

"Time" is a "warm"[25] song featuring "feathery" drumming, "hallow" synths and "country like-guitars."[26][27] The narrator explores an "identity hang-up" as he lists instances of the persecution of Jews. McMahon's mother was Jewish. The song mentions the crucifixion of Jesus, the expulsion of Jews from Spain in the 15th century, moving to Ancient Rome, and The Holocaust. Pain is a central theme of the song, with it being described as a necessary evil as the narrator wails, "So much pain, induction pain, yeah."[6][28] The song is also about mortality, with imagery of an afterlife of sitting atop a "silver cloud, so empty now."[26]

Artwork and title

The album's artwork features a headshot of Damon McMahon, framed by a white border.[20] The photograph and art direction are by Tuomas Korpijaakko,[10] who worked on the photography and art direction of previous Amen Dunes albums. The artist name and album title are located in the upper right-hand corner along with the Sacred Bones Records logo and catalog number, typical for Sacred Bones releases. The upper left-hand corner includes a label stating "in Stereo" to indicate the album is in stereophonic sound.[10] In contrast to Freedom, previous Amen Dunes records did not feature McMahon on the artwork. This change has been considered a representation of the album's musical clarity as well as the close up nature of the photograph being seen as representative of the more personal and direct nature of the lyrics and themes.[6]

The title Freedom corresponds to the "relinquishing of self through an exploration of self" theme of the album. It was, however, decided upon before the album was made. McMahon said "the same way that Love was kind of cheeky, this was a little bit of a smug, kind of punk thing to name an album." The tenth and penultimate track on the album also shares the album's name.[6]

Release and promotion

Freedom was announced on January 17, 2018 alongside the release of the album's lead single "Miki Dora" and an accompanying music video directed by Steven Brahms.[29]

"Blue Rose" was released on February 14, 2018 as the album's second single with an accompanying music video directed by Alex Goldberg.[30]

"Believe" was released on March 13, 2018 as the album's third and final single.[31] A music video for "Believe" was later released on June 18, 2018, also directed by Steven Brahms.[32]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.9/10[33]
Metacritic87/100[34]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[35]
Clash8/10[25]
Exclaim!9/10[36]
Mojo[37]
NME[38]
The Observer[39]
Paste8.2/10[21]
Pitchfork8.6/10[5]
Q[40]
Uncut8/10[41]

Freedom has received acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on 17 reviews.[34] Ben Homewood of NME gave the album a perfect score calling it a "grand, pop-rock masterpiece" and said, "It's the scale of Freedom's sound that cements it as an instantaneous classic; far and away McMahon's most complete work to date. His reedy, beaten-down vocal is so magnificent you wonder where he's been hiding it all these years, while every track thrums with its own deep groove."[38] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork praised the album calling it "the most dynamic, confident Amen Dunes record to date" and said, "On Freedom, McMahon's voice is clearer, his hooks are sharper, and his music—once a hazy spider web of hisses, drones, and vamps—opens to reveal a latent aspiration toward the classic-rock songbook."[5]

In a mixed review, Rowan Savage of Tiny Mix Tapes felt that the album suffered from not being as "dark, as gnarly, or as weird" as previous Amen Dunes albums, stating, "The vocals are often low in the mix, which is a shame, but it creates a mumblecore naturalism that is also freedom of a sort. Synthesizers join or replace the folky guitars of his previous albums, and tracks meld together in memory over the course of the work."[42]

Year-end lists

Publication Rank List
BrooklynVegan 31 Top 50 Albums of 2018[43]
Digital Trends 3 The Best Albums of 2018[44]
Esquire UK N/A The 50 Best Albums of 2018[45]
Far Out Magazine 3 The 50 best albums of 2018[46]
Flavorwire 11 The 25 Best Albums of 2018[47]
Flood Magazine 11 The Best Albums of 2018[48]
Gorilla vs. Bear 4 Albums of 2018[49]
The Line of Best Fit 29 The Best Albums of 2018[50]
musicOMH 35 Top 50 Albums of 2018[51]
NME 31 Albums of the Year 2018[52]
Noisey 63 The 100 Best Albums of 2018[53]
OOR 13 OOR's Eindlijst 2018[54]
Paste 11 The 50 Best Albums of 2018[55]
Pitchfork 14 The 50 Best Albums of 2018[56]
The Skinny 32 Top 50 Albums of 2018[57]
Spin 4 The 51 Best Albums of 2018[58]
Tiny Mix Tapes 48 2018: Favorite 50 Music Releases[59]
Under the Radar 55 Top 100 Albums of 2018[60]
Uproxx 29 The 50 Best Albums of 2018[61]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Damon McMahon

No.TitleLength
1."Intro"0:50
2."Blue Rose"4:06
3."Time"4:50
4."Skipping School"5:28
5."Calling Paul the Suffering"3:01
6."Miki Dora"5:03
7."Satudarah"2:43
8."Believe"5:46
9."Dracula"4:16
10."Freedom"5:00
11."L.A."6:03
Freedom – Deluxe edition[62]
No.TitleLength
12."Freedom (Live in Vienna)"6:55
13."Skipping School (Live in Vienna)"5:57
14."Miki Dora (Live in Prague)"6:16
15."L.A. (Live in Brighton)"6:46

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[10]

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[63] 155
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[64] 7
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[65] 17

References

  1. ^ Eisinger, Dale (March 29, 2018). "Amen Dunes Crafts Freedom Into His Most Compelling Album Yet". Spin. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  2. ^ Flanagan, Andrew (March 22, 2018). "Amen Dunes' Damon McMahon Pulls Back His Own Myths On 'Freedom'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  3. ^ Yung, Ben (2018-04-02). "Amen Dunes – 'Freedom' (album review)". The Revue. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  4. ^ a b Hine, Samuel (30 March 2018). "Damon McMahon of Amen Dunes Just Released the Best Album of 2018 (So Far)". GQ. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d Sodomsky, Sam (March 30, 2018). "Amen Dunes: Freedom". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hakimian, Rob (March 27, 2018). "Obeying the vacant mind: a conversation with Amen Dunes". The 405. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Amen Dunes". AdHoc. February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  8. ^ Murray, Robin (June 12, 2018). "In Conversation: Amen Dunes". Clash. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  9. ^ Morgan, Steven (March 28, 2018). "Who Knew Amen Dunes Had It In Them?". All Things Loud. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e Freedom (Liner notes). Amen Dunes. Sacred Bones Records. 2018. SBR-195CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ Whatley, Jack (January 17, 2018). "Amen Dunes continues to show his worth with 'Miki Dora'". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Gaca, Anna (March 23, 2018). "Q&A: Amen Dunes on the Meaning of Freedom". Spin. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  13. ^ "Thea Duell, Prolific Painter and Sculptor, Renaissance Woman". Vineyard Gazette. July 5, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  14. ^ Brown, Austin (May 9, 2018). "Amen Dunes Is at Your Service". FLOOD Magazine. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  15. ^ Leas, Ryan (December 3, 2018). "The End And Beginning Of Amen Dunes". Stereogum. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  16. ^ Traynor, Cian (April 5, 2018). "Amen Dunes on finding the freedom to open up". Huck. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  17. ^ Vinti, Mike (November 26, 2018). "Amen Dunes has finally found Freedom". Notion. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  18. ^ "Freedom | Amen Dunes". Bandcamp. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  19. ^ Downing, Andy (May 16, 2018). "Concert preview: Amen Dunes at Express Live outdoors". Columbus Alive. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  20. ^ a b Horton, Ross (April 20, 2018). "Songs of innocence and experience make Amen Dunes' Freedom a devastating listen". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  21. ^ a b c Salmon, Ben (March 30, 2018). "Amen Dunes: Freedom Review". Paste. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Myers, Owen (February 14, 2018). ""Blue Rose" by Amen Dunes Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  23. ^ Hakimian, Rob (February 15, 2018). "Amen Dunes examines his relationship with his father on new song 'Blue Rose'". The 405. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  24. ^ Ottenhof, Luke (March 19, 2018). "Amen Dunes Uncovers His Past So He Can Bury It". Vinyl Me, Please. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  25. ^ a b Murray, Robin (April 5, 2018). "Amen Dunes – Freedom". Clash. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  26. ^ a b Yung, Ben (April 2, 2018). "Amen Dunes – 'Freedom' (album review)". The Revue. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  27. ^ Nath, Aatish (May 21, 2018). "Amen Dunes' Freedom: Honest, introspective portrait of artist questioning long-cherished ideas". Firstpost. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  28. ^ Rodriguez, Juan Edgardo (April 2, 2018). "Amen Dunes: Freedom - Music Review". No Ripcord. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  29. ^ Sacher, Andrew (January 17, 2018). "Amen Dunes details new LP & shares video, playing MHOW with MIKE". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  30. ^ Gray, Julia (February 14, 2018). "Amen Dunes – "Blue Rose" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  31. ^ Gaca, Anna (March 13, 2018). "Amen Dunes – "Believe"". Spin. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  32. ^ Haas, Anna (June 18, 2018). "Amen Dunes Releases Poignant "Believe" Music Video". Paste. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  33. ^ "Freedom by Amen Dunes reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  34. ^ a b "Freedom by Amen Dunes". Metacritic. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  35. ^ Phares, Heather. "Freedom – Amen Dunes". AllMusic. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  36. ^ Mohenu, Max (March 31, 2018). "Amen Dunes: Freedom". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  37. ^ "Amen Dunes: Freedom". Mojo (294): 96. May 2018.
  38. ^ a b Homewood, Ben (March 29, 2018). "Amen Dunes – 'Freedom' Review". NME. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  39. ^ Empire, Kitty (April 1, 2018). "Amen Dunes: Freedom review – cosmic tilts and baggy beats". The Observer. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  40. ^ Segal, Victoria (May 2018). "Amen Dunes: Freedom". Q (384): 104.
  41. ^ O'Connell, Sharon (April 2018). "Amen Dunes: Freedom". Uncut (251): 23.
  42. ^ Savage, Rowan (April 11, 2018). "Amen Dunes - Freedom". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  43. ^ "BrooklynVegan's Top 50 Albums of 2018". BrooklynVegan. December 21, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  44. ^ Hall, Parker (December 12, 2018). "The best albums of 2018". Digital Trends. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  45. ^ Ovenden, Olivia (December 7, 2018). "The 50 Best Albums Of 2018". Esquire UK. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  46. ^ Whatley, Jack (December 20, 2018). "The 50 best albums of 2018". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  47. ^ Barnes, Shane (December 7, 2018). "The 25 Best Albums of 2018". Flavorwire. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  48. ^ "The Best Albums of 2018". Flood Magazine. December 10, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  49. ^ Cantalini, Chris (December 2, 2018). "Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2018". Gorilla vs. Bear. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  50. ^ "The Best Albums of 2018". The Line of Best Fit. December 3, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  51. ^ "musicOMH's Top 50 Albums Of 2018". musicOMH. December 5, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  52. ^ "NME's Albums Of The Year 2018". NME. December 17, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  53. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of 2018". Noisey. December 5, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  54. ^ "Album van het jaar: Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer". OOR. December 4, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  55. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2018". Paste. November 26, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  56. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2018". Pitchfork. December 11, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  57. ^ "The Skinny's Top 50 Albums of 2018". The Skinny. December 5, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  58. ^ "The 51 Best Albums of 2018". Spin. December 12, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  59. ^ "2018: Favorite 50 Music Releases". Tiny Mix Tapes. December 17, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  60. ^ "Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2018". Under the Radar. December 30, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  61. ^ "The 50 Best Albums Of 2018". Uproxx. December 3, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  62. ^ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/freedom-deluxe-edition/1444227757
  63. ^ "Ultratop.be – Amen Dunes – Freedom" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  64. ^ "Amen Dunes Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  65. ^ "Amen Dunes Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
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