Zammuto – Anchor

Zammuto Anchors His Career

Experimental band The Books’ guitar player and vocalist, Nick Zammuto, has released his fourth album – Anchor – on New York record label Temporary Residence.  This album provides a distinct change from Zammuto’s last solo album as well as his work with The Books to provide a slowed-down, less glitch-ridden, electronic pop reverie.  With Anchor, Zammuto demonstrates that he can produce music that is truly his own that also has a chance towards commercial success.  This album not only anchors his career as a songwriter, but also seems to pull him away from the truly experimental and non-traditional styles that made his name in The Books.

The progression of songs on Anchor displays a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs with no true clue as to which comes next. It starts off with “Good Graces” in which the listener is immediately drowned in the glitched vocal samples that are so prevalent with The Books and reminiscent of the public service announcement at the St. Louis Greyhound station.  This quickly dies down to a beautiful romance of the auditory faculties with sustained symphonic bliss.  A minute-and-a-half in, an electronic rhythm breaks through the haze, and Toronto band Snowblind’s Daniela Gesundheit contributes her gorgeous and haunting voice to lead the listener down a truly eerie path.  The album continues to explore this hazy and haunting feel with songs such as “Great Equator” and “Don’t be a Tool.”

While Anchor may display Zammuto’s darker tendencies, the journey through this auditory opium den isn’t left without some of the aggressive rock sounds and electronic glitches that brought him to the limelight.  “Hegemony” opens up with a chaotic and distorted cacophony of glitch-rock only to fall right back on the nod with “Henry Lee.”  Later in the album, “IO” creates a frantic awakened awareness with a heavy bass line, repeated delayed guitar scratches, and energetic lo-fi vocals that would satisfy any indie-rock fan.  Anchor continues on this roller coaster tour of an opium den with songs such as fast-paced “Stop Counting” and melancholy “Your Time.”

The album finishes off with “Code Breaker,” an out-of-place tinkering of droning electronic rhythms and speeds.  “Code Breaker” seems designed to set off the dynamite that Zammuto plants in the listener’s mind throughout the album. All-in-all, Anchor dares to venture into more mainstream places where The Books simply won’t go.  Zammuto shows that he has a sensitive side and can produce what could easily be a popular album.