As a one-man show-band project, American Damon McMahon has been surprising the indie scene with Amen Dunes for a good 15 years. It’s a style that’s hard to pin down and doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre. Some people even try to categorise it as non-music. Even less than its great predecessors, the new album »Dead Jokes« is pleasing music. McDahon has taken six years since his last album to reflect on an increasingly extreme society and hold up a musical mirror to it. He can only do justice to this extreme demand by moving further away from the original Amen Dunes sound—tragically beautiful, ballad-heavy.
Instead, the complexity is increased, with singer-songwriter sequences culminating in drum machine rhythms. They are supported by Kwake Bass, who is also responsible for Tirzah’s productions (unmistakable on »Predator«!). Amen Dune’s trademark has always been McMahon’s unmistakable voice—and thankfully it remains so, despite all the avant-garde! »Dead Jokes« with its 14 songs is a big, demanding album. You have to listen to it hard to get the most out of it. And then it delivers what it promises. Once you’ve reached »Purple Land«, that special something that only the »Song of the Siren« composer can achieve flashes through all the folk, jazz, gospel, pop and electronic pieces.
