With almost every project by Stephen O’Malley, the same question arises: can this sound be understood without a background in music theory? In the case of But Remember What You Have Had, the answer is clearly yes. A single track stretching over 30 minutes may not invite easy or casual listening, but that hardly seems to be the point.
The drone on this record sets both space and body into a meditative vibration. Everything hums and resonates, with only brief moments of chords or harmonies cutting through the sonic current. Despite its austerity, But Remember What You Have Had carries a cinematic quality: not a grand apocalypse, but a quiet ending. Sonic explorations between polyphony, intonation, and timbre repeatedly lead into darkness.
In the final minutes, the sound becomes lighter, with weighty strings washing over it like the last sweep of a camera across something dissolving into nothingness. Music of enormous force — certainly not for everyday listening, but when the moment is right, there’s little else like it.
