Bleep

As thrilling and unpredictable as anything in Deerhunter’s near 15-year career, ‘Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?’ was recorded in several strategic geographic points across North America and produced by the band, Cate LeBon, Ben H. Allen III and Ben Etter.

Forgetting the questions and making up unrelated answers, Deerhunter’s eighth album is a science fiction album about the present. Exhausted with the toxic concept of nostalgia, they reinvent their approach to microphones, the drum kit, the harpsichord, the electromechanical and synthetic sounds of keyboards. Whatever guitars left are pure chrome, plugged straight into the mixing desk with no amplifier or vintage warmth. While it may not be a huge sonic departure from their previous work, but Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? certainly showcases a shift in outlook for Bradford Cox et al. As opposed to hypnagogic reconstructions of the past, here the band’s ‘ambient punk’ sound provides a platform from which Cox can muse on sci-fi futures and dystopian presents. The influence of Cate Le Bon, firmly ensconced behind the mixing desk, is also felt through some leftfield instrumental and harmonic choices.