Sprouting from the same mind that created the Books - one of the most acclaimed and innovative groups of the past decade - Zammuto marks a deep reinvention of the highly detailed, genre-defying spirit that made seminal albums such as The Lemon of Pink and The Way Out possible. Given the Books' success as an experimental collage-pop project, founder and namesake Nick Zammuto could have comfortably extended that thread. Instead he has given us a record that is progressive and forward-looking, intense and driven, with hugely varied rhythms and melodies.
The whispered, folksy vocals that became a trademark of the Books are for the most part shed in favor of an uncharacteristically confident, soaring delivery, often fueled by a wide array of vocal effects. The result is a man-machine sensitivity that ultimately enhances the songs' emotional intensity. With dense and beautiful string arrangements by Gene Back (the Books) and brain-warping drum performances by Sean Dixon, the radical and varied sound of Zammuto leaps out of speakers with a searing directness. Making music that sounds and feels like no one else is nothing new for Zammuto, but making music that doesn't even sound like his own past is a whole other impressive feat in itself.
Nick Zammuto was one-half of the beloved experimental collage-pop duo, the Books. He lives and works in the Green Mountains of Southern Vermont, where he writes, records, mixes and masters his records in a small tractor garage converted into a studio. Just yards away from his studio is his house, which he designed and built himself, and large gardens where he and his wife manage to grow most of their own food for their three sons. This self-sufficiency and constant drawing of inspiration from his surroundings is synonymous with his musical vision; a statement about returning to a life in balance, while at the same time pushing the capacity of cutting-edge music technology to extend human emotion, rather than suppress it. Making music that sounds and feels like no one else is nothing new for Zammuto, but making music that doesn't even sound like his own past is a whole other impressive feat in itself.
