Public Memory is a mixture of damaged and dubbed-out
percussion, unfurling synths and sparse sampling - all strung
together by producer Robert Toher's spectral tenor. The
project's sophomore LP, Demolition follows 2017's Veil of
Counsel EP and 2016's Wuthering Drum LP with cinematic
fortitude. While Public Memory's prominent krautrock and trip-
hop rhythms are represented here, Demolition explores a
greater range of tempos and an expanse of alien emotions with
layers of electronic drums, live drums, Korg synths and samples
from nature. Themes of rebirth and reflection imbue the
album's atmosphere, rich in tape delay, spring reverb, and
textures that conjure a sci fi and supernatural narrative. Opener
"The Line" sets the album in motion with a driving energy and
introspective unease, as if estranged from the world it was
created in. A meditation on impending collapse, "Red Rainbow"
begins with an arpeggiated melody that hints at a sense of
dread. Like the darkness of night descends, the track unfolds
with haunting atmospherics and howling synths, finishing with
an unexpected climax that ominously builds until at last it falls
apart, quickly, softly, without incident. The slowtempoed
"Aegis" reflects on the banal reality of love lost, with shuffling
rhythms, lingering inflections and a growling synth at its core.
Toher's adept use of space and tension articulates the world of
Demolition as eerie, emotive, and above all, narcotic. Each track
is an existential procession. "Turning out the lights on your
illusion," Toher sings to close the album, accepting that change
is an inescapable condition of being.