You, You're Awesome

Canadian band Do Make Say Think initially formed about ten years ago to soundtrack a play, but have since soundtracked many a wandering soul and have won the adoration of quite the cult following. You, Youre a History in Rust is their fifth release and their first release in 3 years and it is undoubtedly their most beautiful release to date. Still at home on Constellation, they fit somewhere snugly between Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion on the catalogue, but definitely stands out as the labels more accessible group, as well as one of their most creative.


The 5-piece, consisting of two drummers and a soundshaping cast (including two Broken
Social Scene members) alternating between guitars, horns, bass and keys (and never mind an ensemble of guests adding strings, piano and percussion) once again took to recording everything themselves in a barn and cottage in rural Ontario, before returning to their Toronto homebase at th'Schvitz for mixing and mastering the album, again by themselves. This approach proved as much an attention to detail as a personal testament to a sound only they could fully realise.

Previous release Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn seems dated now after BSCs Feel Good Lost album, but here on You, Youre a History in Rust it seems even though still evoking an instrumental Gastr Del Sol, they might have been listening to some Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love Love on repeat for quite some time, having brought their acoustic temperament to the fore even more.

Album opener Bound to be that Way proves them masters once again at creating complex sounds swirling around a basic chord progression, while on A with Living (the first DMST track with vocals), Tim Dekker from Great Lake Swimmers adds an arrestingly sweet drawl with some achingly sad-but-pretty words (Upshooting stars have their effect, Perfect things left lain, Oft our hands are held as perfect as our sleep). The song evolves from a brushed shuffle and a quiet rumbling of drums intertwining with guitars ringing rust, to a campfire choir under the stars serenading - voices lingering with harmonica over sliding guitars and the like, accentuated with horns towards the end...

On The Universe the dual drummers double up with a syncopated flurry over a crescendo of guitars and horns, rocking out as hard as on any And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead opus. Starting off with The Album Leaf-type sampling and layering, A Tender History in Rust with its quite befitting title, turns into an almost bluegrass piece, acoustic guitars dancing around the melody, chanting and strings drifting in and out and some whistling giving it a carefreeness, before finally fading out on Manitoba Up in Flames-like playful tones.

Elsewhere You, Youre Awesome is a slow marching waltz lamented with a bowed saw, slide guitars and more horns while on Executioner Blues the band displays their talent for embarking on some epic excursions, something like if Explosions in the Sky had more twang in their bellies.

Instrumental bands tend to get stuck in a rut, all the same chord progressions over and over again, too much of a formula between clean guitars building a melody before crashing into a wall of distortion. Do Make Say Think have proved themselves all the wiser, narrating each song with as many different approaches to the initial structure of the composition before finally using the mixing desk as the conductor to bring together all those layers, all the instrumentation in its original organic form, over found and recovered sounds. Here they have weaved a tapestry of closely knit sonic textures.

You, Youre A History in Rust is a sprawling endeavour, post-americana of inescapable beauty, heartbreak at dusk with skies as red as rust. Here they are laying their souls bare for all to see... The poetry in their hearts sustaining their music and serving as their epitaph:

When you die, you'll have to leave them behind. You should keep that in mind. When you keep that in mind, you'll find a love as big as the sky.

MY ALBUM OF THE YEAR SO FAR!!!

A with Living
The Universe
A Tender History in Rust

What makes the sound
What shakes the ground
It is the greatest

- Ri.