Departure Songs

With their fifth album, 2012’s monumental 2-CD effort Departure Songs, the building promise of Hammock hit a remarkable new level, their elegantly earnest shoegaze-into-postrock approach producing a masterpiece of sweeping, thoroughly arranged and orchestrated music. The group’s ear for sequencing, letting the songs feel like one long flowing piece with lulls and crescendos arriving right when they need to, is in full flight, while melodramatic titles like “Tonight We Burn Like Stars That Never Die” and “(Let’s Kiss) While All the Stars Are Falling Down” justify their bombast.