Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Matt Bachmann works under many monikers like Pachanga and Big Eater (as well as playing in bands like Hand Habits and Mega Bog), but for his new record he’s returning to his own name and delving into something deeply personal. Dream Logic, which arrives on June 18 via Orindal and We Be Friends, finds him mediating on the loss of his father to ALS in 2013: “I think that loss has taken a long time to digest and it’s interesting that sometimes things digest in songs before they do in my mind,” he says. The first song to be shared from the record is “Apple Pie”, which takes us right into the heart of the topic, with Bachmann revealing:
“His apple pies have been a kind of a fixation of mine over the last ten years; I’ve written a short story about them and the eulogy I gave at his funeral centered around his pies. ALS is a disease that first affects your ability to speak before affecting your ability to move and eventually all of your bodily functions. During one of the last Christmases he was still able to move, we baked together and he was adding ingredients almost randomly it seemed – he didn’t seem with it and I was sure the pie was going to taste terrible but lo and behold, it ended up tasting great. It was one of those reminding moments that below the fog of ALS, he was still there. He would surprise you like that at times.”
Sweet in more ways than one, but definitely not saccharine, “Apple Pie” is a surprisingly weightless trip down memory lane. Although there are plenty of emotions to pick apart, Bachmann’s words are scarce, only popping in occasionally to reflect briefly on the titular pies and the memory of his father baking them. Mostly, “Apple Pie” finds Bachmann letting his shimmering vibraphone cut a path where his bustling percussion, hyperdrive guitar, some sax and even some snippets of bird song can roam free, wordlessly expressing the tangled knot of feelings going on inside the artist.
Matt Bachmann’s new album Dream Logic is out on June 18 via Orindal/We Be Friends (pre-order from Bandcamp).
