North Americans – Lost Tracks

Nice to see a new EP crop up from Patrick McDermott’s North Americans today. Following the news earlier in the year that his 2018 LP Going Steady was reissued by Third Man, the label has let loose an EP that bridges the gap between that release and his most recent LP, Roped In. The pieces on Lost Tracks were recorded between 2018 and 2019 with the aid of Morgan Fox (So Stressed, Blank Gloss) and producer Patrick Hills. The songs are steeped in McDermott’s same brand of ambient folk, finding a footing in pastoral hues with an encroaching aura of technological turmoil. His sense of calm is corroded by noise, leaving a door open to dread that’s not quite been a prominent part of North Americans’ other works. Perhaps this is mirrored in Blomerth’s cover art, his familiar whimsy portraying a calm facade with calamity in the background. It’s a nice bridge between albums for the invested. Probably not an entry point for the unfamiliar, but an interesting digital curio in McDermott’s catalog.

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