Following the dissolution of his groundbreaking collage-pop duo, the Books, Zammuto rebounded with an eponymous debut album submerged in transitional anxiety and audio effects designed to intentionally obscure the very humanistic qualities that marked Nick Zammuto's best work in the Books. It was in many ways the most essential album of his career, in that it established his post-Books path and introduced him to a new group of musicians (most notably renowned percussionist Sean Dixon) who have immeasurably contributed to the creative inspiration and execution of his most compelling work to date, the aptly titled Anchor. An enormous weight has been lifted from Nick Zammuto, and you can hear as much in the opening minutes of Anchor. The arrangements have more space, the songs are more dynamic, and the vocals are delivered with a confident intimacy that is almost alarmingly beautiful (the collaborations with the enchanting Daniela Gesundheit of Canadian indie-pop duo Snowblink are particularly transcendent). Written, performed, recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely at home in Zammuto's converted tractor garage recording studio (pictured on the front cover) using an expanding array of vintage analog outboard equipment, Anchor embodies the very DIY lifestyle and self-sufficient approach that has come to define all that is Zammuto. His is a rarified art made on its own terms – far away from the insular feedback loop of trend cycles and commodified expectations. His home is his anchor, and Anchor is his home.
