Nathan Harper - Hymns for Animatronic Dinosaurs

 Released: June 25

At its core, Hymns for Animatronic Dinosaurs is a story about technology in a general sense - what it does, what role it plays, what it means for us as humans, and where it leads to. The theme of animatronic dinosaurs is simply an iconography of these concerns, representing a dead and rather impractical for most purposes kind of technology. Animatronics in general represent this kind technological obsolescence as they sit now in decay and disuse, making for a new wealth of material for horror movies and series. But Harper’s album here does not go the horror route entirely, rather it use all manner of old and decaying technology to create lurid soundscapes that evoke not a sense of fear, but rather a complex mixture of nostalgia, wistfulness, apprehension, and foreboding. It all feels as though it is simultaneously fading away while also persisting forever. 

These themes are explored over the course of nine tracks, all of which posses such a decaying quality that culminates in the final track “Dawn of the Final Day,” a composition that crumbles apart in front of our very own ears. But before we reach that moment, there are events that lead up to it. Many of the tracks here are named after specific events that nearly catastrophically affected the delicate nest of wires and signals that make up the web of technology that we rely on heavily. “Carrington,” named after a geomagnetic event that damaged telegraph networks; “Laschamp,” from when the Earth’s magnetic field partially reversed; and “Miayke” after an ancient event that if replicated would wipe out global networks. The theme at play here through all of it is fragility. The realization that all of these networks rely on technology and its maintenance, and any number of events beyond human control could end it suddenly. It makes for a powerful statement that is made gently, delicately, and with the same sense of fragility espoused throughout.