Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

by 
AlbumJan 18 / 201910 songs, 36m 9s
Neo-Psychedelia Indie Rock
Popular Highly Rated

The Atlanta band’s eighth full-length finds iconoclastic frontman Bradford Cox and co. shrinking their typically ambient-focused sound, with relatively compact guitar-pop gems alongside haunting, weightless-sounding instrumentals. Featuring contributions from Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley of garage-popsters White Fence, *Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?* diverges from the deeply personal themes of previous Deerhunter albums, zeroing in on topics ranging from James Dean (“Plains”) to the tragic murder of British politician Jo Cox (“No One’s Sleeping”)—but the spectral vocals and penchant for left-field sounds are well accounted for, as the album represents the latest strange chapter in one of modern indie rock’s most consistently surprising acts.

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8.0 / 10

Though the band is now squarely in its pop era, the nostalgia that laced its early records has morphed into a timely, fatalistic vision of the future and national decay.

C

The conceit of Deerhunter’s eighth full-length, Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?, is that it’s a science-fiction album about the present—the glorious, anxiety-ridden, fear-laden present. It may not be the case that people are more scared than they’ve ever been, though one could make a great argument for it.…

5 / 10

8 / 10

An utterly compelling return from Bradford Cox and co

Deerhunter's eighth album ‘'Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?' is their answer to David Bowie’s ‘Low’

6.8 / 10

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A breezy distraction from the chaos outside.

Gunn channels Sixties folk musicians and modern contemporaries on his fourth solo record, while Deerhunter observe death with heart-wrenching detail on the band’s eighth album

A quick scan of Deerhunter's body of work -- which includes album and song titles like Fading Frontier and "Memory Boy" -- serves as a reminder that the fleeting nature of life is something that has fascinated Bradford Cox and company for years.

Deerhunter know that enjoyment lies within the journey, and on their eighth studio album, the slow, crumbling decline of civilisation has rarely sounded so good.

9 / 10

Named after the late French author Jean Baudrillard's 2007 book, Deerhunter's eighth full-length arrives with a lot of the same existential...

8.0 / 10

If you have been watching Deerhunter on Instagram you know that whenever the mood strikes, frontman Bradford Cox just starts streaming wherever he is.

9 / 10

With their last album 'Fading Frontier', Deerhunter found themselves at their most accessible to date. Now with 'Why Hasn't Everything

8 / 10

Deerhunter, led by Bradford Cox, do another unexpected thing on their eighth album 'Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared' – get political.

Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? keeps the usual chaos of a Deerhunter album hidden beneath charming exteriors.

8 / 10

The title of Deerhunter's eighth album could be a kind of metaphysical question, but the record has an up-close material tone crackling with friction.

8.5 / 10

Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? by Deerhunter, album review by Leslie Chu, the full-length comes out on January 18th via 4AD

Recorded in rural Texas, this atmospheric album switches from psych-pop to alt-rock to experimental lo-fi, held together by Bradford Cox’s drawl

75 %

In finding the loneliness and rage of others, Cox broadens his lyrical palette.

2.9 / 5

8 / 10