Brent Amaker excels at creating a persona. His cowboy band Brent Amaker and the Rodeo has a throwback western feel enhanced by the all-black (and, later, all-white) cowboy suits they wear onstage, while his one-off 2014 project, Android Amaker, launched the whole thing into the distant corners of the galaxy with an electronic component reflecting Amaker’s interest in futurism.
The Seattle musician flips the script again with his “Hello,” his latest album, with a new band. Brent Amaker DeathSquad is a sort of parallel band to the Rodeo that swaps the brooding (and deadpan) cowboy masculinity for an element of feminine energy, thanks to collaborators Darci Carlson, Nozomi Momo and Izzie White, and (as usual) some striking music videos. The DeathSquad has a looser, more playful feel than the Rodeo, and the deadpan self-awareness is a little more pronounced. That’s especially true on “Man in Charge,” which amounts to Amaker covering one of his own songs in a different context.
Originally recorded for the Rodeo’s 2010 album “Please Stand By,” the song is a sort of Amaker anthem, a paean to take-charge badassery. Here, the DeathSquad subverts that whole vibe by putting Carlson on lead vocals. She’s no less commanding, and she sounds restless as she sings in a sultry tone over a minimalist click-clack beat, subtle swirls of guitar and evoking the original riff until it comes sweeping into the instrumental break.
Elsewhere, Amaker sounds horrified as he considers the possibility that he’s possessed on “I’m the Big Bang,” and Carlson sounds triumphant, and even a little gleeful, when she cops to having ensorcelled him. They trade verses over eerie, cinematic musical accompaniment — guitar buried in reverb, blaring Farfisa organ, and is that a theremin? — that sounds like an Ennio Morricone spaghetti western score refracted through a prism of hellfire. “Listen, I really need to sleep,” Amaker begs, and when she laughs in the background, it’s chilling in the best possible way.
Their rapport on “You Won’t Find Me” calls to mind a more tongue-in-cheek version of Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner’s duet act, with Amaker dreaming up scenarios for escaping from everyday life and Carlson puncturing them, but affectionately, before they sing the refrain together. His rich baritone contrasts with her sweeter vocals, and the saloon-style piano, strummed acoustic guitar and sparse, rhythmic bassline complete the picture.
“Hello” is Amaker’s first album since “Android Amaker,” and it’s a welcome return. He has a unique style, and whether he’s riding high as a cowboy badass with the Rodeo, achieving immortality with Android Amaker or fighting off demonic possession with the DeathSquad, he’s an original in a business where that’s not as common as you’d think.