(2020) This Will Destroy You - Variations & Rarities 2004​-​2019 Vol.I & Vol. II


Review:
Pulling from a dense archive comprised of 15 years worth of demos, unreleased tracks, variations on material that later evolved into something else, unused soundtrack cues, and everything in between, This Will Destroy You and Dark Operative are proud to launch of Variations & Rarities: 2004-2019. A month later, the first installment has now been revamped with updated tracks replacing the first four songs of its original incarnation. Rather than conjure a particularly dark era for the band, the current version of Vol. I now highlights far more positive relationships and memories spanning the entire course of the band’s history to date. “Untitled Field” is an even earlier version of an unused song concept referred to internally prior as “Brain.” This take is far more ethereal and perhaps evocative of minimalist guitar arrangements by Rhys Chatham. Staying in the San Marcos era, “Another Life Force” is a hybrid blend of an untitled demo and another demo originally called “Killed the Lord,” both made just over a year after “S/T.” It’s capped with the same style of beat programming that resonated with listeners on “They Move on Tracks of Never-Ending Light” and “Grandfather Clock.” Flashing forward, “Shifted” was actually recorded about a week before we published this current version of Vol. I (June 2020). It is an abandoned demo from the writing sessions for the next phase of the Vespertine restaurant collaboration. “Formless Visitor” is a study in mood that Chris recorded one night in 2014 and originally titled “Dustism.” “Fair Breath” and “Many of Them” stay on as this collection’s closers. Both were originally unused concepts from 2013 and 2014, respectively. The second installment focuses heavily on the “Self-Titled” era, giving all a previously-unseen and unheard glimpse behind the curtain at some of the early stages and ideas for songs that ultimately became the band’s most successful album to date. “Villa del Refugio (Study)” is the earliest-known recording of the band conceptualizing the song and exploring its tonality. These particular chord progressions made it through to the end. “They Move on Tracks of Never-Ending Light (Concept)” is a raw practice recording/run-through of the song with live drums, well before the song ultimately was smoothed out with electronic beats and full production. The feel at this point in gestation was almost a hybrid between “They Move…” and “The Mighty Rio Grande,” so it made sense to keep pushing “They Move…” into different territory sonically. “Rejected Football (Score)” was a 2019 scoring piece where a couple of guys wanted the band to score an entire sports documentary, but of course “needed it like, yesterday.” Without offering any compensation for studio time or the performer’s time, the producers asked for “as many demos as you can send us to make a decision on composers.” This is the entirety of what was turned in. “The Mighty Rio Grande (Concept)” isn’t even half as long as what the final would become, but one can hear the band starting to put together all the big set pieces at this stage. Some of the elements being explored here were abandoned or subdued in various capacities, yet the overall essence and melodic narrative was already dialed in quite well. Would you believe that “Threads” originally had not just one, but TWO different (and rather long) intro concepts? Neither made the final cut, but we’ve blended both together into “Memory Ranking,” a tribute to the piles of unused ideas on the cutting room floor of “Self-Titled.” And finally, “Threads (Demo),” without any intro, closes out this installment. This is how it sounded right before it was time to go in and track/make the final record. Everything had been as realized and hashed out as possible before Congleton’s production touch could shape the nuances.





Tracklist:

Variations & Rarities: 2004-2019, Vol. 1
1. Untitled Field [02:23]
2. Another Life Force [08:15]
3. Shifted [02:07]
4. Formless Visitor [02:08]
5. Fair Breath [02:12]
6. Many of Them [02:18]

Variations & Rarities: 2004-2019, Vol. 2
1. Villa del Refugio (Study) [02:17]
2. They Move on Tracks of Never-Ending Light (Concept) [06:09]
3. Rejected Football (Score) [02:39]
4. The Mighty Rio Grande (Concept) [05:45]
5. Memory Ranking [05:01]
6. Threads (Demo) [05:43]


Media Report:
Genre: post-rock
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits