Biography
Amen Dunes is the project of New York songwriter Damon McMahon, who founded it in 2006.[1] Across the next two decades it produced the albums D.I.A. (2009), Through Donkey Jaw (2011), Spoiler (2013), Love (2014), Freedom (2018) and Death Jokes (2024), along with several EPs, on labels including Locust Music, Sub Pop and Sacred Bones.[1]
McMahon long avoided the spotlight and made abstract, murky folk records. By the time of Freedom he said he wanted his songs to be more useful and to reach people outside the underground, naming Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye and the Beatles among his inspirations, with Tom Petty a major influence.[2] He began recording Freedom just as his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and the record also draws on his father, male identity and childhood friends who ended up in prison.[3][4]
Freedom was produced by Chris Coady and drew a euphoric-breakthrough reception from Pitchfork.[1] In December 2024 McMahon released the remix album Death Jokes II and announced the end of the Amen Dunes project.[1]
References
- Amen Dunes (Wikipedia) — Discography, labels, end of project
- Amen Dunes Freedom interview (The Fader) — McMahon on influences and aims
- Amen Dunes: Miki Dora (Mad Mackerel) — Album context including his mother's diagnosis
- Damon McMahon talks spirituality, Tom Petty and Freedom (Seven Days) — Album as reflection on manhood