(Slings & Arrows, digital, vinyl)
The past is a museum full of well-lit specimens encased in glass, and everyone is curator of their own private collection. Each relic is a version of the person they once were, and they peruse, catalog and archive them with emotions spanning wonderment, shame, joy, sorrow and fury, hopefully learning something about the present.
That’s the gist of Burlington indie-rock band Hammydown’s long-awaited debut LP, Former You. The brainchild of transgender singer-songwriter Abbie Morin, the record shows off its creator’s wit, charisma, fearlessness, and technical and stylistic precision — qualities that have been brewing onstage for more than a decade.
Produced and recorded in close collaboration with Morin’s longtime bestie Caroline Rose, Former You is stylistically bold, deeply intimate and an earworm factory working at peak efficiency. The songs are sharp and sculpted yet also raw. They’re laden with whimsical trap doors, false fronts and a surprising, almost extemporaneous quality. A menagerie of shredded guitars, kaleidoscopic keys and synths, crunchy beats, and a touch of club glitz brings them all to glorious life.
Former You is sensational in the most literal sense. Morin captures visceral physicality in its impossibly catchy 10 tracks, most prominently on the penultimate entry, “Wedding Guest.” Through small observations with huge implications, Morin artfully unpacks the torment of carrying on while experiencing gender transition.
The song’s stripped-back production simmers under Morin’s tranquil vocals. Hushed organs and lightly plucked acoustic guitar tiptoe together, underscoring the song’s theme of being scrutinized. Morin is “sizzling on the frying pan,” longing to “slip away to a safer place, to a body that feels okay” as they navigate a world that isn’t made for them. It’s beautiful and devastating and true. Most of all, it’s a reminder of how much pain people hide under polite smiles and cordial small talk.
Throughout the record, Morin looks at their life with shrewd perspective. On the breezy “Sideline,” they reckon with a past relationship with good-natured detachment. They sing, “Oh well, we hurt each other / A failure by design / It’s time to clear the clutter / I’m always rooting from your sideline.” Whatever hurt was there has transformed into something that’s not only better but right.
Aptly named, “High” is the record’s pinnacle in terms of energy and vibe. Its dance-floor throb and synth arpeggios blink and cascade until the song snaps into full-blown ’90s alternative vibes. The styles collapse into each other in euphoric unison.
Retrospective by design, Former You will likely inspire listeners to perform a similar self-audit. But much like Matt Haig’s best-selling novel The Midnight Library, it declares triumphantly that the current you is always the best version.
Former You is available at hammydown.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services. Hammydown perform on Friday, November 7, at Zenbarn in Waterbury.
This article appears in Nov 5-11 2025.
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