His farewell notice quantities to its personal sort of demise joke. Whether by a sudden second of readability or a dejected concession to well-liked style, Death Jokes II is certainly higher organized than its predecessor. McMahon went again to a failed 2021 session to get better discarded components by keyboardist Money Mark, drummers Jim Keltner and Carla Azar, and a number of other different Death Jokes contributors. He then collaborated with mixer Craig Silvey, one of some kindred spirits who understood the album, on a pared-down interpretation of its songs. These are much less remixes than alternate variations, with the spirit of the originals intact, even amplified. The hip-hop-inspired intros, outros, and interludes are gone, as are the overwhelming collages. The compositions themselves are leaner, with extra give attention to McMahon’s inimitable slurred vibrato. Now, it’s only his voice that’s chatting with us, immediately and intimately, from behind the veil of Amen Dunes’ demise.
The adjustments to Death Jokes’ songs are generally delicate, however collectively they’re revelatory. “Rugby Child” was probably the most troublesome observe for McMahon to document, as he needed to wrestle his 909’s drifting clock by nudging every kick drum alongside manually. “Rugby Child (300 Miles Per Hour)” merely jettisons the drum machine till its remaining moments, permitting McMahon’s vocals to information the music over a metronomic beat. At occasions, the elemental character of a observe has been altered. The trademark bass from “Boys” is notably absent, and the music’s alternative, now titled “Italy Pop Punk,” drifts as a substitute of pummeling. Both new variations of “Ian,” which bookend II, drop the unique’s samples of crowd noise and laughter to offer room for its melancholy melody. The impact is like waking as much as an answer to the issue that stored you tossing and turning all night time: Everything is all of a sudden clearer, cleaner, extra coherent.
The greatest edit is to the epic centerpiece of Death Jokes, “Round the World,” which loses greater than a minute from its runtime and most of its layered samples. The sounds of protest ran all through the primary iteration, from road marches to Boulanger’s vehement declarations on originality. “When you compose, I prefer you to be mistaken, if you must, but to remain natural and free,” she acknowledged in emphatic French. “Round the World (Down South)” removes these, however retains one vital pattern: Woody Allen telling a joke a couple of run-in with the KKK. It’s an open provocation meant to encourage cautious consideration concerning the limits of ethical certitude—a provocation that McMahon notably resents his critics for ignoring. Including it once more after a lot else has been stripped away is itself one final joke on the expense of those that weren’t paying consideration the primary time.
Death Jokes was an idea album whose idea practically overwhelmed the music, an exhilarating, irritating, splendidly flawed document. To want Death Jokes II is to run the danger of privileging aesthetics over politics, the straightforward pay attention over the difficult lesson. But if the unique was an advanced monument to its personal troubled genesis, II is proof that it was constructed on a stable basis: McMahon’s beautiful songs of affection and loss, life and demise, easy and unadorned. Like the most effective jokes, they really feel easy and true.