Departure Songs was met with positive critical reception. John Diliberto, the host of Echoes, named Departure Songs the No. 1 album of the year for 2012 in his annual year-end "Top 10 Albums" list.[4] Elizabeth Klisiewicz, writing for The Headphone Commute, stated that "Hammock go massive as they meditate on grand themes of death and loss, their music ever larger, more expansive."[5] Jordan Dowling at Contactmusic.com described the album as "where it all comes together. Every disparate strand and sound conjured over the past eight years is no longer separated by song or by album, but layered on top of each other on a release that encompasses and near enough perfects the depth and breadth of the Nashville duo's back-catalogue."[3] Matt Gilley at Fluid Radio posited that the album is "probably the closest thing to an ambient/post-rock opera anyone has ever written, and if anyone is ever going to write one, it'll probably be Hammock."[6] Ned Raggett noted in his review for AllMusic that "if Hammock's fifth album is something of an extension and consolidation of their past work... it's also a flat-out triumphant one."[2]
Artwork
The additional artwork featured a theatre, with posters on the windows displaying the words "Chansons de Départ", which is French for "Departure Songs".
Track listing
All tracks are written by Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Cold Front"
6:56
2.
"Ten Thousand Years Won't Save Your Life"
6:27
3.
"Together Alone"
7:07
4.
"Artificial Paradises"
5:18
5.
"(Tonight) We Burn Like Stars That Never Die"
6:26
6.
"Pathos"
6:45
7.
"Awakened, He Heard Only Silence"
3:01
8.
"Words You Said... I'll Never Forget You Now"
6:32
9.
"Tape Recorder"
6:05
10.
"Frailty (For the Dearly Departed)"
6:52
11.
"Dark Circles"
6:13
12.
"(Let's Kiss) While All the Stars Are Falling Down"
