The project of Damon McMahon, Amen Dunes unites folk, psych-rock, electronic, and industrial elements into an intuitive, evocative whole. During his career, his music has drawn comparisons to artists as diverse as Roky Erickson, Syd Barrett, Chris Knox, Suicide, and Royal Trux, and shifted from the murky, lo-fi atmospheres of releases such as 2009's DIA to the more accessible sound of 2014's Love. Even as his style grew to encompass the euphoric electronic leanings of 2018's Freedom and 2021's "Feel Nothing," the timeless quality of his voice and the elemental nature of his songwriting endured.

A Philadelphia native and a former member of the indie band Inouk, McMahon issued an album under his own name, Mansions, in 2006. Later that year, he began recording as Amen Dunes, sequestering himself in a trailer in the Catskills and laying down largely improvised songs that he never intended to release publicly. He moved to Beijing in 2007 and recorded intermittently, honing a dark, acoustic-based sound. In 2009 Locust Music issued his Catskills sessions as DIA, and McMahon returned to the U.S., settling in New York. The following year, Amen Dunes made its debut on Sacred Bones with the Murder Dull Mind EP, a collection of songs from McMahon's time in China. Following July 2011's limited-edition cassette Rat on a Grecian Urn, Amen Dunes' first full-length for Sacred Bones, Through Donkey Jaw, appeared in August and featured some of his most accessible music to date. McMahon then self-released 2012's EP Ethio Covers and 2013's The Spoiler, a set of challenging songs recorded from 2009 to 2011 that included a track dedicated to avant-garde composer Julius Eastman.

McMahon took a different approach for 2014's Love. Drawing on the end of a long-term relationship, it featured more careful songcraft and a cleaner sound as well as contributions from Iceage's Elias Bender Rønnenfelt, Bon Iver's Colin Stetson, and members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Early the following year saw the release of the Cowboy Worship EP, which McMahon described as a companion piece to Love and included a cover of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren." McMahon continued to expand Amen Dunes' music with the wide-ranging Freedom, on which he reunited with Godspeed You! Black Emperor as well as frequent collaborators Parker Kindred and Delicate Steve. The album, which also featured production by Chris Coady and Italian electronic musician Panoram, arrived in March 2018. The following year, a McMahon remix of the Freedom track "L.A." that included contributions from Westerman appeared. Amen Dunes returned in July 2021 with the single "Feel Nothing." McMahon's first release for Sub Pop, it reunited him with Panoram and also boasted vocals by Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson and production by Ariel Rechtshaid. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi