Category: post rock

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Larmes Noires Shares Shoegazey “L’aurore”

Mathieu Schreyer is a French singer/songwriter and musician, best known for his synth wave project MPKS. His side, solo recording project Larmes Noires is a decided departure from his best known work: Larmes Noires sees Schreyer exploring darker thoughts, much more honest feelings paired with soundscapes inspired by Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure and the like, and dreamily delivered vocals.

Since starting Larmes Noires, Schreyer has released a handful of singles, last year’s full-length debut, Les ombres dérangées and the recently released self-produced sophomore album Stigmate. Sonically blending elements of post-rock, shoegaze and darkwave to create an atmospheric and immersive soundscape, the album’s material was crafted as an intimate journey, where each track serves as a raw expression of vulnerability and resilience. And fittingly, the album’s material touches upon themes of melancholy, social isolation, inner strength and resolve — in a deeply personal fashion.

Stigmate‘s latest single “L’aurore,” is a brooding and cinematic track that pairs elements of Souvlaki and A Storm in Heaven-era shoegaze with Collapse Under the Empire-like post-rock paired with Schreyer’s plaintive and ethereal delivery and enormous hooks. At its core, there is a sense of resilience and hope.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Somos el Viento Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Fragments”

Spanish-born and-based producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist Óliver del Barrio is the creative mastermind being the solo recording project Somos el Viento. And with his Somos el Viento full-length debut, Mar Negro, del Barrio quickly establishes a lushly layered and expansive soundscape that blends post-rock, space rock and ambient music.

Mar Negro‘s latest single “Fragments” is a brooding and cinematic composition that sonically reminds me a bit of Collapse Under the Empire, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, The Octopus Project and others while displaying an artist, who can craft an immersive and meditative soundscape.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Yoo Doo Right Shares Stormy “Eager Glacier”

Deriving their name from one of Can‘s best known — and perhaps most covered — songs, Montréal-based experimentalists Yoo Doo Right — Justin Cober (guitar, synths, vocals), Charles Masson (bass) and John Talbot (drums, percussion) — pair noisy and melodic guitar lines, effects-laden synthesizer soundscapes, deep bass grooves and furious and driving percussion into sprawling, cathartic musical pieces that draw inspiration from post-rock, krautrock, shoegaze, classical music, electroacoustics and musique concrète.

Since their formation back in 2016, the Montréal-based trio have been prolific: Their first two EPs 2016’s Nobody Panicked and Everybody Got On and 2017’s EP2 served to introduced the band’s signature bombastic approach to psychedelia. Their 7″ split with Japanese experimentalists Acid Mothers Temple saw the trio adopting a decidedly motorik feel. The Canadian trio’s full-length debut, 2021’s Don’t Think You Can Escape Your Purpose saw the band further establishing an undeniable sound while receiving praise from the likes of Paste Magazine, who wrote “sometimes vigorous and verging on total collapse and sometimes delicate and measured [ . . .] a gift that never stops giving.”

Their Polaris Prize long-listed sophomore album, 2022’s A Murmur, Boundless to the East received praise from AllMusic, who wrote “Yoo Doo Right are skilled at employing restraint, but when they let themselves go, it feels truly earth-shaking” and Flood Magazine‘s Stephan Boissonneault writing “The post-everything krautrockers’ sophomore album is a towering release fit for nebulous contemplation and feelings of foreboding astral projection.”

Released earlier this year, The Sacred Fuck EP was a sonic departure that saw the acclaimed tiro experimenting with found sound, field recordings and sonic collage, momentarily straying away from the high-decibel eardrum shattering sound they’re best known for.

During that same period, they’ve become a highly in-demand live act that has toured across North America, including a making the rounds of the festival circuit with sets at Levitation, M for Montréal, Sled Island, Pop Montreal and New Colossus Festival. The Canadian experimentalists have opened for Acid Mothers Temple, DIIV, A Place to Bury Strangers, Wooden Shjips, Kikagkiu Moyo, FACS, Frigs, and Jessica Moss and a growing list of others.

The Montréal-based outfit’s third album, the Seth Manchester-produced From The Heights of Our Pastureland is slated for a November 8, 2024 release through Mothland. Recorded at Pawtucket-based Machines with Magnets, From The Heights or Our Pastureland is reportedly an honest and patient sonic poem about the destructive process of unbridled expansion in the name of “progress,” that expansion’s inevitable collapse and what it means to rebuild. The album sees the trio further developing ideas they previously started exploring, while creating what’s arguably one of their darkest, heaviest and ominous batch of material to date.

The trio wrote the material in a remote cabin near Saguenay, QC last winter. Snowed in, Cober, Masson and Talbot played for three days straight, archiving anything and everything, musing about “the storm of colonialism, the collapse of capitalism and the massive undertaking it is to rebuild with past mistakes taken into deep consideration.” Fittingly, the album draws major inspiration from parallels drawn between natural phenomena ranging from climate change-related bad weather to environmental disasters and the overwhelming force of our sociopolitical frameworks. Also informed by the commodification of art, AI and algorithmic art, the trio later revisited the album’s material, altering their initial compositions by way of element juxtaposition and extensive sound design. The album sees the band embracing their penchant for sonic manipulation in all of its forms while achieving an uncanny equilibrium between unresolved tensions and soothing resolutions throughout.

“We aimed for something cinematic, but not in the way of a score, rather something more experiential. We wanted to create music that could ignite drive in oneself, hopefully something of significance in and of itself,” the band says. “While we’re really not here to force understanding on people, for us the predominant themes are anxiety and patience, the storm of colonialism, the collapse of capitalism and the massive undertaking it is to rebuild with past mistakes taken into deep consideration. It draws a parallel between natural disaster and social disaster, the experience of watching an impending destructive storm roll in and watching an impending societal disaster unfold under our current colonial, capitalistic frameworks. Hopefully, folks can give themselves time to make some sensible thoughts of the album on their own.”

The album’s second and latest single, the sprawling “Eager Glacier” is anchored around a propulsive and thunderous drum beat, whirring synths, layers of swirling shoegazer-like guitar textures that build up to a brewing and malevolent storm. Featuring elements of post rock, drone, metal and shoegaze, “Eager Glacier” manages to feel like a natural phenomenon, much like a glacier breaking apart at the seams, while possessing a cinematic quality.
 

“I’ve recently embraced the surrealist and absurdist in me, and this project reflects my desire to blur the lines between reality and the subconscious,” the video’s director Stacy Lee explains. ” Inspired by my recent deep dive into experimental cinema, I’ve come to see genres as fluid—cinema, like music, exists on a continuum, and my work is an ongoing exploration of that entire range. This video doesn’t follow a traditional narrative but instead invites viewers into a space where they can create their own meaning. Through visual experimentation, I wanted to transport us into another dimension, where magic literally unfolds on screen.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Kwoon Performs “White Angels” at Galaxie Amneville

Created and led by a mysterious and enigmatic, French-born multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, only known and Sandy, Kwoon sees the French-born artist specializing in a dreamy take on post-rock and prog rock that’s seemingly inspired by Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, and Pink Floyd through the release of three albums: 2006’s Tales & Dreams, 2009’s When the flowers were singing and 2011’s The Guillotine Show.

Over the past couple of years, the JOVM mainstay shared a series of live performances filmed in some gorgeous and mesmerizing locations, including a cliff on the island of Lanzarote, the Tévennec Lighthouse, on the stormy Breton sea, where he performed an early version of “King of Sea,” and Quiberon Airport, in Quiberon, France for the slow-burning and shoegazey “Stratofear.” 

The studio version of “King of Sea” continued a run of slow-burning and cinematic material, while featuring an orchestral arrangement of thinking and looping piano, dramatic drumming and percussions, soaring backing vocals and textured, swirling guitars drenched in delay and reverb pedal paired with Sandy’s David Gilmour-like delivery. Sonically, the song seems to nod at The Wall-era Pink Floyd (think of “The Trial”) or A Momentary Lapse of Reason-era Pink Floyd. 

Written while staying in the Tévennec Lighthouse in Finistere, France on the Breton Sea, the song is inspired by the lighthouse, which has a lengthy and terrifying reputation among sailors for strange and terrible phenomena that have happened around the site. In fact, many sailors have referred to the lighthouse and island as “the gateway to hell.” 

His latest single, “White Angels” is a slow-burning and cinematic track that continues a lengthy run of post rock material that seemingly nods at Sigur Ros, Collapse Under the Empire, and in the case of the new track, a bit of Kid A-era Radiohead but with swirling, shoegazer like guitar textures. The track’s arrangement serves as a lush and dreamy bed for Sandy’s dreamy, Thom Yorke-meets-David Gilmour-like delivery. The song manages to evoke a heavenward yearning and a sense of awe and smallness in a vast, indifferent cosmos.

“‘White Angels’ is the story of a man, who as a fan of astronomy and spacemen, looks up to the night sky to see white lights shinning in the distant cosmos,” Sandy explains. “What are these white lights that are there every night?”

The accompanying live footage was shot at Galaxy Amneville.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: VAAMP Shares a Cinematic and Minimalist Composition

VAAMP is the solo recording project of a mysterious composer, multi-instrumentalist and creative mastermind, who actively attempts to push limits of creativity and genre. Sonically, the project sees its mysterious mastermind employing multiple layers of synths, drums, bass, keys, guitar and experimental sounds to create a captivating musical experience.

VAAMP’s latest single “New Way of Being” is the first bit of new material since the release of his debut EP, Time Sensitive Material earlier this year. “New Way of Being” is a cinematic and minimalist composition featuring twinkling and reverb-soaked keys, fluttering synths and a supple bass line. The result is a song that seemingly channels a synthesis of Collapse Under The Empire and John Carpenter, complete with a retro-futuristic feel and vibe.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Norway’s Helsinki Horizon Shares Anthemic “Tie Them To The Mast”

Norwegian outfit Helsinki Horizon — founding member Snorre, (guitar, bass, keys) along with Öllegård (vocals), viNd (guitar) and Geir (drums) — can trace their origins back to 2008 as a solo recording effect with Snorre began writing music and recording demos. By 2012, viNd and Geir joined the project, and the band, then a trio began playing live shows.

Citing the likes of Radiohead, Mogwai, M83 and Max Richter as influences., the band also incorporates Tesla coil emulated Cello distortion and 8-bit crushed bass harmonica in a genre-defying sound and approach. Their debut EP, 2021’s Signal Flares drew from the band’s experiences in the underground metal scene, and received critical praise and attention across the post rock scene.

Released earlier this year, the Norwegian band’s full-length debut Sirens sees them collaboration with Stockholm-based avant-garde pop artist Öllegård contributing vocals while drawing from Homer’s Odyssey. Thematically, the album’s material touches upon existentialism, human facade, contemporary global politics, climate and environmental destruction and the consequences of all of these on us as a whole.

Sirens‘ first single “Tie Them To The Mast” is a seamless and slick synthesis of shoegaze, post rock, rock and electro pop anchored around a propulsive and swaggering rhythm section, atmospheric synth oscillations, and bursts of expressive guitar. The song’s arrangement serves as a dramatic bed for Öllegård’s earnest delivery — while revealing a band with an uncanny knack for a catchy hook and a big, sing-along worthy chorus.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Tilburg Shares Cinematic “The Whale”

Dutch prog rock duo Tilburg — Timo Janse (guitar), Whisper of the Dragons’ M Hopkins (keys) — released their full-length debut, Tales of the Spanish Kings last year. The album is a concept album influenced by 70s prog rock movement — but with harder, more modern metal-like guitar and electronic sounds. As the duo explain, “The goal of the album was to bring a new progressive rock sound along with honoring the greats who came before us.”

The album can be traced back to recording sessions that began in late 2009 with a band named Kinder Voss that featured M. Hopkins, along with Kiwi guitarist Brendon Wright and German vocalist Gabby Koss, who had stints with Haggard, Nota Profana and Equilibrium. Because of Koss’ scheduling conflicts, recording sessions were faulted and the album was eventually shelved.

Hopkins went on to do soundtrack work but he decided to revisit the album. eventually recruiting Janse to complete the material. By last Spring, the duo had finally finished the album and decided to call their project Tilburg, after a town known for being a populate site of rock shows in The Netherlands.

“The Whale” is an expansive and cinematic composition that meshes elements of prog rock, progressive metal and post rock in a way that recalls German post rock outfit Collapse Under the Empire while sounding as though it would be part of the soundtrack of a post apocalyptic sci fi or action film.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Paris’ Autómata Shares Cinematic “Mad Motor”

Paris-based quarter Autómata formed back in 2019. And since their formation, they’ve specialized in a post-rock sound that blends elements of metal, pop, prog rock and electronic music.

The French quartet’s recently released sophomore album sees the band crafting a dark and brooding sound that blends elements of post-rock, prog rock, pop and metal. The album’s latest single “Mad Motor” is a slow-burning, meditative composition featuring shimmering guitar work, a supple bass line, twinkling keys paired with dramatic drumming and a sultry vocal sample. Sonically speaking, “Mad Motor” sees the French outfit channeling Public Service Broadcasting, Mogwai, Collapse Under The Empire and others, while possessing a similar cinematic quality.

The accompanying video is comprised of slickly edited stock footage from the early days of The Space Age with cigar-shaped space ships, astronauts landing on new worlds that dimly resemble Earth and more.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Chicago’s The Color of Cyan Shares Cinematic and Shoegazey “Egress”

Chicago-based post rock/post-metal outfit The Color of Cyan — Henry Cole (drums), Jorge Santana (bass) and Eduardo Cintron (guitar) — originally formed in San Juan, Puerto Rico back in 2000. The band re-emerged during the height of the pandemic as a solely instrumental project that created intricate soundscapes with aggressive guitar.

The band wrote and recorded their full-length debut, 2021’s Agape, an album that featured multi-layered material that patiently built in pressure and impact.

The act’s sophomore album, Egress, which was recorded between Puerto Rico, Chicago and Mexico City will reportedly see the band blurring the boundaries of a sound that feature elements of post metal, post rock and neo-classical while introspectively exploring emotion through delicate layering,. “Our music arrangements are purposely in constant motion, guided by emotions, impossible to replicate perfectly, like waves in the sea. Nothing is ever the same as before,” the Chicago-based outfit explains.

Egress‘ latest single, album title track “Egress” is a brooding and cinematic composition that brings Collapse Under The Empire and others to mind — but while having a painterly, A Storm in Heaven-like textured quality. “‘Egress’ embodies the pursuit of happiness, no matter the obstacles in life,” the band explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: rhythmspitter Shares Minimalist and Vibey “First Movement”

Best known for his work playing bass in Red Thread Theory, Michael Mosley is the creative mastermind behind rhythmspitter. Conceptually inspired by Bill Laswell‘s Material and Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart, Mosley’s rhythmspitter sees him combining various world instruments and rhythms to create instrumental, lo fi, beat-driven indie rock meant to vibe with and chill.

rhythmspitter’s latest single “First Movement” is a decidedly minimalist yet composition built around glistening and looping guitars, atmospheric synths and a sinuous bass line paired with a motorik-like groove. The result is a song that reminds me of Minimal Compact — but much more laid back.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: BMA Shares Meditative “Beyond The Hope”

Bruno Margiotta is a French-born, Canadian-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and creative mastermind behind the post rock instrumental project BMA. After the release of his self-produced debut EP, 2020’s Asynchronous, Margiotta world with local and international studios to produce his full-length debut, Ephemeral.

Released earlier this year, Ephemeral draws from post-rock, classical music and electronic music. Album single “Beyond The Hope” features twinkling piano, a sinuous and propulsive bass line, soaring and swelling bursts of synths, and gently padded drumming in a meditative yet cinematic composition that reminds me a bit of Collapse Under the Empire and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Silver Moth Shares Gorgeous “The Eternal”

This week will be extraordinarily as I’ll be covering the fourth edition of The New Colossus Festival this week. Look for various portions of my coverage to be coming within the upcoming weeks — including some potential interviews, live concert photography and other thoughts. But I’ll be trying my best to squeeze in my regular coverage of all things within my world — musically and otherwise.

So let’s get to the business at hand . . .

Silver Moth is new collective featuring a celebrated cast of musicians and artists, including Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Elisabeth Elektra, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Evi Vine, Abrasive Trees‘ Matthew Rochford, Burning House‘s Ash Babb, Steven Hill and Prosthetic Head’s Ben Roberts, who has also worked with Abrasive Trees and Evi Vine. The collective can trace its origins back to a Twitter exchange between Matthew Rochford and Elisabeth Elektra about the Isle of Lewis. A couple of Zoom meetings would subsequently lead to Rochford, Elektra, Vine, Braithwaite, Hill, Babb and Roberts visiting Black Bay Studios on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a dramatic location, where they recorded the collective’s full-length debut, Black Bay. 

Slated for an April 21, 2023 release through Bella Union, Black Bay reportedly is a testament to connectivity and receptivity and captures a union of disparate minds committing to something to something greater than the sum of its individual parts. Capturing the sound of seven storied musicians yielding to shared goals, the album ranges between hushed incantations and molten guitars, 15-minute noise rock epics and healing psalms. 

Last month, I wrote about Black Bay‘s first single, “Mother Tongue,” a slow-burning and sprawling song centered around swirling shoegazer-like guitar textures, twinkling reverb-drenched keys, ethereal and plaintive vocals paired with jazz-like drumming. While sounding like a synthesis of A Storm in Heaven and Dark Side of the Moon, the band explains that  “Mother Tongue is a song about women and other marginalized people rising up in the face of oppression.”

Black Bay‘s second and latest single “Eternal,” is a slow-burning, breathtakingly gorgeous hymn featuring shimmering and looping guitars, twinkling synths, military-like drumming, Elisabeth Elektra’s ethereal and yearning vocal paired with a soaring chorus that arches heavenward. Written by Silver Moth’s Elektra and Vine, the song is simultaneously a tribute to Elektra’s late friend Alanna, an invitation to listen deeply and carefully and a paean to female equality that’s fueled by “the need to reclaim and remember and give voice to those who are silenced,” Evi Vine explains.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Church Shares Cinematic and Glam Rock-like “No Other You”

Founded back in 1980, the Sydney-based ARIA Hall of Fame inductees The Church — currently founding member Steve Kilbey (vocals, bass, guitar); longtime collaborator and producer Tim Powles (drums), who joined the band in 1994 and has contributed to 17 albums; Ian Haug (guitar), a former member of Aussie rock outfit Powderfinger, who joined the band in 2013; multi-instrumentalist Jeffery Cain, a former member of Remy Zero and touring member of the band, who joined the band full-time after Peter Koppes left the band in early 2020; and their newest member, Ashley Naylor (guitar), a long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band and one of Australia’s most respected guitarists — was initially associated with their hometown’s New Wave, neo-psychedelic and indie rock scenes. But they became increasingly associated with dream pop and post-rock as their material took on slower tempos and surreal, shimmering soundscapes paired with their now, long-held reputation for an uncompromising approach to both their songwriting and sound. 

1981’s full-length debut Of Skins and Hearts, was a commercial and critical success thanks in part to the success of their first radio hit, “The Unguarded Moment.” And as a result, the legendary Aussie outfit was signed to major labels in Australia, Europe and The States. However, their American label was dissatisfied with their sophomore album and dropped the band without releasing it in the States. 

Although being dropped from their American label managed to slow down some of the international momentum surrounding the band a bit, 1988’s Starfish managed to be a smash hit, thanks to their only US Top 40 hit, “Under the Milky Way.” “Under the Milky Way,” received attention once again with its appearance in 2001’s cult-favorited film Donnie Darko.

Further mainstream success has been a bit elusive, but since the release of Starfish, the acclaimed Aussie outfit have developed a devoted, international cult following while also being incredibly prolific. The bands 25th album, 2017’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity was released to critical praise from the likes of PopMatters, who called the album “a 21st-century masterpiece, a bright beam of light amid a generic musical landscape, and truly one of the Church’s greatest releases.” 

The highly-anticipated follow-up to 2017’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity — and their 26th album —  The Hypnogogue is slated for a February 24, 2023 release through Communicating Vessels/Unorthodox. The album is the band’s first full-length concept album: Set in 2054, the album follows its protagonist Eros Zeta, the biggest rock star of his era, who travels from his home in Antarctica to use the titular Hypnogogue to help him revive his flagging and moribund fortunes. “The Hypnogogue is set in 2054… a dystopian and broken down future,” The Church’s Steve Kilbey explains. “Invented by Sun Kim Jong, a North Korean scientist and occult dabbler, it is a machine and a process that pulls music straight of dreams.”

“The Hypnogogue is the most prog rock thing we have ever done,” Kilbey says. “We’ve also never had a concept album before,” he says. “It is the most ‘teamwork record’ we have ever had. Everyone in the band is so justifiably proud of this record and everyone helped to make sure it was as good as it could be. Personally, I think it’s in our top three records.”

So far, I’ve written bout two of the album’s released singles:

  • The album’s expansive and brooding title track and first single, “The Hypnogogue.” Featuring the band’s swirling and textured guitar-driven sound paired with Kilbey’s imitable delivery, the song introduces listeners to the album’s characters — Eros Zeta and Sum Kim. The song follows Zeta, as they’re traveling to meet Kim, to go through the titular hypnogogue. But during the toxic and weird process, Zeta winds up falling in love with Kim. As Kilbey says, “. . . it all ends tragically (of course . .. as these things often do). 

  • The jangling and deceptively upbeat “C’est La Vie,” which continues the album’s narrative. Zeta’s agent warms him not to mess with the hypnogogue. “His manager has heard some bad rumors about it, and he doesn’t want his boy all strung out on this unknown thing,” The Church’s Steve Kilbey explains. The song ends with a gorgeous, shimmering fade out. “Musically, the song is a fast-paced rocker very much initiated by our guitarist Ian Haug. But it has plenty of twists and turns and ends up fading away in a delicate and winsome way.” 

The Hypnogogue‘s third and latest single “No Other You” is a glittering glam rock-like ballad with some Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie guitar work and a cinematic quality paired with Kilbey expressing an aching, almost desperate longing. “No Other You” may arguably be the most straightforward and earnest song of the band’s extensive catalog. The song continues the album’s narrative — but on a more personal level. The Church’s Steve Kilbey explains that the song is an “ultra-romantic song that Zeta writes for Sun Kim Jong, who is the inventor of The Hypnogogue. It’s a heartfelt song about an irreplaceable woman. And the Church gets to explore a slightly glam rock feel to boot.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Silver Moth Shares Slow-Burning and Cinematic “Mother Tongue”

Silver Moth is new collective featuring a celebrated cast of musicians and artists, including Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite singer/songwriter and electro pop artist Elisabeth Elektra, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Evi Vine, Abrasive Trees‘ Matthew Rochford, Burning House‘s Ash Babb, Steven Hill and Prosthetic Head’s Ben Roberts, who has also worked with Abrasive Trees and Evi Vine. The collective can trace its origins back to a Twitter exchange between Matthew Rochford and Elisabeth Elektra about the Isle of Lewis. A couple of Zoom meetings would subsequently lead to Rochford, Elektra, Vine, Braithwaite, Hill, Babb and Roberts visiting Black Bay Studios on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a dramatic location, where they recorded the collective’s full-length debut, Black Bay.

Slated for an April 21, 2023 release through Bella Union, Black Bay reportedly is a testament to connectivity and receptivity and captures a union of disparate minds committing to something to something greater than the sum of its individual parts. Capturing the sound of seven storied musicians yielding to shared goals, the album ranges between hushed incantations and molten guitars, 15-minute noise rock epics and healing psalms.

“Mother Tongue,” Black Bay‘s first single is a slow-burning and sprawling song centered around swirling shoegazer-like guitar textures, twinkling reverb-drenched keys, ethereal and plaintive vocals paired with jazz-like drumming. While sounding like a synthesis of A Storm in Heaven and Dark Side of the Moon, the band explains that  “Mother Tongue is a song about women and other marginalized people rising up in the face of oppression.”

Directed by Maddie Burton, the accompanying video features the gorgeous scenery of the Isle of Lewis superimposed with footage of women and other marginalized groups protesting and standing up in the face of oppression and cruelty across both time and space. “We were really excited as a band to work with video director Maddie Burton for the accompanying visuals.Maddie’s work is so beautiful, textural and evocative, all the members of Silver Moth felt her art harmonized with our music perfectly, ” the band says of the accompanying video. “Evi Vine had the idea for Maddie to include archival footage from feminist marches around the world in the video, and Maddie then overlaid the march footage with archival footage of the island of Lewis where we recorded the album. Maddie also wove in other images of nature, which felt like it added an extra layer of meaning considering the climate emergency we are all currently navigating”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Brighton’s The Fuchsias Share Dynamic “Elephante”

Brighton UK-based ambient music/post rock duo The Fuchsias — Bobby Fage and Stephen Ingham — can trace their origins back almost 20 years: Fage and Ingham played together in a now-defunct ambient collective that played in venues across Brighton, as well as The Big Chill Festival and Beautiful Days Festival. Ingham went on to tour with Dark Horses for over a decade. Fage worked on several songs on Towards Nova Zembla’s 2005 full-length debut, and did compositional work for installation artist Sean Kubsia’s Mysteres des Memoires and Recall, which displayed his fascination with utilizing experimental methods.

The duo wound up reconnecting over a mutual desire to create new minimalistic material — with live electronic elements. The British duo’s recently released four-track debut EP Isle sees them delving into modular guitar experimentation while simultaneously reflecting their unique tastes and passion for expansive, immersive music.

Isle EP‘s latest single, the expansive and cinematic “Elephante” alternates between glistening and looping guitar lines paired with tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap and ambient sections with twinkling electronics. While being decidedly beat driven, “Elephante” is rooted in the sort of patient, patiently textures of Mogwai, Public Service Broadcasting, and others.