Pomperipossa Records – PRLP2 – 16th April 2016
James Wells
An act called drøne can surely only be about one thing, and yes, drøne (Mark Van Hoen, who’s renowned as a solo artist as well as for his work under the Locust moniker, and Mike Harding – no, not the folk singer / comedian known as the ‘Rochdale Cowboy’) are indeed masters of drone. Reversing into the Future contains two tracks, ‘This Strange Life’ I and II, although the digital version masters them as a single continuous track with a running time of some 42:45. Really, how much drone – or drøne – do you need?
Drone-heavy as it may be, ‘reversing into the future’ manages to hold the interest by exploring a wealth of different textures, creating a is a collage consisting of field recordings, short wave radio, and modular synth, assembled seamlessly to forge a journey of electrically-charged dissonance, drones and electronic melodies.
It would be an absurd act of pomposity and pretention to devote 500 words to the transportative effects of the music, just as it would be an exercise in needless intellectual onanism to effuse over the nuances of the way the various textures and tones resonate with and against one another to achieve various effects.
Reversing into the Future is an intriguing album, and one which will resonate in different ways with every listener. It’s dark, it’s ominous, but it’s also uplifting, graceful. For those who respond on a more technical or theoretical level, there are near infinite depths to explore.
Don’t be deceived: Reversing into the Future offers so much more than mere drone.
