It’s been a long time coming, but I felt that the time was finally right for me to give SIGHUP a proper review. Digging through my archives, I found end of. There are newer albums, but I don’t think I’ve given this one the attention it deserves, and that has been my loss.
SIGHUP has long been, in my opinion, the undisputed King of Drone, and this release does absolutely nothing to diminish that reputation. The album opens with a luscious choral drone that wafts almost angelically, stupefying the listener before shocking them back to their senses with an abrupt end. Afterwards the albums shifts gears and moves into the haunting, medium density dark ambient piece “saints brimful”, showcasing a facet of SIGHUP that is decidedly darker and bleaker. Not content to settle down yet, the album shifts gears again, into the Edison Moon inspired “city heart”, whose sampled melody is superbly drenched in layers of atmosphere and accented by subtle hints of noise. The title track has us revisiting the bleakness of “saints brimful”, but with the masterful addition of a very low key drone that hollows out the darkness, clearing room for the burgeoning march of electroacoustic noise that swells in through the track. The album closes with the brief, but beautiful, “coda”, further exemplifying SIGHUP’s mastery over all things drone.
While not my favorite SIGHUP album, it is absolutely a must hear for fans of any of the aforementioned genres.
[Rating:5/5]
Shucks, you’re too kind. Thanks, John.
I’m guessing Edison Moon is your favourite?
Yeah. There’s something particularly haunting about “Goodnight my moonlight” that really transcends the genre. Without that track, the whole album may not have been better than end of.
I slightly prefer ‘end of’ to ‘Edison Moon’, but that just my tastes. ‘End of’ feels a bit darker to me.