Molly Noise
Profane Feminine
self-released
Dublin producer/performer Molly Noise’s new release Profane Feminine could loosely be classified as industrial pop, but a dizzying number of other styles and executions are folded into its elevn tracks. Take opener “In This, Through This, I Will Emerge Stronger” where a gentle and mournful piano intro gives away in short order to a verse of cut up guitars, rhythmic synths, rapidly panned vocals which then take a sideways turn into glitched out IDM before disintegrating into noise, all in under two and a half minutes. That kind of genre switchup is certainly part of Molly Noise’s production and songwriting, although not the only tool in her kit – witness her grinding rough-edged synthwork on the relatively straightforward (but still rather menacing) “The Cold Earth Awaits Your Bones” or the manic fast-forward hyperpop hip-hop of the title track, a suitable accompaniment to Pink Limb’s over the top rhymes. There’s even room for more contemplative moments such as the dreamy and mournful “Hollow”, whose plainly sung vocal penetrates through the waves of reverb – a counterpoint to conversational phone message approach used on the speedy “MOON POWER MAKEUP”. For all the different things that happen on it and the number of guest vocalists, Noise’s personality shines through with remarkable clarity regardless of what is happening on any given track. A rough edged, funny, weird and occasionally quite moving DIY release from a producer to keep and eye on.
LOFN
Post-Apo Romance
Veyl
Berlin duo LOFN clearly show off their familiarity with extreme metal, noise, and techno on their debut EP for Thomas Feriero’s Veyl label, but those genres tend to frame Post-Apo Romance‘s compositions, rather than give them their anima. Instead, those genres’ elements and textures are used as grist for LOFN’s mill, which grinds out widescreen ambiance and hi-def sludge across five well-considered pieces. The slow and slinky “Pachad” draws a line between ritual industrial and the hazy doom of Menace Ruine, sitting in start contrast to the clattering sturm und drang of “I Get Lit”, which samples Radio Werewolf edgelord Nikolas Schreck amidst grimed up two-step beats. The slowly emergent, loping grind of the lengthy closing title track ultimately reveals itself to essentially be a harmonically driven downtempo piece made up of sounds of a cast similar to those we’ve heard in much more extreme circumstances previously. Varied and enjoyable stuff which doesn’t see the extremity of noise as an end in and of itself.
