Black Midi - bmbmbm

Rarely have a band in the last few years garnered so much hype without releasing any studio material than basically unknown Londoners Black Midi. Word of mouth from hugely intense live shows and an equally uncompromising NTS session recorded at Hackney’s Flesh & Bone Studios later, and they’re possibly the most hyped band in the capital.

Predictably, debut single ‘bmbmbm’ only serves to heighten this excitement. Based around a single, blackened stab of distorted guitar, all manner of weird and wonderful noises worm their way around this ever-present thud. From warped samples of barely audible recorded speech to the wonderfully unique, half-spoken vocals of Geordie Greep.

As unpredictable as it is engaging, ‘bmbmbm’ goes off on unhinged tangents, with a wall of noise periodically crashing its way in before swiftly departing again only seconds later, the thud of guitar returning.

As fresh and unique as it is, ‘bmbmbm’ becomes hard to get your head around; there’s elements of hardcore and blackened post-rock in its cacophonous ending, but intricate math-rock in its taut, spiky ongoing verse.

Justifying all the hype of the live shows in one unrelenting burst, Black Midi have arrived, and there’s absolutely no telling where they’ll go next.