News BLACKHOodS

It’s an incredibly modern illness, but one that needs to be solved – the vast overuse of the word epic. Whilst it’s long been washing around the internet, stale and bloated, the term has been abused for even longer by the music press, who’ll flock to describe anything over four minutes in running time with it.

The music that BLACKHOodS make is not epic, it is not vast, it is not life affirming. These are all good things. The two piece, based somewhere in the UK, make music that lingers, pulsates and promises, but very rarely delivers. The excitement comes from the tease as they spin their slow jams on for as long as they can be bothered with only the most minor progressions, the most obvious influence coming from psyche, as if Wooden Shjips had been asked to turn their pace glacial.

Even then, that feels like an ill fit – BLACKHOodS offer a kind of dense simplicity that is near unmatched elsewhere. This is a million miles away from pop music, melody lovers having to hunt for scraps amongst the stark, haunting bass. The fish that feature so prominently in their imagery suits them well – this is what it must feel like to listen to Animal Collective whilst submerged beneath water.

And yet, it’s almost irresistibly addictive, repeat listening almost demanded as the tracks drip and dribble delights over you, slowly slowly. Maybe they’re just unable to write a song that would sound alright on the radio, but the best bet is that they’re masters at holding back, the slow release and burn ingrained into every bleak note they make.