With his first album, The Day I Stopped Reading
Wired, released early last year, Josh O’Connor,
the mastermind behind Head Noise, presented a bleak
and oppressive piece of work, with elements of post
rock, dub and electronica thrown together to great effect.
Released on small Dublin-based imprint Technica Curiosa,
and only made available in a few shops around the Irish
capital, this record proved to be one of the nice surprises
of the year. Now, O’Connor returns with If
Love Is Free Then Hope Is A Whore, his second album
as Head Noise.
Steering away from the dark atmospheres of The Day
I Stopped Reading Wired, Josh O’Connor introduces
far more open and accessible soundscapes, yet, he retains
some of the elements that made his first album such
an interesting piece of recording. If Head Noise still
evolves between broken electronica and post-rock influences,
O’Connor develops here more melodic structures,
reminiscent in some places of Boards
Of Canada. His regular injections of live instrumentation
– he plays guitar and bass and recently served
as a drummer in a reggae/funk formation – however
give his music a strong and unique identity. Carving
beautiful textures over narcotic beats, O’Connor
explores a far richer and colourful range of ambiences,
at times introducing some orchestral components (Human
Dub, Paramatma) and at others simply expanding
on his unusual sonic environment. If the compositions
sometimes appear melancholic, the sumptuous melodies
on offer here distract from the underlying substance
of the arrangements developing in the background. Head
Noise hasn’t however renounced his stark sonic
landscapes entirely. Dark demons seem to be lurking
in the background of tracks such as I Dreamt I Had
Four Arms, One Of These Days… or
Paramatma, but this time, he appears to have
them well under control. It is surprisingly mostly through
the use of isolated sections of conversation that they
surface most notably.
This second effort from regular Power FM DJ Josh O’Connor
explores far richer and more varied ambiences than its
predecessor. If there is still an element of tension
in his work, O’Connor develops his composition
in new, more accessible ways, and shows once again great
musical maturity.
4.5/5 |
