Hiro Kone | A Fossil Begins To Bray | Dais Records
Release Date: 8 November, 2019
Feature Image: Hiro Kone by Lena Skhoda
The dynamism technology provides us allows for new avenues of conversation; an artificially generated existence riddled with an anxious future chatters within us incessantly. As we grow we build, build perceptions and ideas of how our world should function; create realities in which our inventions deflect from the insidious corruption beneath. ‘Tecno-facism’ isn’t unreasonable, it’s a creeping darkness slithering within all of us, a special kind of fear.
In ‘A Fossil Begins To Bray’ American, NYC producer Nicky Mao – known as her solo alter ego, Hiro Kone; traverses a detailed narrative, staggering toward lumination in the future – through the ebb & flow of textural electronics and intricate soundscapes. Mao’s skill in sound design sculpts a grappling tone, her production skill brimming with a powerful confidence. Following her debut ‘Love Is The Capital’ in 2017, and ‘Pure Expenditure’ in 2018; ‘A Fossil Begins To Bray’ broods with a brutally honest reflection of our society, ridden with violence and anxiety. As in her previous albums Mao’s electronic experimentation grabs hold of the sharp, broken politics that withhold us.
Opening with a rich, cinematic crescendo ‘A Desire, Nameless’ flourishes in an overwhelming wall of sound; engulfed in a theatrical wave, sharp sweeping textures and hints of metallic rolls flash between an intricate ambience and growing synth waves. Combing a luminous shore, the striking submerge of intricate sound design demonstrates Mao’s focused mosaic of tone; dotted with darkness, yet with hints of an underlying light. Tense, distorted timbres weave between dense, layered beats; constructed with incredible skill amongst a powerful, industrial aura. Looming with razor-sharp edge, the track exhibits an ominous feel, Mao’s striking techno brimming with hypnosis.
‘Akoluthic Phase’ grins with sinister ambience in its introduction, foreboding storm clouds brewing overhead in an ominous malevolence; phantoms rising from deep within a sombre void. Mao’s mastery over her craft allows for a sinister, dominant puppetry of pounding techno beats; grilling rhythms enrapture a billowing suspense. A dark experimental play evokes a sense of uneasiness – yet with it’s compelling determination, ‘Akoluthic Phase’ remains grounded and focused in it’s composition, boasting a strong, intense and driven atmosphere.
Rapid fluttering glides into a hammering pulse in ‘Feed My Ancestors’, shrouded in an unrelenting dance; the track’s soundscape glows a haunting midnight animation, a diligent progression that brews forcefully within Mao’s detailed electronic realm. Tenacious and determined, a distorted moment of reflection embraces glitching fibers, woven within each other in a highly concentrated composition, direct and straightforward yet bold in character.
‘A Fossil Begins To Bray’ showcases Mao’s willingness to break free from genre expectations and experiment with a confident dynamism. Fashioning electronic textures into moody narratives; the album is brimming with a foreboding darkness that deeply reflects the tumultuous environments we inhabit – the tense, nervous atmosphere we all feel in a society unjust – and the possibilities of our future, both terrifying and hopeful in nature.
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