tAngerinecAt: Grief
(self-released)
CD | DL | Vinyl
Launched Might 2025
Experimental duo tAngerinecAt return with an album brimful of affection, loss, anger and transformation. Andy Brown explores Grief for Louder Than Conflict.
I first got here throughout experimental duo tAngerinecAt by way of their chic 2022 LP, Glass. This darkish but distinctly defiant album was – and stays – probably the most memorable and startling introductions I’ve needed to a band in a while. Significantly, neither Donovan or the Butthole Surfers can put together you for what non-binary vocalist, poet and multi-instrumentalist Zhenia Purpurovsky (he/him) can do with a hurdy-gurdy. It’s been just a few years however Purpurovsky and Paul Chilton (they/them) are again with Grief: a posh and emotional album brimful of affection, loss, anger and transformation.
Placing the hurdy-gurdy to at least one facet, the file is made up of atmospheric synths and industrial digital textures. On the centre of this now we have Purpurovsky’s unimaginable voice: an arresting and unquestionably passionate presence all through the albums eight tracks. Simply hearken to the sparse and placing title monitor that opens up the LP. Utilizing overtone singing methods, Purpurovsky’s Japanese European tones fill the area and ship shivers up my woefully underprepared backbone. The phrases to this explicit tune are sung in Ukrainian however you don’t should lookup the interpretation to really feel each single syllable in your soul.
tAngerinecAt are based mostly in North Wales however Chilton is initially from Cheshire and Purpurovsky was born within the Ukraine. This creates a novel sense of place that echoes via the file in quite a few methods, from the songs sung in Ukrainian to the thread of Welsh mythology that informs the albums narrative. Grief is a profoundly private challenge with Purpurovsky’s identification, trauma and a powerful anti-war/ anti-fascist sentiment operating via the very coronary heart of the file.
The album embraces minimalism, stripping all the pieces again to let the stark soundscapes and Purpurovsky’s voice actually shine. Simply take the evocative March of Mourn: a minimalistic beat that step by step evolves right into a brooding wave of synths and the sound of waves crashing in opposition to the shore. “Give me energy to bury the missiles” go the phrases like some secular anti-war prayer. That is the ache, the hope and – certainly – the grief that occupies the album.
Freedom ramps up the depth as Purpurovsky lets out an impassioned plea: “Take my nationality/ Give me many languages/ I wish to be free.” The sound design all through the album is totally exemplary; shifting between near-pin drop moments of quiet to intense industrial dread. A way of each hypnotic concord and inescapable rigidity. The Irish Sea has an nearly bodily presence because it judders uncomfortably from my headphones. They could be electronically conjured however the textures listed here are paying homage to early industrial music the place sheet metallic and oil drums had been used as instrumentation.
Downtrodden however endlessly defiant: that is darkish, ominous and decidedly offended music. Each phrase on Fireplace is expelled via gritted-teeth. “I’m raging/ I’m demolishing oppression” the singer spits as the strain continues to rise. Subaltern hits us with a throbbing, cathartic bombardment of beats. Purpurovsky seethes over the noise: “To this nation I got here by luck/ Truthful-play you say? What the fuck! Who’re you to inform me who I’m? Who do you assume you’re to outline me?” For all its spectacular technical accomplishments, Grief is an album propelled by a uncooked, palpable ardour.
The duo are atheists however have talked about incorporating the tone of Japanese Orthodox liturgy into the album; this ceremonial spirit is especially outstanding on a monitor like Gwyn ap Nudd. The title refers back to the King of the “honest folks” in Welsh mythology and right here serves as a metaphorical and transformative conduit for Purpurovsky. Sung in Ukrainian, the vocal efficiency is nothing wanting spine-tingling. Cyhyraeth is called after a Welsh mythological spirit and gives us with a suitably ghostly and endlessly intriguing conclusion. I may look at every part of the duo’s sound and nonetheless not grasp fairly how they do what they do. Truthfully, it’s like magic.
To my ears, the album remembers artists as numerous as Einstürzende Neubauten and Angelo Badalamenti whereas Purpurovsky has cited everybody from Gesaffelstein to Ghostpoet as influences. But finally, tAngerinecAt may by no means actually sound like anybody however themselves. Drawing from the private and political, the duo have crafted one other daring, passionate and artistically achieved album. It’s actually a darkish and inarguably intense file but by no means one which’s devoid of hope. Grief is the sound of perseverance, the triumph of artwork and the human spirit within the face of adversity.
~
You’ll find tAngerinecAt on Fb and Instagram.
Take heed to and purchase their music on Bandcamp HERE.
All phrases by Andy Brown. You possibly can go to his creator profile and browse extra of his evaluations for Louder Than Conflict right here.
A Plea From Louder Than Conflict
Louder Than Conflict is run by a small however devoted impartial workforce, and we depend on the small sum of money we generate to maintain the location operating easily. Any cash we do get is just not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to assume and write, or hungry shareholders. We all know instances are powerful, and we wish to proceed bringing you information on essentially the most attention-grabbing releases, the newest gigs and anything that tickles our fancy. We aren’t pushed by revenue, simply pure enthusiasm for a scene that every one in every of us is enthusiastic about.
To us, music and tradition are eveything, with out them, our very souls shrivel and die. We don’t cost artists for the publicity we give them and to many, what we do is totally important. Subscribing to one in every of our paid tiers takes only a minute, and every sign-up makes a big impact, serving to to maintain the flame of impartial music burning! Please click on the button beneath to assist.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
