While it’s true that you can’t judge a book by its cover, that which houses Hanry’s latest EP is pretty indicative of the sound contained within. An image, fractured and pieced together incorrectly, disjointed but strangely whole is exactly how the four tracks comprising Disruption feel. Each song has its own texture and personality and inhabits its own sonic space, yet this is, paradoxically, a cohesive listen and one that takes the listener on an amazing journey, and one that seems to warp space and time. The band’s instrumental brand of rock is poetry without words and paints a sound from pastel hues and bold splashes of colour to create a truly awe-inspiring experience.
Hanry first came to prominence in 2022 with their debut release Panorama and since then this French sextet have been winning hearts and blowing minds with their unique take on post-rock. Avoiding all the usual clichés, Disruption opens with the quiet storm that is ‘Radiance’. A bud opening or the sun appearing on the horizon, it takes on new form, almost imperceptibly, and without warning the song suddenly appears in all its monolithic glory. It is a startling sonic shift of some force, and if there is one thread that stitches these songs together then it is the manipulation of tone and timbre. It seems as if a great deal of effort has been expended on hitting just the right notes and it’s been labour well spent because the likes of ‘Zénith (Tape#2)’ resonate and reverberate with the listener of some deep, almost forgotten, primordial level.
While we are currently living in the golden age of instrumental post-rock groups, Hanry have a certain something that elevates them above the pack. In fact, it is the absence of easily recognisable influences; I can hear a little John Foxx and early Orchestral Manoeuvrers In The Dark in Hanry’s use of electronics, but beyond that they’re pretty much out there and charting unexplored territory. Despite operating as a six-piece, Hanry’s sound is uncluttered and it’s a configuration that allows them to pile sound upon sound, turning final track ‘Intermission’ into an unwieldy beast and one that suggests there’s much more goodness to come.
- Disruption is released digitally via Pelagic Records on 10th January 2025.
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Track List:
- Radiance
- Ether
- Zénith (Tape#2)
- Intermission
