Hoo - We Shall Never Speak

Hoo take an atmospheric journey mixing soft sonic textures with emotional heaviness.

Another fine record I've had the pleasure of immersing myself in recently is this second long-player from Hoo, the follow-up to 2019's Centipede Wisdom. Hoo's musicians include Nick Holton (Black Hearted Brother), Neil Halstead and Ian McCutcheon (both ex-Slowdive). Guest musicians on We Shall Never Speak include Farmer Dave Scher (Beechwood Sparks, All Night Radio), and folk singer Jackie Oates. Together they've concocted a slow-burning, atmospheric set of songs that blend of floaty dream-pop, shoegaze and soft electro. 

There's a glacial majesty that coats the album's nine tracks, along with a subtle but insistent emotional pull. The vocals for the most part sit deliberately low in the mix, a production decision that aids the cumulative moodiness. We Shall Never Speak is part soundscape, part cinematic Krautrock, and part score to a modern ballet that may or may not exist. The record opens with 'Ghost in You', a track that features subtle unsettling pitch shifts and expert use of guitar effects atop synth washes and bold chord changes. The mood is set then for a meditative exploration of one's own headspace. The aptly titled 'Cranium' follows with its foreboding electronic pulses.

Jackie Oates makes her first appearance on 'The Mighty', which also features flute played by Robin Bennett. It has a simple but haunting melody and spectral guitar lines which slowly build in force and momentum. 'Still Dream' is based around a rumbling bassline and brings to mind a soft-focus version of Echo & The Bunnymen. Another perhaps unintentional touchstone is OMD's Dazzle Ships, most specifically via the electronic squelches on short track 'No One Can Ever See This'.

The album's centrepiece is its title track. It's also the album's most experimental moment, full of cascading synth notes and dub-laden echoey vocals. Jackie Oates returns on 'Powder Moon', which opens with vamped piano chords before her authoritatively beautiful vocal performance. She also sings on 'You Changed The Way You Smile', a relatively poppy affair which also features Farmer Dave playing a lap steel solo. 'Sea of Glass' closes the record while maintaining its beguiling mix of soft textures and emotional heaviness. It all adds up to an album that's best listened to in a solitary one-sitting, start-to-finish manner, perfect for those still moments that mid-winter provides.