Album Review: Uncle Hauk – Lose Your Illusions
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
Stepping outside of my comfort zone once again, I was drawn towards the latest release from multi-instrumentalist Uncle Hauk. With elements of post-punk, alternative rock, metal and jazz, I was intrigued by this melting pot of musical genres, so dived in for a closer look.
I’d never heard of Uncle Hauk, or Hauk Heimdalssman, to give him his full title, before but there’s an extraordinary wave of cacophonous sounds that greet your ears on the opening track “Tsunami”. I love the bass line that flows and rips through the song, as it’s a powerful sound which lays the foundations for the rest to follow with a different more complex guitar noise coming through on “Only the Living”. There’s plenty of tempo changes and he’s constantly leaving you second guessing as to which direction he’s off to next, but the midpoint solo is good before the sax kicks in to add more variety.
Aided by Quentin Marshall Purviance on drums and percussion throughout the album, Hauk does pretty much everything else, allowing him to break moulds and create expansive soundscapes. “It Doesn’t End Well” feels more sombre and sober in its approach but the music is textured and layered with a plethora of different noises whereas “The World is On Fire” is more direct and punchier in its delivery. The songs have so much happening that you’ll need a few listens to pick up on some of the nuances, but its great discovering new things each time you play them.
As Hauk himself says “it is a dark, restless album but not a hopeless one” and on the soothing “Alive in Death’s Shadow” there are pockets of melancholy that punctuate the slower and more poignant rhythm. “Toothache” takes you to a darker place, as a haunting melody opens with a deep saxophone taking the lead. The flowing ambient sounds are satisfying to my ear, with the lightly tapped cymbals setting the beat before they expand the sound over the next nine minutes.
There’s a racier beginning to “Stormy” one that befits the song title, with a change of direction to allow the accordion to burst into life and dominate proceedings, adding another subtlety to the album. “Ocean” has that more traditional rock drum beat and guitar riff that will get your head banging along before it ends with “Iron Strong”. A piercing piano starts the slow and eerie composition as the moving vocal takes over and it’s a delightful way to end what is an album full of surprises.
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