Hi Fiction Science is a five-piece band from Bristol (UK) formed in 2007, featuring Maria Charles (vocals, guitar), Jeff Green (bass), James McKeown (guitar), Matt Rich (keyboards) and Aidan Searle (drums & percussion). Originally they played cosmic influenced instrumental songs, with a link to German rock bands like Cluster, Neu! and Can. With the arrival of Maria they made a switch to acid-folk, art-rock and modern electronic music. Second song Circles In Halftone, is a good example of the music by Hi Fiction. The hypnotic and dreamy synths and drums drag you to an ominous, dark environment. Magpies is another good song; the high and excellent voice of Maria makes for a good interaction between lyrics and doom-music. The distorted guitar sounds in Vapour are something more difficult to digest. More to my liking is the up-tempo title track; a fracture of a very early U2 can be heard at the end of this guitar dominated song. The one minute short song Komorebi, sounds very Japanese and Chinese. The logical sequel is 1000 years. There are lots of Oriental elements in it: very high voices and just electric guitars, drums and electronics as a background in this elegant art-rock song. The guitar that sounds like The Edge (U2) is back in Fragmenting Sons. I loved the Jeff's pumping bass playing this time; it's quite a contrast to the previous quiet songs. Last song Squaretaker, has something haunting in the beginning. James' electric guitar is rocking Curious Yellow to the end. My biggest complaint is that Curious Yellow is just 38 minutes long. I could have easily spent hours listening to the modern electronic music of Hi Fiction Science. ***+ Cor Smeets (edited by Esther Ladiges) Where to buy? |
