The Hole is a stellar new EP from Reykjavík-based experimental-pop artist and producer R.M. Hendrix. The release is a follow-up to his excellent album YUKS, which consumed us earlier this year with its range of atmospheric art-pop and trip-hop intrigue.
This latest EP — largely instrumental and enjoyably experimental — takes inspiration from the writings of Haruki Murakami; Hendrix found particular allure in Murakami’s recurring motif of characters “descending into pits, wells, and subterranean chambers—spaces that begin as suffocating darkness but become portals, psychic liminal zones, or alternate states of mind.”
“An Escape” opens the EP in haunting form, intertwining outdoor ambience and a chilly, howl-like effect — then complemented by illuminated, ghostly piano and wordless backing vocal hypnotics. A captivating vocal presence comes thereafter, with references to both darkness and dreams of heaven crafting ample mystique into the resonating “an escape” conclusion. The EP’s book-ends play as the “proper songs” — with both “An Escape” and “How is it in Reykjavík?” delighting in its mixture of yearning, artful vocals and wintry atmospherics; the finale enjoyably brings to mind Xiu Xiu in its creative disposition.
The four tracks in-between these excel in their own right, crafting otherworldly soundscapes with delicate structural unfoldings. “Stars at Noon” employs elongated vocal effects and spacey electronic undercurrents, serene yet a bit foreboding, while “You Are Lost” continues that lost-in-space immersion as buzzing electronics take hold. The epic “The Body Passes Where the Body is Not” also stirs, glimmering with meditative, chiming entrancement in leading cohesively to the EP finale. The Hole represents another enveloping, atmospheric success from R.M. Hendrix.
