Yellow Swans - Going Places

From the limited knowledge I have about noise and some of its adjacent genres, this is one of the most celebrated records in the field and is the last for the outfit. And man they went out with a bang with this, with its softly pulsing but often screeching sound design encompassing the record which truly sounds like falling slowly into a black hole. While the sounds mostly present themselves in greyscale just like the album cover, it’s when some softness comes into the recordings that I found myself most emotionally engaged with it, especially on songs like New Life and the title track that finds even the bleakest of colour coming through among the cacophony. It’s a really special album that deserves to be heard by even the most casual of noise and harder ambient fans, and is a significant sendoff from a very special artist in the field.

KEY TRACK: Going Places - the self-referential title track is what the entire album seemingly leads up to, with the ascending melody peaking through the noise and yells to create a really cathartic experience.