HUUUM - HUUUM (2023) [Hi-Res]

Vienna-based sound artist Rojin Sharafi assembles Austrian saxophonist Astrid Wiesinger and Iranian singer Omid Darvish for HUUUM's spine-tingling debut, carving out a junction between free jazz, Persian traditional music and distorted, clubwise electronics. RIYL Ziúr, Bendik Giske, Saint Abdullah.

HUUUM are a tough act to pin down. Listening to opener 'Dibāche' you'd be convinced the album is about to unfold like Bendik Giske's ritualistic 'Cracks', as Wiesinger's overblown phrases hitch themselves onto Sharafi's bubbling oscillations and Darvish's cavernous vocals. But once we hit 'Hanābandān', it's quite clear that the trio have a different tone in mind. Sharafi's erratic rhythmic templates are particularly striking, seemingly aware of vastly different club concepts - from footwork and gqom to kuduro and mahraganat - but never locked into just one mode. She propels her thumping kicks, claps and hand drums through walls of distortion, allowing Darvish and Wiesinger to call-and-response over the top. 'Yezle' is even stronger, a fluctuating shuffle of pounding, warehouse-ready rhythms and chants, and on 'Bahre Tavil' she lurches into electro, while Wiesinger turns her horn into a didgeridoo.

It's not all fast and frenetic, either. 'Bānzol' is grim and foreboding, with Darvish's empyreal words and vocalizations climbing to the heavens above Sharafi and Wiesinger's groggy drones, and 'Kahlse' flaunts Darvish's range, layering his elastic voice into a disarming, monastic chant. Then on 'Chapi', Sharafi sharpens her claws again, crafting a steady pulse from stuttering electronics and soundsystem-destroying subs, before bringing the album to a close with 'Tasnif', a 200+ bpm roller that's over almost before it's started. Exhaustingly energetic, 'HUUUM' is the sound of three gifted artists working out how best to manipulate their strengths and limitations, and reveling in the process.

Tracklist:
1.01 - HUUUM - Dibāche (2:33)
1.02 - HUUUM - Hanābandān (6:14)
1.03 - HUUUM - Yezle (4:26)
1.04 - HUUUM - Bānzol (4:13)
1.05 - HUUUM - Āzmān (7:10)
1.06 - HUUUM - Kahlse (4:22)
1.07 - HUUUM - Bahre Tavil (7:39)
1.08 - HUUUM - Chapi (7:23)
1.09 - HUUUM - Tasnif (1:22)