Come Back Between Hours of Operation

The genre eluding three piece from Australia theclosing are creating deeply detailed and often disturbed worlds with their art-electronica and their new self-titled album brings us 14 more alien planets to explore. Daniela Auer, Alexander Hengi, and Lukas Lehmer have a very unique perspective on music production. Since 2004 the trio had been communicating to one another through strange sounds, and although they refute the term, “band,” the three operate together like an orchestra.

Making a xylophone sound like a very eerie brand of windchime is easy to listen to on the nine minute sixteen second long intro, “Feldied.” A harsh contour follows in “tiktak,” which paints an instrumental scene of industrial futurism. Each song henceforth in theclosing is of its own unique style and nonsense name. Acoustic guitars and drum machines are at the heart of this music. Because there is such variety packed into this album, the more experimental parts of tracks, like the very end of “rrroar,” are downright difficult to listen to. That’s not to say that this album isn’t without its gems. Their single, “Neeu,” takes listeners on a journey through creepy soundscapes in vivid watery worlds. It shows that theclsoing has no problem flirting with the realm of fantasy.

The beat-centric environment influences of theclosing dominate its thought-provoking imagery. If Primus ever decided to do trip-hop, they would sound like theclosing, so these guys get bonus points for showing us the boundaries of experimental music. As it simultaneously waxes industrial, IDM and hip-hop, theclosing appeals to fans of this growing witch-hop cross genre. After listening to the cornucopia of environmental layers and funky beats, it’s clear that these guys would put on one freaky live show.