Review: Hanry ‘What Came From Silence’
The last time I put pen to paper (or fingertip to keyboard, if you crave accuracy) about French instrumental rockers Hanry was in January last year to discuss the release of their Disruption EP.
Without recapping their history as extensively as I did then, Hanry’s rise has been rapid. Just four years after their formation, having signed with Pelagic Records and released Disruption, the five-piece make their debut full-length bow with the mesmerising eight-track What Came From Silence.
Following their debut EP, the core trio of Anthony (bass/guitar), Marc (keyboards), and J.A (guitar) perfected their way of writing and composing songs. They grew from the tentative bones of an idea into expansive, cinematic soundscapes that shimmer with post-rock grandeur, yet remain steeped in the nuances of tension shifts and complex dynamics.
Hanry’s musical journey is one of exploration, balancing their sound between subtle restraint and the full-on power of stadium-like majesty. Across the record, they take these ideas and transform them into a meditation on liminal space, emergence, and how sound gathers weight from quiet beginnings.
A cathedral-like swell begins Noise Drowns Out, the organ sounds tapping into their stated dissertation on exploring the emotional impact of varying resonance. The electronic, stuttering patter of beats and backwards samples joining the rising sounds gives the track a lush indie-meets-trip-hop vibe. When the big smash comes, signalling the transition where tension breaks and the music gathers weight, it feels as though light has burst through. The spaces in the movements are big and airy, allowing the paint to dance over soaring synths that recall the works of Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky.
Aurora has a plodding, low-key start before crisp drums and juddering electronics mix with the pulsing bass that anchors the track. The moodier, growing atmospherics bring an industrial edge to the fuzz and crackle of the delivery, as Hanry once again work from a place of tension to the moment where the clouds break and let the brightness in. The weeping strings and dramatic piano stabs never truly banish the underlying sense of disharmony, but as the track grows in power, there is a marvellous elegance to the film-score-like sound as the band embrace their new material with a boldness born from confidence.
Continuing with the more sombre feel, Dustwake comes across like Yawning Man if they were shorn of that open Californian desert skyline. Swathed in low end and a deliberate, marching motion, the keys feel struck with more deliberate pressure, while the synth swirls struggle to cast a serene shadow over the rockier, human elements. The quiet drop-out hums and adds a moment of stillness before the band gather breath and power into the track’s final act with skittering sounds and backwards loops.
a meditation on liminal space, emergence, and how sound gathers weight from quiet beginnings…
The plaintive beginnings of Her Crown, Her Empire give way to the soft crump of the beat and further piano stabs from Marc Mifune, who does a great job of often acting as the de facto voice in lieu of vocals. For all the clinical approach to the songwriting and the carefully constructed landscapes they create and shift before our eyes (ears?), at the heart of What Came From Silence is a deep emotional connection.
Remains ushers in a different tone. Bright and upbeat, there is an angular edge to the sound that feels decidedly futuristic and urban compared to some of the more organic-natured entities that have gone before. This number, more than any, feels like a scratching sci-fi soundtrack, battling disconnecting vibes as precision gives way to walls of distorted noise and lingering sonics.
From the lofty highs of Remains, the opening of Time’s Collapsing feels more grounded and deliberate as the drums snap and stomp with assertive strikes. This contrasts with the bubbling trebles running over the wandering bass, bringing a joyous energy that makes the track seem like a happy sigh releasing the pent-up tension of previous tracks. Even as they pull back to begin the climb to the next crescendo, there is an energy and a drive that makes it feel as though they have escaped from too long in the darkness.
Dead Waves calms the album once more; the busy drumbeat that appears from under the conversational, burbling electronics hints at more beyond the plodding chords. When they finally let the dramatic moments overwhelm them, there is a sense of majesty that mixes the ethereal with the tangible, allowing them to move through the heavier passages and retain that sense of a dizzying bird’s-eye view.
Ending with the epic-length Phantom Rush, which features the considerable talents of pianist Mariposa in collaboration with the quintet, the final track feels like a mini-journey within the journey. The band keeps it taut as they morph from punchy, staccato sounds into the dazzling heights of clean yet weighty sonic footprints. Once more, the piano provides a voice, more hesitant at first, moving freely as the transitions shift through emotive, delicate, yet affirming peaks and troughs. As the album ends on a drifting, whimsical note, you have to doff your cap to the focus and vision required to create a journey that explores so much in just forty-five minutes.
I really enjoyed Disruption,and the full-length follow-up What Came From Silence shows the progression and ambition of the Frenchmen as they truly discover the influences and synergy between members, striving to build on and improve their ambitious debut.
Label: Pelagic Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden
