Reaching Needles — Synthfluencers Die Alone

Synthfluencers Die Alone is a new six-track album from Ottawa’s Reaching Needles. It finds the project aptly, at times creatively bringing together elements of textured noise, synth-scaping, and walled noise. The release appears on Fort worth’s Hot Fuzz as either a physical cassette release, or a digital download- I’m reviewing the latter.
 

I first became aware of Reaching Needles in early 2022- and at that point, they were more of a formal walled noise project, with subtle ambient undercurrents. As they’ve released more work, it’s become clear they not going to stay just in the tight( but rewarding) confines of the walled noise form, and Synthfluencers Die Alone is very much proof of this- as it really is difficult to put this release into one genre draw, and shut it.

The six tracks featured have runtimes between just over a minute to eighteen minutes. It moves from the washed-out synth choirs, angular swarm, and sinisterly rattling tone metallics of “Code Silver”. Through to tightly cluttering wall noise roast meets serrated scape ‘n’ manic swirls of “Enablers”. Or there's the title track, which brings together a  constant & piling-up beaded texturally descent with a  distant & slightly disquieting ambient revolving. With this track nicely edging up the tension later on, with some effective skipping static grain subtones being added to proceedings.

I’d say you have to be a more open-minded wall noise fan to fully enjoy what Synthfluencers Die Alone has to offer, but if you are then you’ll be most enamoured with what’s on presented here. And I do look forward to hearing what the project does next. To either get hold of the soon-to-be-released cassette version of this, or the digital version do drop by here.