Small Hours — Tears In The Rain
The fifty-five minute long track starts with some brief dialogue from Blade Runner, before exploding into a very abrasive, bass-led wall. Further sound elements - music and dialogue - then struggle to penetrate through the layers of distortion; largely failing, but with enough legibility to tease the ear. After this, the wall dominates till the closing stages of the track. It starts with a rather muffled feel - it’s intensely pressured, straining to erupt; though, as time proceeds, a rattling treble emerges. Its a very hard wall; not frenzied or savage at all, to my ears, just relentless and unforgiving.
Around the twenty-four minute mark, there’s a sudden shift; some of the middle frequencies drop away, and the wall becomes much cleaner and lighter, with a greater clarity to the crackle. The track really seems to flourish at this point, its a nice section. Despite the increasing layers of treble, and their increasing agitation, the wall retains the same slow churn as before - it evokes a sombre, dignified brutality; without any overt sense of aggression or violence. In the latter stages of the piece, the more trebly layers really do crackle and flicker; until finally, after fifty-four minutes, the wall collapses in on itself, in a squall of white noise. Here, the wall ends and the track closes with Hauer’s memorable death soliloquy; which accompanies the release’s artwork and also provides its title.
“Tears In Rain” is a great piece of minimal sculpting. The track slowly shifts and develops with tremendous restraint and pacing; exploring many interesting textures. As I’ve said above, there is no real sense of violence or hostility to the recording; but instead a bleak, quiet darkness. Its the equivalent of a professional killer - they will be clean, efficient, economic, quiet and undetected; but they will kill you. This “sombre, dignified brutality” also perfectly reflects the death of Hauer’s character in the film which inspires it. An excellent release.