Small Hours — Tears In The Rain

Well, here’s a strange one to review… This is a limited (20 copies) cassette reissue of an even more elusive release (10 CDRs) from Small Hours, which was originally birthed on Sweet Solitude, back in 2011. So, we have a shiny, silver, one-sided C112 tape, and new artwork. The piece is a reflection on the film Blade Runner, and this obviously informs the inlay, which uses a font from the film throughout, as well as imagery derived from the sci-fi classic. Perhaps the most notable difference, is that where the original CDR had a photo of Rutger Hauer’s character in the climatic end scene, this reissue has a painting of that same image. Earlier I said that this is a strange one to review, this is because I actually reviewed the CDR version, about five years ago… So I won’t be clinically picking it apart, but perhaps more generally reflecting on it.

The track remains stunning: 55:26 minutes of supreme HNW work, with more twists and turns than James Killick is perhaps known for. I say ‘more’, but really this just means a few shifts in direction and intensity. It begins with dialogue and sounds from Blade Runner, before a hard bassy wall slams in, licking fire. After this, more sounds from the film struggle to break through, distorted and saturated - not something very common in the work that I’ve heard from Killick. Once the wall is established - a quick, trundling bass, with nice, slightly hollow mid-frequency textures, and twitching treble flecks - it remains largely static. However, there are a few shifts - again, not something overly common in my experience of Killick - there’s a noticeable surge, before the wall breaks back into more tamed territory, as well as a later section that sounds like hollow, lighter gravel, underpinned by murky bass. Very nice textures indeed. The piece ends by opening out into near white noise, and then we hear part of Rutger Hauer’s famous rooftop monologue from Blade Runner. As I said, years later it’s still a great work.

Hopefully a reissue like this, limited as it is - and I think it’s not surprisingly sold out - has brought more worthy attention to a great release from a great project. (The only criticism I can muster is the blank second side: my brain can’t abide a vacuum.) I don’t believe in living in the past, or grovelling before history, so it’s refreshing that the HNW scene often feels so ‘of the moment’ (and indeed, sprawling) - as opposed to so many other genres which constantly fixate on building canons, and ‘100 greatest…’ lists. However, it does no harm whatsoever to reach back now and then, and remind ourselves of older works - especially given the high turnover of projects in the scene. Pleasingly, James Killick has not yet hung up his pedals, and I hope he doesn’t for a good while longer.