You know an album is good when you don’t want to listen to anything else. When I finished black midi’s third and latest LP, Hellfire, I immediately restarted it from the beginning. The next day, I was left in a bit of a musical limbo without anything to listen to casually. I didn’t want to have Hellfire on a constant loop and (1) get tired of it and/or (2) half-focus on it and not give it the attention it deserves, diminishing the impact of the listening experience. But everything else paled in comparison — nothing seemed remotely appealing after hearing such an addictively fun and intricately crafted work. Finding albums like this is why I listen to music.
Hellfire signifies an even larger step away from black midi’s debut release, Schlagenheim, and towards a more genre-ambiguous space. 2021’s Cavalcade began the shift, but it still remained fairly rooted in post-punk, progressive rock, and a bit of jazz. Hellfire seems to be the realization of the next step to incorporating even more genres and not being rooted in any one in particular. The band paints with genres instead of working within their confines, using lush swaths of jazz punctuated by elaborate, proggy pointillism which evolves into jagged, abrasive rock hellscapes that become shrouded by the hazy, atmospheric blending of ambient before bursting into the rich classicism of a Broadway showtune. Each sound, each style acts as a tool, a piece of material that is worked into the tapestry of each track.
You can also tell you love an album when you write a pretentious painting analogy at 2:00 AM because you can’t stop thinking about it.
Like most of black midi’s music, Hellfire is thoroughly doused in fun and playfulness. While the music can be intense and the lyrics can portray a wide variety of characters and stories, nothing seems intended to weigh on the listener — rather, it is more like watching a movie in which the audience is kept at a distance because all of the events on the screen are passed through a mental filter of “entertainment.” This tone is maintained through the music, which is often dramatic or unexpected to the point of comedy, as well as the lyrics, which are packed with phrases and images that are peculiar, but also strangely vivid. One of my favorite examples is “limbs rendered birds by the speed they flew off” from “Welcome to Hell,” which I find quite hilarious because it paints such a clear and memorable image. This track also epitomizes the band’s ability to utilize frequent and drastic changes effectively, giving the listener just enough time to get adjusted and locked into each odd groove before moving to something entirely different.
The technical aspect of this album also cannot be ignored. Most prominently, the transitions on this album are phenomenal. Nothing seems clunky or forced — if the transition is abrupt, it takes the listener by surprise in the best possible way, but most of the transitions are absolutely elegant, especially on the track “Still.” Aside from the composition, structure, and songwriting, all of the band members are also extremely technically proficient instrumentalists. The best example of this is perhaps on “Sugar/Tzu,” which is remarkably precise, especially considering the intricacy of the arrangement. Each fragment is chaotic, but also entirely self contained — everything lines up, stops, and switches at the same precise moment. Rather than diminishing the chaos, however, this makes it more impactful — it gives it a purpose and a direction, preventing it from ever veering into the territory of undirected waffling.
“Half Time,” although it is just an interlude, is one of the best tone-setters on the album. It keeps the playfulness by placing the album in a casual, radio program setting, and it also sets up the next track perfectly. “Next up, a song like no other. Listen to this!” says (presumably) Rahim, the radio host, setting up “The Race is About to Begin,” which immediately joins the ranks of black midi’s best tracks, where it sits with the likes of “Western,” “John L,” and “Ascending Forth.”
The instrumentation is so layered and multi-dimensional throughout the whole album which animates it and gives it an uncommon vibrancy. “The Race is About to Begin” is one of the best examples of this — everything seems to be scurrying around frantically, especially in the first half, capturing an almost palpable sense of movement and creating imagery as distinct as the lyrics. One of the best instances of this is after Geordie Greep says “hypodermic needles,” when the music comes in short, sharp stabs so that the listener can feel exactly what is happening through the sound. Halfway through the track, the music begins to solidify into a driving, descending three-chord figure that brings the seemingly erratic atmosphere into something more linear. This keeps building, propelled along by Greep’s high-speed raving, reaching a massive apex with thunderous drums and screaming saxophone.
The final two tracks are perhaps the most traditionally dramatic on the album, and the ones that take black midi farthest from their roots on Schlagenheim. The Defence paints a portrait of a man who is aware that his practices are morally questionable, but tries to defend them to some unknown critic, as well as himself. Greep’s vocals display this especially well as he, in character, seems to be straining to pour as much emotion as he can muster into this defense, but the character still seems to remain unconvinced of his own innocence despite his best self-deceptive efforts. 27 Questions, the closing track, presents an operatic narrative before joining the performance itself with its musical theater-influenced latter half. With the conclusion of the show, the track explodes into a barrage of harsh noise, deteriorating and spectacularly self-destructing to close the album.
This is almost certainly the best album I have heard so far this year (only challenged by Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road) and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Now go listen to it so I can transfer my excitement onto you and get back into a listening routine.