Review of INDEX FOR WORKING MUSIK Which Direction Goes The Beam?

 

Index For Working Musik emerged from London's sulfur skies to carve out a rough diamond of a debut record in 2023 and are now back with their sophomore brainchild. These spiritual heirs of The Velvet Underground are keeping Lou Reed's foggy notion alive and kicking with their chiaroscuro of atmospheres, hushed vocals and dissonant guitars. 

In their first album, the band conjured up a kind of dystopian world as a background, in their own words, as if the world of the living was no more. While the darkness remains for good measure, this follow up bears a more inward and confidential aura, leaning towards a more muffled and sensual overtone, with fuzz still having pride of place. 

 “Thursday’s Bells’ thrusts you into the abyss right away but rest assured, it's like falling at the bottom of a well made of gold to a private lounge area. These bells are a good omen, Natalia Bruno's delicate vocals are the key that bids you welcome and lets you into the secret place, then “2x1” really hits home with its eruption of fuzzy grinding guitars. London 2020s via the Factory in NYC. “Run Run Run” instantly springs to mind as a kind of teaser but the band delve deeper into their own niche, elegantly expanding the canvas of their first release. 

“Fog”is tantalizingly cinematic, as if someone was walking stealthily up a staircase to uncover a treasure or a skeleton in a closet, the suspense rises higher and higher. 

“X says” has a contrasting rhythm, yet just as enticing with its sovereign drum that feels like an epic chase throughout.

Halfway through the record emerges the pinnacle “Sparrows Hill”, a serpentine lined symphony that slithers majestically, all the way to our brains and encapsulates the essence of Index For Working Musik's sound. Hypnotic, voluptuous, enigmatic, befogged and crepuscular with sensory voices that mingle as in a tight embrace. 

“Sister” is in the band's more instant register, which gravitates around shifting shades of darkness and electricity. It radiates raw vibrancy whilst carrying that shadowlike imprint which is the band's unflinching trademark. 

This five-piece loves to cover their tracks with noisier interludes, then revert to a seemingly soothing and sprawling tour de force with “Purple Born” which starts as a confessional lullaby with both vocalists at their mellowest, taking turns, then gradually builds up within an unpredictable song structure, with a teeming tapestry of roaring guitars and painterly strings.

This collection of songs could have been titled Black Light, Black Heat. It revolves around towering, freethinking and visually evocative soundscapes whose riot of sounds remind of abstract expressionists's brush strokes. An immersive experience.