Review: Uboa ‘Impossible Light’
I have a soft spot for San Francisco based label The Flenser; Midwife, Mamaleek, Agriculture, Ragana and the recent Your Voice Is Not Enough: A Tribute To Low album are all firm favourites. So when Uboa popped up on the promos list, it was really a no-brainer when it came to the question of whether or not to cover it.
Uboa is a one woman project for Australian Xandra Metcalfe who has an astonishing number of releases way too numerous to list here in their entirety. Impossible Light, her fifth full-length album and second for The Flenser follows 2019’s The Origin Of My Depression, 2018’s The Sky May Be, 2013’s Jouissance and 2010’s Sometimes Light.
Xandra contributes, wait for it – vocals, baritone guitar, synths, zither, sampling, drum programming, drums, percussion, field recordings, noise, sound design, acoustic guitar and lyrics, while guest slots are allotted to Tig Harutyunyan, Lane Shi Otay:onii, Charlie Looker, Haela Hunt-Hendrix (Liturgy) and Samantha Milne. Having investigated and enjoyed Uboa‘s previous work in the build-up to this review, I’m confident Impossible Light will fare no differently, thus I’m excited to see if this remains the case.
Phthalates according to my research, is used as a plasticizer and can have adverse effects on human health such as diabetes/insulin resistance, breast cancer, obesity, metabolic disorders, and immune function. Thankfully the track itself has a far less damaging impact, instead, it’s akin to a big ball of ethereal light with its multitude of beautiful shoegaze style soundscapes. A divine start.
Endocrine Disruptor begins in a similar fashion to Phthalates with wave after wave of luscious ambience, but the track then begins to take on a more conventional structure adopting as it does the post black metal textures of latter day Chrome Waves. There’s a strong cathartic feel here and one which is emotionally rewarding as a result. A Puzzle recalls the avant-garde weirdness of Mancunians She The Throne and can be viewed as a horror film in miniature (the first Saw movie, perhaps), the opening half is creepy and laden with tension/anticipation, the latter downright harrowing packed with unsettling screams and ferocious blackened death metal.
a wonderful release with enough variety to keep you both engaged and intrigued…
Gordian Worm, featuring Blood Of A Pomegranate, starts with raw blasts of Merzbow inspired noise before evolving into post-industrial NIN and Front 242/Frontline Assembly goodness (feel free to insert an EBM outfit of your own) to give it a delicious danceable quality and a firm personal favourite, meanwhile, Pattern Screamers initially employs Oriental influenced sounds through the use of a zither(?), but then devolves into pure chaos and destruction that affords for a brilliant contrast of sounds.
Jawline, the album’s shortest track at two minutes twenty seconds, is laden with ghostly vocals and can be viewed as an interlude piece, albeit a very pleasant one, while Weaponised Dysphoria reminds me of the digital hardcore of bands such as Atari Teenage Riot, who I’ve not listened to in an age, as well as an even harsher Boredoms (who I still listen to pretty regularly), both of these giving the track an undeniably uncompromising edge, another standout for me.
Sleep Hygiene has a dreamy sensibility that recalls blackgaze groups ala Alcest to make for a honeyed aural experience then finally Impossible Light/Golden Flower which features Otay:onii, and at nearly ten minutes, it’s the album’s longest track with vocals not too dissimilar to Diamanda Galas, Kristin Hayter’s former moniker Lingua Ignota or even Björk. The music swells to a thrilling crescendo, superbly concluding the album on a dramatic, rapturous note.
Admittedly, while I can’t directly relate to Uboa‘s lived experiences, on a purely musical level this a wonderful release with enough variety to keep you both engaged and intrigued. Highly recommended.
Label: The Flenser
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
