Right from their self-titled shoegaze-indebted 2020 debut, Hull four-piece Bdrmm – so-called because they began as a bedroom project for singer/guitarist Ryan Smith – have been more about textures than big hooks. As they’ve grown, they’ve steadily broadened their palette, with electronica increasingly at the heart of their sound, and Microtonic feels very much like a natural progression, melding as it does the sense of foreboding present in Thom Yorke’s solo material (the work of the late cultural theorist Mark Fisher is cited as an influence) with some unabashed moves in the direction of the dancefloor.
Opener Goit finds Working Men’s Club’s Sydney Minsky Sargeant intoning ominously on top of glitchy beats and menacing rhythms. Recent singles Lake Disappointment and John on the Ceiling are more straightforward bangers, while Snares contrasts tense verses with the euphoric release of its chorus. At times, though, the tunes are so gossamer-light that they simply float away – like a mundane dream, Sat in the Heat is perfectly pleasant while it lasts but easily forgotten as soon as it ends. The ponderous Infinity Peaking, meanwhile, is an unfortunate reminder that “bedroom” is an anagram of “boredom”.
