Vyanchepheg by Sonnov

As we get used to a new space, a building familiarity bumps up against a growing sense of unease. We notice the slightest imperfections and variations from what we’ve recently come to expect: a light shining a slightly different shade from the others, a dull hum from the air conditioner, a tiny corner of wall paper peeling away. On the new record Vyanchepheg by drone artist sonnov, we get used to each acoustic space we find ourselves in, slowly fixating on each irregularity and subtle shift to encourage our own discomfort. As the record progresses, each track continuously strips back further layers of warm synthetic drone, further exposing a bumpy, bristling underbelly of clicks, wavers, and pops that destabilize the record’s central sound. Long for stability as we might, an environment too sturdy and predictable always sends us into the same mental spiral, overanalyzing everything until the benign becomes malignant, the safe becomes sinister.